PROTEST actions beginning on Sunday will demand that BS Aquino resign or step down (to let a council rule with him). Will the marches and rallies grow to People Power size and strength by Wednesday Feb 25, anniversary of the EDSA Uno People Power Revolt against the Marcos Regime?
An extremely reliable source has told The Times that BS Aquino and his people have an exit plan, in case there is a People Power revolt, or a military and police coup, or the police and military just decide to withdraw their recognition of him as their their commander-in-chief and highest authority. (See our banner story).
We believe, however, that the exit plan of BS Aquino, does not include his resignation or his giving up his de facto presidency. (We say de facto because his being declared president-elect by the Comelec and his subsequent swearing-in as President of the Philippines was illegal because of the illegal implementation of the Automated Election Law and the use of the Smarmatic AES and its PCOS machines. Nevertheless, he is, indeed, the de facto president.)
The exit plan BS Aquino and his people will execute will have the aim of securing his personal safety and his position as President of the Philippines.
What we think he will do is escape from Malacañang to Hacienda Luisita. There, he has a veritable fortress and a strong private army. It is also highly possible that even if the main services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines have declared their withdrawal of support for BS Aquino, the military and police units now detailed at and around Hacienda Luisita will remain loyal to the Cojuangco-Aquino Family that owns the hacienda.
Anger at Aquino continues to mount
This is because he and his spokesmen have disclosed nothing about what he knew and what he did to avert the Mamasapano Massacre. Worse, it is widely suspected that the Palace pressured the congressmen and the senators to stop their hearings.
Since BS Aquino already admitted knowing of the SAF operation in the morning of Jan 25, the people want to know about what he did the rest of the day.
The Senate inquiry deserves criticism for adamantly refusing to delve into the president’s actions and responsibility.
Saying that national security concerns prevent it from probing is lazy reasoning. The assumption of the Senate and House inquiries that the facts and the truth can be discovered through clever questioning of resource persons and witnesses is amateurish. A serious inquiry must be accompanied by serious investigation.
Both the House and the Senate have announced that their hearings will resume. When they do resume, Congress should not waste the opportunity to recover a measure of its honor and relevance.
The President would also do well to consider lending assistance to the inquiries, instead of just telling the public to wait for this or that report. The people expect more and better from him.
The writing is on the wall. The President’s approval ratings have plunged to dangerous levels because of his perceived dishonesty and lack of accountability on Mamasapano. This is the message of a survey in Metro Manila commissioned by the Manila Times this February. His approval now stands at just 34 percent. To political analysts, approval this low for a chief executive is a recipe for mayhem, unless successfully arrested or reversed.
They in Malacañang apparently realize the serious danger they are in, which is why they have prepared an exit plan.