The Philippines is ripe with jokes today. First is the not-so-funny joke of JocJoc Bolante in the Senate investigation on the fertilizer fund scam. The other and the most recent is the prayer/joke of Press Secretary Dureza.
In his prayer, Sec. Dureza said that PGMA may lead the nation to prosperity until the year 2010 and beyond. Many people received Dureza’s prayer with mixed reactions. PGMA exhibited different facial expressions as the prayer progressed.
The press secretary explained away his prayer as joke. What a sick joke it was. First thing is that praying is a solemn activity. No one in his sane religious mind will use a prayer as a joke or an icebreaker. Another thing is that he is praying prior to a cabinet meeting, which is a serious undertaking. Praying jokingly is inappropriate unless their meeting is also just a joke.
Another matter is the content of his prayer/joke, which is not funny for the Filipino people. Saying things like GMA staying as president beyond 2010 is not a laughing matter, it is a horrifying matter. Imagine how many people will go hungry and perish if GMA and her style of leadership continue for a decade more.
What is the purpose of Dureza’s prayer/joke? Is it just a case a tongue-slip or they did it in purpose as a way of testing of how will the public react about the possibility of GMA staying beyond 2010? In current the state of things, GMA and her gang is planning to stay and will not relinquish her post to anyone. The charter change is progressing stealthily in the congress and it is evident that her excellency will be changing the constitution for her benefit.
Dureza’s prayer/joke is a litmus test to assess how the public, the media, the business sector, the civil societies, and the activists will react. And by using that assessment, GMA and her gang will know how to move forward with their plans. From our reactions, they will assess if the charter change will push through or will they use extra-legal actions in the future.
The Moving Cha Cha Train
But alas! Dureza’s prayer is not a joke. Apparently, the prayer/joke blown off the cloak that is covering the current move to change the constitution. Currently, there are already 153 members of the congress who signed the move for charter change. Allies of the president, specifically the KAMPI faction is positive that the suspicious charter change will push through, unlike the impeachment complaints that were thrown away to the dustbins.
So here’s the tack, while the public is being jaded by the fertilizer fund scam and the Euro generals scandal, the Malacanan people is working overtime in making and executing their plans to keep PGMA in office. It is possible the president did another scam to fill the pockets of her allies in Congress and fill their minds with promises that could be cemented up in the new constitution.
Divide and Conquer
The divided Senate is more divided than ever and it is for the benefit of Malacanan. The fall of Manny Villar from senate presidency created a senate that have unstable alliances. It is amusing to see the roster of the new senate majority bloc. It is an unholy alliance of PGMA’s allies and “enemies”
The senate is volatile at this moment and this volatility could be used by the president to push the Charter Change through and get the needed number of senators to sign the move. Having Juan Ponce Enrile, a GMA ally, as the new senate president is a good thing since he could help them in reducing the number of senate inquiries that is probing their many scams. Another bonus for the president is the divided opposition in the senate. PGMA can use this division to woo some of the “opposition” senators to her camp and in the end get the needed number to push her charter change forward.
Silencing the Supreme Court
GMA will not go down from her position and as the year 2010 gets nearer, she must become bolder in her acts to stay in power. To do so, she will be needing a friendlier Supreme Court. The appointment of new Supreme Court justices came just in time to achieve that need.
According to many legal experts and political analysts, the Supreme Court will be friendlier to PGMA by the next year because of the entry of the new appointed justices. That is a good news for the president. In the coming year, she will be needing agreeable legal interpretations from the highest tribunal about the possible political acrobatics that she will utilize in the future.
So taking the big picture of current events, we can see that Sec. Dureza is not merely joking. He is indeed seeking Divine help for their plans to make GMA stay beyond 2010. The Malacanan people are working non-stop and for now it seems that the pendulum of fate is swinging their way.
Related Blog Articles:
Prayer for the Damned II: Dureza’s Blasphemous Prayer by BluePanjeet in On the Wings of My Dreams.
Press Secretary Dureza’s Controversial Prayer by roy in The Struggling Blogger.
Gloria Arroyo: “until 2010… and perhaps even beyond” by EQ in The EQualizer Post.
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