> Fantasy!
This preoccupation with Coups is really driving me C-R-A-Z-Y! At
least I thought I was the only one obsessed with them! Until
former President and personal idol, Fidel V. Ramos came out on
print with his ‘fatherly’ advice to former EDSA ‘hero’ and Senator
Gregorio ‘Gringo’ Honasan to give up on his FANTASY and go back
down to earth and help rebuild this country rather than trying to
break it up with his alleged ‘coup attempts’.
What really gets me though, is WHY JUST NOW? If all the fuss about
fellow Bicolano, Gringo, is connected to that Magdalo Misadventure
in 2003, why didn’t anybody shout foul then? Why did they have to
wait till now to launch this stupid ‘manhunt’ with a P5M prize for
his capture? What kind of Judicial System do we have here that
conveniently sits on cases and ‘resurrects’ them when the need
arises? It really seems like, in this country, we’ve got a
different maxim (if we can call it that): ‘Justice delayed is
Justice applied!’ Call it crazy but by this time I have almost
given up trying to determine who’s ‘normal’ and who isn’t!
Greggy Honasan’s nerves must still be tingling not only from the
several coups he allegedly ‘masterminded’ vs. the Cory Aquino
Administration, but, perhaps, also from that miraculous EDSA I
Victory! The more I read and hear about Gringo’s ‘hit-and-runs’
the more I see perennial warrior, ‘Che’ Guevarra in him! In fact,
I won’t be surprised if the great ‘Che’ is his idol! People like
‘Che’ Guevarra love plotting and fighting so much Peace drives
them out of their minds! Governments to them are authority or
father figures to be continually rebelled against. They might even
refuse to join a government for fear that they too will be toppled
down. To them Utopia is attainable, but is also, always, one step
away! Crazy? Try telling them that!
To Gringo the magic of EDSA I might not have worn-off yet and he
could still be hankering for a re-run! Even if I wasn’t there, I
can just imagine the ‘Messianic’ high that then Col. Honasan
must’ve felt while surrounded by that Sea of Humanity that bravely
faced the Tyrant’s Tempest and defied the odds just to protect
them from certain death! The subsequent ‘heroic’ days when their
names were triumphantly trumpeted on the radio and T.V. must’ve
really been so ego-charging that everything still reverberates in
Gringo’s mind whenever he closes his eyes and ‘tunes in’ to those
EDSA I days!
But then the Past is gone, and despite all the brilliant and
charismatic efforts on Gringo’s part, EDSA I will never happen
again, at least not in the same way that it did! The Politics of
Corruption which was planted by the Conjugal Dictators, not only
in the Government, but also in the Military, has all the more
weakened rather than strengthened the moral fiber of potential
Coup recruits! Nowadays, Coup Soldiers can be had IF THE PRICE IS
RIGHT! But since it’s their POCKETS and not their HEARTS that will
be involved in the fighting they can easily be BOUGHT back to the
fold, or scared out of their wits, once blood starts to flow on
the streets! During those People Power I days PATRIOTISM and
PRINCIPLES were what sustained the People’s Soldiers. The same
cannot be said today of the Mercenaries that abound, not only in
the Military, but also in Government!
“Our dreams will never die” is supposed to be the rallying cry of
Gringo’s ‘Guardians’. The only problem with this lies in the
possibility that they just might love dreaming so much they might
then refuse to open their eyes and face reality! What we need now
are leaders who can face up to the challenge of telling us,
HONESTLY, that the task of bringing this Nation back to Life is
next to IMPOSSIBLE. That it cannot be done. That for all intents
and purposes THIS NATION WILL NEVER BE GREAT AGAIN. That taking
Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo OUT of Malacanang is not the end-all
solution to the problem. That she is only PART of the problem.
That our values, our culture, our shallow principles, WE
OURSELVES, are the problem. UNLESS we all WAKE-UP, refuse to join
these Prophets of Doom, and UNITE to work for our common good,
everything, indeed, just might turn into one big NIGHTMARE and
both the dreamer and the dream will die. Gringo’s National
Recovery Program will then be relegated to the realm of FANTASY!
If he is indeed sincere, the best way for Mr. Honasan to work for
his Program would be out in the OPEN. So what if it has to be in
jail. That way he can be the rallying point of all who really want
change in the System of Government. Ninoy Aquino did it behind
bars for 7 or more years. I don’t see why a Spartan military man
like him can’t do Ninoy one better! Nobody in his right senses
will even think of taking him out for fear of igniting a Civil
War, the magnitude of which, I’d hate to even think of!
