MANILA, 4 May— The riots that rocked Manila on May 1, Labor Day, were reportedly the most violent since anti-Marcos demonstrations more than 15 years ago.
Not wanting to be bashed on the head by violent-happy police or pro-Erap demonstrators running amok, I watched the mayhem on television.
Most viewers, like myself, kept switching back and forth between Channel 2 (ABS-CBN) and Channel 7 (GMA Network) to catch the best shots of a poor revolution that had finally exploded.
With the pro-Erap demonstrators massing at the EDSA Shrine for EDSA-III days before May Day, and the subsequent call of the anti-Erap non-governmental groups such as Bayan to hold rallies on May 1, there was no doubt in most people’s minds that violent clashes would occur on Tuesday.
Interior Secretary Joey Lina’s comment on Wednesday that he was surprised by the determination of the protestors as they advanced on Malacanang Palace, was rather disingenuous.
As most commentators noted, the poor in the Philippines have almost nothing to lose, so why not charge the palace?
And it also remains a fact that it was the pro-Estrada senatorial candidates such as Juan Ponce Enrile and Miriam Defensor-Santiago who incited the crowds at EDSA to march on Malacanang.
Why these two are now denying having done so, when video footage of them doing so was played repeatedly on TV, is beyond me. I wasn’t surprised by the determination of the whipped up crowd.
What was shocking was the police brutality which was seen by all on TV.
Repeatedly whenever they caught a protestor all the policemen took turns hitting and kicking them, while the protestors would make vain attempts to shield their heads from the blows.
The arrest of Enrile, Ernesto Maceda and two generals, and the impending arrest of Gregorio Honasan, all accused of rebellion, is overkill by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration.
The president admitted in a press conference on Monday that it would be hard to prove incitement to rebellion in a court of law.
She later said that there was the possibility that the charges of rebellion could be downgraded to the bailable charge of inciting to rebellion, as it would be easier to prove in court.
In the aftermath of the May Day riots all sides seem to have taken a more conciliatory tone, perhaps having seen how easily the country was ready to slip down the long and slippery road to chaos and violence.
What the riots really brought to the fore of the political debate had nothing to do with the impending trial of former president Joseph Estrada s in June, but all to do with the glaring fact that most Filipinos remain mired in desperate poverty.
Arroyo was put on the spot at her Monday press conference when a British reporter from the Financial Times asked her if one of the reasons for EDSA III was the fact that her administration had failed to communicate it’s anti-poverty measures to the public.
She could not but agree with him, but then her cabinet members, whom she passed the explanation onto, were not at all convincing in their recitation of the government’s anti-poverty programs.
On Wednesday the Philippine Stock Exchange rallied more than four percent and the peso rebounded from record lows on Monday.
Analysts said this was a sign of market confidence in Arroyo’s handling of the riots.
Despite this positive assessment, I’m pessimistic about the future of the Philippine economy.
It’s still a rocky road ahead, especially with the elections on May 14th and Estrada’s trial in June. Arroyo’s ability to firmly rule the country is going to be tested many more times.
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THE sneering of the EDSA II leaders at the EDSA III rallyists showed the real extent of discrimination against the poor in the Philippines.
Their anger at the pro-Erap masses supposedly ‘desecrating’ the EDSA Shrine showed just how anti-poor they were.
They claimed that Estrada had manipulated their minds and bought them, a hakot crowd, with money and free meals.
While I admit that some of them may have been paid to attend the EDSA III rally, I really don’t think that we should underestimate the intelligence of the masses.
Cardinal Jaime Sin is one of the prime EDSA II leaders who led the sneering and showed just how elitist part of the Catholic Church has become.
He claimed that the EDSA Shrine was church property and accused the Erap loyalists of desecrating the area.
Thankfully, government officials, upholding the country’s democratic traditions, admitted the area had become a defacto public area where Filipinos went to vent their opinions.
They also said they could not stop them from grouping there as long as they remained non-violent.
The nation remains deeply divided between the have and have-nots, between the EDSA II activists and Erap loyalists. President Arroyo has to tone down the partisan rhetoric and begin healing the nation.
A speedy and fair trial of Estrada in June should be the government’s top priority. The longer it is dragged out, the longer the nation will be torn asunder.
