State of National Emergency

February 24th, 2006 at 7:57 am (General, National Politics)

By now, everybody already knows that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has declared a “State of National Emergency” as a response to the growing crowd of protesters in EDSA earlier today. This has raised questions, doubts and fears.

Personally, I was alarmed by such declaration. The crowds weren’t massive enough to cause actual threat to the government. Moreover, such declaration (considered a precursor or similar to Martial Law) was made on the day of the anniversary of the People Power Revolution which totally abolished (or so we thought) Martial Law in the country.

I think the declaration was hastily done as a knee jerk reaction to the possibility of the crowds swelling to an uncontrollable size and passion. It did not do a lot of good for Arroyo. Instead of intimidating and controlling, people became more impassioned and angry at her.

Adding fuel to the fire was the indiscriminate arrest and holding of Professor Randy David for merely marching. If they arrested somebody more influential (i.e. Corazon Aquino or Teofisto Guingona), Arroyo would surely be out of Malacañang in a couple of days. Fortunately, the Armed Forces restrained themselves.

Right now, Arroyo is walking on a very tight rope. One wrong move or one more unnecessary action could easily fuel more people into action. She should learn to have more grace under pressure, and handle situations appropriately.

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1 Comment

  1. Arbet said,

    February 24, 2006 at 4:09 pm

    I disagree. It is no knee-jerk reaction. Its a proactive (read: paranoid) actions precisely to prevent protests from swelling into something scary (for Gloria). It was a deliberate decision that gave her the license to stomp on all mass actions.

    Ironic that it happened on the 20th anniversary of Edsa 1. That’s why I call yesterday the Death of Edsa1, Gloria killed it, buried it, and sealed it forever in oblivion. Her pronouncements regarding Edsa1 should have been a warning. People were caught with their pants down.

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