NR0706:Impeaching GMA and the military

Mula sa Tanggapan ni Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran
News Release July 06, 2005

Impeachment, resignation or ouster: by whichever
means, the illegitimate and corrupt presidency will be
removed

Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran today said
that Malacanang was putting up by a brave front by
saying that it was not afraid of impeachment raps and
that the president is actually welcoming the challenge
because she will be given a chance to explain her side
in the process.

“Impeachment, forced resignation, ouster. By whatever
means, this illegitimate presidency should be removed
from power and the swift-moving developments in the
country’s politics will determine which means will
prove most effective. Without doubt, opinion makers
and the rest of the Philippine public are thinking
beyond the Macapagal-Arroyo administration and making
their minds as to who will succeed her,” he said.

“Pres. Arroyo can give all her excuses, explanations
and apologies, but none will suffice. Filipinos have
long been united in their opposition against the
Macapagal-Arroyo administration even before the May
2004 elections because she has proven herself inept in
providing relief against the electricity rate hikes,
mass unemployment and incessant oil price increases.
Now that this issue of electoral fraud has been fully
exposed, the lasts straw against Pres. Arroyo has been
drawn. Congress clearly does not have the political
will to impeach her; Pres. Arroyo herself is much too
power-greedy and self-centered to resign, so the only,
remaining, logical option is for her ouster,” he said.

“Lawlessness and vicious disrespect of civil and human
rights abound in Philippine society precisely because
of the corrupt system of governance that’s in place.
High ranking government officials have no compunction
against committing acts of corruption and treason
against the economic and political sovereignty of this
nation. A popular, mass-based and broadly-supported
uprising of the people is what will serve as catalyst
time and again to change and overhaul this system.
Pres. Arroyo chose to ignore the lessons EDSA 1 and
EDSA 2, and now she will learn these same lessons the
hard and painful way.”

The meddling of the military in the May Polls

The veteran labor leader said that yet another
allegation has been proven as the truth in the course
of investigations into the controversial “Hello,
Garci?” tapes, and this was the involvement of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the elections
and its results.

“Again, the AFP has proven itself to be an institution
directly working against the will of the Filipino
people, allowing itself to be the enforcers of
electoral fraud and violence. The top brass of the AFP
might change, but the corruption in the organization
remains and even worsens. For the first time in recent
Philippine history, the role of the military in
maintaining a corrupt political status quo has been
irrefutably exposed” he said.

“Because of the involvement of the AFP, millions of
votes of progressive candidates including those from
party-lists have been disregarded and the voters
disenfranchised. The exercise of democracy that is
supposed to the elections has been turned into a show
of fascist force and authoritarian manipulation,” he
said. “The young rank and file members of the AFP are
justified in their anger and outrage against the
betrayal of their superior commanding officers. Their
idealism is wasted in such an institution. For the
sake of the Filipino people, we hope however that they
respect the civilian authority and since their faith
and trust in the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has
been betrayed, they should instead pledge their
support to the democratic and legal mass movement that
aims to remove the illegitimate presidency from
power,” he said. #