DISTURBING RETIRED GENERALS' STATEMENT ON GEN. PALPARAN

DISTURBING RETIRED GENERALS' STATEMENT ON GEN. PALPARAN

LET THERE BE NO POLITICS!

By BERTENI "TOTO" CATALUÑA CAUSING

Editor-in-chief, Dyaryo Magdalo

Here is one statement that is a fallacy coming out from our revered retired generals and former flag officers in favor of their comrade who is now the most controversial over the disappearance of two University of the Philippines students.

I wrote this because I want to counter the otherwise-widely-accepted thought by many, mostly from the ranks of the soldiers and their officers.

The Association of General and Flag Officers Inc. (Agfo) put out on a December 27, 2011 a manifesto in support of Gen. Jovito Palparan.

As reported by Inquirer, this is what they said: 

"The generals warned of 'demoralization in the soldiers’ ranks' if "the ideological enemies of the state will capitalize on this issue to support their deadly political-military struggle.'”

THERE IS NO SUCH A THING AS "IDEOLOGICAL ENEMIES."

Everybody has a right to believe and advocate any form of governance in terms of economic rule: communism, socialism, capitalism, socialized capitalism or whatever.

I myself believe in socialized capitalism in substance and federal in form with the President, Vice-President elected at large and Senators elected with three from each federal region.

THE ONLY ENEMIES THESE GENERALS CAN CORRECTLY CALL AS THEIR ENEMIES ARE "THOSE WHO RISE UP IN ARMS" TO TOPPLE THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE THEY SUPPORT STEADFASTLY THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE.

 

One thing more, we can never call NPA armed rebels as "enemies of the state." 

This is so because they are mere "enemies of the government."  They seek to change the government and NOT TO CHANGE THE STATE OF THE PHILIPPINES.

We all must learn the basic definitions and concepts of "government", "state", "ideology," "communism," "socialism," "capitalism," "socialized capitalism" and other terms referring to the kinds of government based on the economic structure adopted and the system of regulating basic freedoms of individuals in a state.

After knowing all these, every citizen is free to choose and advocate what kind they want. As long as the advocates do not carry guns to topple the government, there is no rebellion and there is no enemy of the government to speak of.

These who insist for trial of Palparan are not "ideological enemies."

Those who press for the prosecution of Palparan are never "enemies of the government" either.  They do not carry guns to push their political agenda.

Nevertheless, we all must know that this case of retired General Palparan must be treated simply as simple criminal cases without any color of politics.

And if Palparan is innocent, he should face the trial courageously as part of his military career that shone so bright on the glorious days of the most corrupt president-in-fact.

He should get vindication from the court, and not from hiding and not from the publicity stunts of his fellow retired generals and flag officers.

One big reason why our country cannot progress genuinely is this tendency of anybody to spin off "politics" from simple cases of crimes.

And like Palparan, his former boss, Gloria Arroyo, has been spinning out that all that has befallen on her is but a big political persecution.  

The alleged mug shots of Gloria Arroyo after arrest.

So many, particularly those who did not vote for Noynoy Aquino, are capitalizing on imagined political persecution theories, in the hope of taking vengeance or of telling a message to those who voted for him: "LOOK AT THE MAN YOU VOTED FOR."

I am also saddened that many, who in fact call themselves lawyers and legal luminaries, are joining the fray to muddle the upcoming impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato C. Corona.

Those who are identified mostly as forces disenchanted with President P-Noy are insisting that the impeachment trial is unconstitutional and a product of the political play of the Liberal Party.  

There are others among them who are fair minded who coolly insist and hope that CJ Corona be given a fair day in court as an accused and not as a political enemy.  I side with their minds.

Many among those who believe that Corona is guilty are insisting that impeachment is a political exercise so that they want to force the senators acting as trial jurors to vote that Corona is guilty. 

They even threaten the senators they will junk them in 2013 when they do not act as they want.  Even if I am a true-blue Noynoy supporter I am not in favor of what they insist. This is because this is unfair. 

Impeachment trial is not about the voice of the people.  This is all about the voice of facts. This is about the voice of evidence.  This is about the voice of truth. It should be decided based on evidence and not based on what the majority want, although the majority really want the head of CJ Corona.

Chief Justice Renato C. Corona

We have to wait first for the evidence to be presented during the trial. After all these pieces of evidence were presented to us, that is the time for us to make judgments whether CJ Corona is indeed guilty and not just because we do not like his face, that is the time for us people, ordinary people, to say that our voice is also the voice of evidence, and that is the time for us people to press the senators acting as jurors to vote according to our beliefs or we punish them in 2013 elections.

In addition, we all have the obligation to keep the independence of the Judiciary, although I accept the argument that it is the people in the judiciary themselves who are destroying the judiciary.

Independence of the judiciary is necessary to be kept intact because in times when the dictator is oppressive that is the only institution that will always be our last bulwark.

So that if we are all fair, we all must treat these cases of Palparan, Gloria, CJ Corona as NOTHING MORE THAN SIMPLE CASES, not politics.