PerryScope
by Perry Diaz
Last February 24, 2010, on the 24th anniversary of the People Power Revolution of 1986, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo delivered her final message to commemorate EDSA 1. She repeated the same cliché that she had been telling the people in the past several years: “The world embraced EDSA 1 in 1986. The world tolerated EDSA 2 in 2001. The world will not forgive an EDSA 3 but would instead condemn the Philippines as a country whose political system is hopelessly unstable.”
She said that the “glorious revolution” of EDSA …

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz
The People Power revolution of 1986 that ousted the Marcos dictatorship was supposed to prevent any form of dictatorship from emerging again. That was embodied in the 1987 constitution, also known as Cory constitution or People Power constitution. Article II Section 3 states: “Civilian authority is, at all times, supreme over the military. The Armed Forces of the Philippines is the protector of the people and the State. Its goal is to secure the sovereignty of the State and the integrity of the national territory.”
People Power Provision
Evidently, the …

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz
The ouster of Gov. Fr. Ed Panlilio from the governorship of Pampanga once again reinforces the belief that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is being used to “terminate” the political lives of the enemies of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Panlilio was the third governor who got axed for not playing ball with Gloria.
The day before Panlilio’s ouster, Comelec declared that Bulacan Gov. Joselito “Jonjon” Mendoza lost the recount to former Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan.
In December 2009, Comelec ousted Isabela Governor Grace Padaca and declared former Governor Benjamin …

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz

The official start of the 2010 elections has just begun and presidential candidate Sen. Manny Villar has already spent more than P540 million of his own money in television and radio advertising. That is just for starters.
Villar is pursuing his dream of becoming President with steely determination backed by a war chest reputed to be around P7 billion. His wife, Congresswoman Cynthia Villar, once said that “they have never lost an election and they certainly have no intention of losing this one.” Does that mean that Villar is …

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz
The term “pork barrel” refers to the use of government funds that are intended to benefit the constituents of a politician in return for their votes. In effect, it is an institutionalized — and legalized — form of vote-buying. So, whoever controls the allocation of pork barrel funds wields immense political power.
In the nine years that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been in office, she learned how to use the power of the “pork” to keep her allies in line as well as to stop opposition to her …

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz

As we get closer to May 10, 2010, the people’s fear is increasing dramatically. What they fear is that — which was unthinkable six months — the country would experience a tumultuous event that could bring the country back to an era that they had believed would not happen again.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has been trying very hard to allay fears that there will be no failure of elections. Actually, Comelec officials are so confident that they’re saying they will complete the final canvassing in six days! They’re …

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz

A political earthquake is about to occur in the judicial system of the Philippines. The core of the problem is the interpretation of Section 15 Article VII of the Philippine constitution. At issue is President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s plan to appoint the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during the period when “midnight appointments” are banned by the constitution. The presidential elections will be held on May 10, 2010 and Chief Justice Reynato Puno will be retiring on May 17, 2010.
Section 15 Article VII says: “Two months …

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz 
 
Finally, after so much speculation about President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s “secret candidate,” a face has emerged. In his recent article, “Her” man, respected columnist and political consultant Lito Banayo exposed Manny Villar as Gloria’s “secret candidate.” I totally agree with Mr. Banayo’s arguments that Villar is now Gloria’s man. 
In a recent survey, Villar is second to frontrunner Noynoy Aquino by 11% while Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro — Gloria’s “anointed” candidate — is languishing at the tail end of the survey in single digits. Unless there is a miracle or …

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz

According to most accounts, the rigging of the 2004 and 2007 elections — which resulted in the election of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the 12-0 sweep of the administration’s senatorial slate in Mindanao — was the work of the “Garci boys.”
In 2005, wiretapped conversations — the “Hello Garci” tapes — between Gloria and Virgilio “Garci” Garcillano revealed the extent of Garci’s fraudulent work to ensure that Gloria won the presidential election in 2004. Garci was caught on tape taking orders from Gloria who ordered him to manipulate …

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz
Like in a game of chess, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is now playing the end game of her nine years of tumultuous — and scandalous — presidency. Indeed, her adroit chessmanship in the art of Machiavellian politics has earned her the scornful enmity of the people. Her recent net satisfaction rating of -38 is the lowest since 1986 in the waning days of the Marcos dictatorship.
With six months left in her presidency, how is she going to play the end game? Is she going to end it with …