FERDINAND MARCOS (Ikasampung Bahagi)

MASALIMUOT ang gusot na kinasasangkutan ng anak ni Boying Remulla. Kahit anong gawin ni Boying, hindi siya pinaniwalaan. Wala silang panalo. Kahit anong gawin ni Boying at pamilya, mas lalo lang silang malulubog. Hindi tutugot ang mga netizen sa kanilang batikos hanggang hindi nagbibitiw si Boying Remulla sa pwesto. O kaya pansamantalang sumailalim ng official leave of absence habang inuusig ng batas ang kanyang anak.

Isa lang ang paliwanag kung bakit ganito katindi ang reaksyon ng mga netizen sa mga Remulla. Masyadong silang nalasing sa poder. Akala nila wala silang pagbagsak. Masyado nilang inakala na walang katapusan ang lahat. Wala silang kredibilidad at walang maniniwala kay Boying kahit ano pa ang gawin at sabihin niya. Sobrang gasgas na ang katwiran na hindi kasalanan ng ama ang kasalanan ng anak. Sinong matino ang maniniwala sa kanila?

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SAMANTALA, mas lalong tumitindi ang panawagan na palayain si Leila de Lima sa mas lalong madaling panahon. Patuloy ang pagkondena sa pananatili niya sa piitan. Ito ang mapapansin. Buo ang loob ni Leila kahit bulukin siya sa piitan. Hindi natitinag sa kanyang paninindigan. Samantala, kontrabida ng kasaysayan ni Rodrigo Duterte.

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Halaw ang mga sumusunod sa isang aklat na aking tinatapos tungkol sa diktadura ni Marcos.

THE 1971 CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

Aside from the books ghostwritten for him, Marcos answered the cacophony of public clamor for massive structural changes in Philippine society by convening in 1970 a convention, where its elected delegates would draft a new constitution to replace what has been widely perceived and described as a “colonial document.” The supposedly nonpartisan elections were held on November 10, 1970 to elect the delegates, who would comprise the constitutional convention. It was argued the 1935 Constitution outlived its usefulness after 35 years. The late Aquilino Pimentel Jr., a member of the Cory Aquino Cabinet, senator for three terms, and a member of the convention, argued it was colonial because it allowed the presence of U.S. military bases in the Philippines. Besides, Pimentel raised the point that the 1935 Constitution required the approval of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt when it was ratified by the Filipino people before it became effective for implementation.

A total of 320 delegates were elected to the convention, which opened on June 10, 1971 at the posh Manila Hotel. Former President Carlos P. Garcia, a Nacionalista, was elected president of the convention, but after 13 days, when the convention hardly settled to start, he died of a heart attack. Former President Diosdado Macapagal, a Liberal, whom Marcos defeated in 1965, replaced Carlos Garcia. The convention convened and worked but not without tackling the controversial issue of whether to allow Ferdinand Marcos and wife Imelda to vie for president or prime minister in the new constitution. The “Ban Marcos” proposal dominated the proceedings of the convention. It was the frequent headlines of mass media, triggering mass actions by both leftist and reformist groups. It possessed twists and turns, until one day, a bribery scandal involving an elderly but respected delegate exploded like a big firecracker – or bomb. It was a well-publicized scandal.

Nene Pimentel recounted the expose of Eduardo Quintero, an ailing elderly delegate from Imelda Marcos’s home province of Leyte, on how Imelda allegedly corrupted the convention by bribing delegates to come out with a constitution to prolong the Marcos rule. Quintero’s expose graced the headlines of the pre-martial law era dailies, pushing husband Ferdinand to go on the defensive. Quintero, a former diplomat, took to the floor on May 19, 1971 to return the money, which he received as pay-offs to support the adoption of the proposed parliamentary form of government. Brandishing wads of peso bills, Quintero claimed he received the money as virtual bribe for him to oppose the proposed adoption of a provision banning the Marcos family, particularly Imelda, from running under the new constitution. Quintero rose to express his support to the proposed parliamentary form of government, which Ramon Tirol, another delegate, earlier sponsored on the floor.

Immediately after delivering his statement of support, Quintero, speaking on a matter of personal and collective privilege, dropped the political bombshell, saying he received from fellow delegates, who acted as agents for parties he did not identify, a total of P11,150, then a tidy sum, to influence the convention. Speaking with a measured but deliberate tone, Quintero said he was turning the money over to the convention for safekeeping, even as he deplored efforts of those parties for the convention to come out with a constitution to enable Imelda Marcos to run for office ostensibly to replace Ferdinand. The mass media described the bribery as “payola,” the Spanish equivalent for payoff that involved not just Quintero, but a number of delegates as well. These delegates were closely allied with the Marcoses.

According to Pimentel, the form of government – the prevailing presidential form versus the proposed parliamentary – was among the most contentious issues in the convention. The issue became more contentious, as no less than Macapagal sponsored a resolution calling for a unilateral ban on spouses and relatives of former and incumbent presidents to run in the first elections under the new constitution. Ferdinand, whose second term was supposed to end on December 30, 1973, was contemplating to field Imelda as successor. But the opposition opposed his plans. Two weeks after, Marcos retaliated using Leyte Rep. Artemio Mate, who issued an affidavit claiming Quintero was a bribe taker. Judge Elias Asuncion, a native of Ilocos Norte and Marcos’s provincemate, issued a search warrant that enabled National Bureau of Investigation agents to raid Quintero’s house in the Manila middle class district of Sta. Ana. NBI agents alleged they found cash of P379, 320 in an unlocked cabinet, drawing Pimentel to laugh at the raid as a pathetic attempt to retaliate against Quintero. The public did not bite the NBI story.

The Quintero expose led to a probe by a ten-man committee on privileges that Macapagal formed to handle the issue. After nearly a year of investigation, the committee, of which Nene Pimentel was a member, received Quintero’s admission that Imelda Marcos was indeed the source of the money. Quintero’ said Imelda used delegates from Leyte to give him the payoffs. Two months after the September 21, 1972 declaration of martial law, the committee, in its report, dismissed Quintero’s allegation of pay-off on what Pimentel described as a “technicality,” citing Quintero’s failure to appear in person before the committee to subject himself to cross-examination. Pimentel surmised the committee report was made in duress since Marcos already placed the entire nation under martial rule. The martial law declaration led to the arrests and detention without charges of thousands of political activists and opposition leaders, creating an air of intimidation, fear, and suppression. By sheer manipulation, the 1973 Constitution drafted by the convention was bastardized to suit the Marcos dictatorship. But that is another story. (Itutuloy)

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MGA PILING SALITA: Hindi naman talaga kasalanan ng ama ang kasalanan ng anak. Pero kung kinunsinti ng ama ang katarantaduhan ng anak, may kasalanan na rin ang ama.” – Prof. Sid, netizen, social critic

“Trapos will NEVER stop employing trolls. They’re now as necessary as guns, goons, and gold.” – Alan Robles, journalist, netizen