‘Golpe’ in the House

How the mighty have fallen. The spectacle of President Duterte’s allies jostling for the speakership would have been slapstick hilarious had it not mirrored that grim image of Pantaleon Alvarez so aptly. And had not Gloria Macapagal Arroyo not perfectly illustrated the perverse impermanence of Philippine politics—how someone so entangled in scandal (NorthRail, SouthRail, NBN-ZTE, jueteng, PCSO, etc.) could bounce back and now be breathlessly touted as the first female speaker of the country.

Arroyo’s takeover of the post that Alvarez gruffly wielded like a club under the President’s benign gaze was messy, no matter that it was purportedly in the works for three days. On TV on Monday afternoon, her pacing between the House floor and the rostrum, her being sworn in after being bussed by sundry supporters bent on getting quite literally into the picture, her (futile) shouting at her colleagues on the floor, all were cringe-worthy. And her posture—vintage scowl, cupped hands mimicking a megaphone—hardly helped, inviting all sorts of memes on social media. It was a distinctive, if sorely undignified, start of a new act in her political theater.

But it was easy for highlights of Arroyo’s presidency to flash before the eyes of the suddenly attentive observer gawking at the TV screen, including that almost clandestine—because done at 3 a.m., as though it were an embarrassment—proclamation in the House of her victory in the 2004 presidential election. “Hello, Garci,” which triggered the resignation of her allies and members of her Cabinet and very nearly spelled her political doom, festers like a boil in the body politic. The issue has defied closure despite time, and despite her measured “I-am-sorry” apology on nationwide TV; the cabal that produced questionable election results in certain provinces apparently remains entrenched and capable of making miracles possible for those who, like Arroyo claimed then, want to “protect” their votes.

(That apology did not achieve the desired result, and the grapevine in 2005 had it that Arroyo was miffed at having been cajoled by her handlers into making it. And then someone in her inner circle—Lupita Kashiwahara, was it?—got the bright idea of having Arroyo and her daughter strolling in the streets to greet pedestrians, in an astounding attempt to portray the then President—a cold fish if there ever was one, not that it’s a crime—as approachable, warm, down-home. It didn’t work.)

The dust of the Monday golpe has settled, and the wrangling has now shifted to who gets the plum chairmanships and power posts. Indeed, on the very morning after the deed was done, some 200 members of the House were reported to have thronged the Arroyo residence in La Vista, in the customary manner of vassals paying obeisance to the new monarch. Soon it will be business as usual among Mr. Duterte’s allies, as though the abrupt ground movements were but hiccups in the scheme of things.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte phoned House members to push the emergence of Speaker Arroyo, according to Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez. Speaking on Tuesday over “Dos por Dos,” Benitez, who is among the wealthiest in the House and who chairs the committee on housing and urban development, later sounded as though he had opened his mouth and put his foot in, hedging that he himself had received no such call and that he had only heard of it from “Mindanao congressmen.”

But his statement merely boosted common knowledge—an affirmation of power play and of the folly of crossing power holders. (Remember the night of the long knives, when Speaker Joe de Venecia was removed from his post in an operation supervised by Arroyo’s two sons, both then congressmen.)

Responding to a question, Benitez also said no money changed hands in the vote for Arroyo—“walang perahan” was how he put it. If that’s true, it runs counter to the apparent kalakaran during Arroyo’s presidency, as illustrated in October 2007 when cash in no piddling amounts was handed to governors in paper bags after a meeting at the Palace, supposedly in exchange for support in the quashing of an impeachment complaint against Arroyo. Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio, among others, admitted receiving P500,000: “As a priest and a public officer, I should not lie.”

And here we are in this chapter titled Arroyo redux. Remember how this woman, who, under hospital arrest for electoral sabotage, artfully behaved as though she were nearing death’s door, and how she has gotten away with murder. What could happen if, as she has announced, she would apply herself to pushing Mr. Duterte’s agenda, is truly worrisome.

[email protected]