ON JULY 16, 2011, a video of Naval Reserve Command deputy commander Col. Generoso Mariano calling for the ouster of President Aquino was posted on the Internet. Mariano alleged that the P-Noy administration “has no capability to save us from hunger and death.” He also gave an ominous warning that if it “has no intention or is not doing anything to save the life of the majority, it is the right of every Filipino, including soldiers, to replace the government.”
Mariano’s act was in no way meant to call for progress and change; it reeked of malice. Let us look closely at the facts:
1. The timing of the video’s release to the public. Very suspicious. Mariano was set to retire on July 17, 2011, a day after the video was posted.
2. Despite his claim that the current administration “has no capability to save us from hunger and death,” Mariano did not mention any major concern he wanted addressed; he just stated that “[w]e soldiers also feel the impact of unrelenting rise in prices of commodities, medicines and food”—which is, by and large, a persistent problem in every part of the globe.
3. Mariano insinuated that the government be replaced in order to “build a nation based on truth for without it there can be no justice, and without justice we shall have no peace and without peace there will be no development.” Isn’t this exactly what the P-Noy administration is trying to accomplish? And why only speak now? Was Mariano contented with the country’s state during the previous administration?
One cannot help but think that there are other actors behind this video and they are doing this to advance their own interests. It is for the military investigators to unmask them.
We, the Pinoy Marka Ko, an organization that is committed to promoting good governance and protecting the rights and welfare of the Filipino people, cannot just consign such a dangerous actuation to oblivion. Thus, we have tried to point out to P-Noy particular issues that in our view need to be immediately addressed for the sake of our nation. However, we are not only here to criticize government and voice our demands for change. We are here also to help P-Noy fulfill his promises to the Filipino people and defend his administration from dubious actuations disguised as calls for change, but which are really meant to destabilize the nation.
Hence, we call on to the Filipino people to rally behind President Aquino. Let us not be swayed by desperate attempts to steal this country’s leadership from P-Noy whom we elected through a democratic process and in accordance with law.
It is difficult enough to rebuild something that has been destroyed in a blink of an eye. How much more restoring in one year something that has been systematically destroyed for decades?
We may disagree on a lot of important issues, but on this particular video, we can only unite against it, lest we fall into a trap obviously set up by malicious and selfish minds.
—LEANDER P. MARQUEZ,
lead convenor, Pinoy Marka Ko