HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
By Caloy Bueno
After President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, Sr. declared martial law in 1972 to indefinitely extend his stay in office (his second and last term, according to the 1935 Constitution), he then imposed his kind of "rule of law" through absolute military domination over civilian institutions, and ultimately even the people's sovereign will. It certainly was not democratic governance at all ~ it was authoritarian rule, which still later became fully autocratic and dictatorial. However, it seemingly was tolerated by the Filipino people then; mostly because there had been no choice possible, other than meek acceptance of it ~ if only to avoid harassment (or worse) from the military that operated martial rule under Marcos.
While martial law was supposedly only a temporary/limited "fix" in duration (to quickly address and neutralize the 'clear and present danger' to the state), it was subsequently lifted years later through a return to civil governance, under the aegis of the (railroaded) 1973 Constitution ~ the experimentation with the parliamentary form 'headlined' by the unicameral Batasang Pambansa (legislature). Yet, President-and-Prime-Minister Marcos (or PPM-FM) still held and exercised absolute power, anyway. Thus, the most 'in-vogue slogan' then during those years, particularly by/in the opposition, was that ~ "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." (Originally a famous aphorism by the 19th-century British historian and moralist Lord Acton.)
Now, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr. posits his own kind of "rule of law" ~ ostensibly in an effort to turn the tide against overwhelming government corruption and the inevitable erosion of the people's trust and confidence in his administration's public service ~ while co-opting the military's loyalty and ensuring its support to him, instead of allowing them to be able to choose and exercise their constitutional duty ~ of ultimately upholding the people's sovereign interests and protecting their welfare. (It may be recalled that Thailand's military had, several times in their modern history, taken over the reins of government ~ especially when corruption ruled, and the Thai people balked against such mal-governance. But always, their saving grace was the reverence of all the Thais, including the military, for the King of Siam ~ who would then step in, and be able to restore public order and civil governance, without further fuss or chaos.)
In our case, the circumstances and situation are very different than what happened previously (though under the same political brand of governance) ~ but then so is the reaction of the people to it today. The government is seemingly able to "bend" the laws, among other things, apart from the rampant corruption and thievery, and that it is merely expedient ~ particularly toward ensuring the incumbent administration's political goal of preventing the possibility of losing his grip on the Presidency, followed by the appropriate succession by the next-in-line duly elected official, in accordance with the laws and the Constitution itself.
Question: Will history actually 'repeat' itself? It doesn't. It simply 'regurgitates' the bad and painful things; just to remind all and sundry ~ that either we keep repeating the same mistakes, or we keep forgetting that that such mistakes always happen because we stupidly allow it to ~ either way, it comes out to the same difference . . .
#PagMayTime 🤪😂😜
