In the News: Is Conrado de Quiros inciting rebellion?

Is Conrado de Quiros already planting the seeds of a rebellion that constitutes much of the Plan B of popular presidential candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino in the event that he loses this year’s election? Let our insightful readers be the judge! In his latest blurb on Old Reliable, de Quiros made it a point to highlight “the specter of massive breakdown (to put it charitably) or massive fraud (to put it accurately) the Comelec’s type of automation bodes” [my boldface]. And from that he segues into trhe real point he wants to make:

Or more to the point, what can the Aquino camp do in the event of massive cheating? Organize a walkout of observers at the first hint of cheating? Maybe. Whip up public indignation? Maybe. Create a Yellow Army? Maybe.

Of course, maybe. It’s all up to “the people”, isn’t it Mr de Quiros? Your pal Noynoy Aquino is supposedly just a “servant” pandering to the so-called “people’s will”, right? I’ll answer that for you gramps: Indeed he is — as one would expect of a man who lacks a spine to own up to what he aspires to be to the Filipino — a leader with whom the buck stops. Unfortunately for him, he plans to shield himself from that buck with “the people’s will” just like you, Mr de Quiros, do to shield yourself from owning up to a possible accusation of inciting rebellion on a major news publication by clever use of your “maybes” and this as well:

[…] all that means nothing if you cannot get the people to act. All that means nothing if you cannot get the people to take to the streets. All that means nothing if you cannot summon People Power. And you cannot summon People Power by rubbing a magic lamp.

Guess what “people”, you will be suckered to commit the crime but Noynoy will get away with the loot!

Trust Noynoy, his lackeys like de Quiros, and the rest of his camp and supporters to pin their fortunes on the nebulous concept of “the people”. In that concept, there’s just nothing to grasp at, nothing to sink one’s teeth into, nothing to chew on, and nothing to work with. It’s the perfect cop-out. You win, and it’s “because of the people”. You lose and it was “the people’s will”. You succeed, and it’s “because of the people”. You fail and it’s because “the people weren’t there”.

That is precisely what de Quiros’s brilliant Noynoy-apologism exhibits here:

What made Noynoy Aquino possible was not any political party, it was the people. What made Noynoy Aquino possible was not traditional politics, it was voluntaristic politics. What made Noynoy Aquino possible was not the pragmatism of the way things are, it was the idealism of the way things could be. If that is not recognized, well, the history of this country is littered with the shards of lights that failed, with the flotsam of hopes that were dashed to pieces.

and this:

We don’t make Edsa the center of things even now, it’s not just that it won’t be there to make Noynoy Aquino win, it’s not just that it won’t be there to protect Noynoy Aquino’s win, it’s that it won’t be there to make the country win after Noynoy wins.

So open your eyes all ye Yellow Army grunts and those who plan to vote a spineless man into the highest office of the land.

You all are being set up as Noynoy Aquino’s future scapegoat.

And as to that quaint fear-mongering being propagated by the Armies of Primitivism about a “massive failure of elections” that is being used to justify yet another undermining of institutional democracy? Perhaps it might help to take the perspective of more seasoned and mature politicians. At a worst-case-scenario of a 30% failure in the automation to be applied this coming May, the reality is that there are measures to mitigate the expected fallout.

The negativism of Noynoy’s position on this (among MANY other things) is not only uncalled for but unbecoming of a man who describes himself as epitomising the “hope” of the Filipino “Nation”. Perhaps it is about time we give a bit more air time to more mature people who contribute a bit more enthusiasm (do you still remember that word Messrs Aquino and de Quiros?) to what is supposed to be a groundbreaking milestone in Philippine Elections (and to be fair to the Inquirer.net, they step up to that plate this time):

Vice presidential candidates Loren Legarda, Jay Sonza and Bayani Fernando, who were attending a forum organized by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Tuesday, were not surprised by official admission of a 30-percent failure of the automation machines.

“So the 30 percent—assuming the Comelec projects that—should be identified now so we are even more vigilant in the 30-percent manual all the way,” said Senator Legarda.

“This is an automated election—automated in a sense that the counting of the ballots is done by machines, but the manner of electing our officers, our leaders is still manual,” Sonza said.

“It doesn’t mean that if there’s manual counting, it means failure of elections already. Let’s not worry because there will still be a hard copy, so we can still count the votes manually,” Fernando said.

There are men and women that see solutions, mitigation measures, and back-up plans. And then there are men like Noynoy Aquino and Conrado de Quiros who only see obsolete traditions, failure, and a reversion to primitivism. It’s high time Filipinos decide which sort of politicians and leaders they would like to represent and lead them.