EDSA PEOPLE POWER ? – When there’s smoke, there’s FIRE!! Sure ka na ba?
OP-ED COLUMNS / OPINION ON PAGE ONE
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A COUP WITHOUT PEOPLE’S SUPPORT WILL FAIL
CHANCES of the military staging a coup and succeeding are nil. Zilch. Zero.
A military power grab will never succeed in this country without the consent and participation of civilians.
There were only two successful coups d’état in this country and both took place in a short stretch of EDSA, Metro Manila’s main traffic artery.
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These successful power grabs were called EDSA People Power 1 and EDSA People Power 2.
Take note of the words “people power.” It did not say “military power.”
The humongous crowds of people at EDSA on two separate occasions caused the fall of two governments: Marcos’ on Feb. 26, 1986 and Estrada’s on Jan. 20, 2001.
It was the crowds of people that supported the military in toppling the two presidencies.
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The coup staged by the tandem of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos in 1986, would not have succeeded without the huge mass of people, mostly curious onlookers, that converged on EDSA.
Ditto with the 2001 coup that started with a small crowd calling for the ouster of President Joseph “Erap” Estrada at the intersection of EDSA and Ortigas Ave. in Pasig.
The coup de grâce to Erap’s rule came from Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Angelo Reyes who went onstage to announce to the crowd, which had now swelled, that the military was no longer supporting their Commander in Chief.
In both power grabs, there were lots of rhetoric but no shots were fired.
EDSA People Power 1 and 2 were utter democracy — rule by the people — in action.
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In both those instances, the civilians and not the military changed their governments.
And now comes Army Chief Lt. Gen. Macairog Alberto saying there was no reason for the military to stage a coup.
Alberto said soldiers are satisfied with President Digong.
Of course, they are!
Digong has given importance to the men and women in uniform than most of his predecessors.
The military returns the favor with its pledge of loyalty to the President and the Constitution.
But even granting that Digong did not have the loyalty of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, still a coup would not succeed.
Why? Because Digong is a populist leader.
If some disgruntled military officers, for example, planned to have a military adventure on Digong’s watch, they would be rebuffed by the rank and file, the enlisted personnel.
The enlisted personnel are composed of soldiers from the ranks of private to master sergeant.
And who are the enlisted personnel? They belong to the common people who love Digong.
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The enlisted personnel of the Armed Forces have learned bitter lessons — note that I said “lessons” not lesson — in the failed
In those unsuccessful attempts at power grab during the administrations of Cory Aquino and Gloria Arroyo, the enlisted men who took part were either demoted in rank or dismissed from the service.
Their officers, whose orders they followed, were either promoted, appointed to high government positions, or even became senators.
I pointed out to Gen. Arturo Enrile, AFP chief of staff from 1994 to 1996, the unjust dispensation of justice to the participants of the failed coups in Cory Aquino’s time: the subordinates, who were just following orders, getting punished and their officers going scot free.
Enrile’s reply floored me: “That’s how it is.”
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One of my Marine bodyguards, who retired a decade ago, took part in the 1989 coup attempt and was dismissed from the service, and was only reinstated after so many years.
Patricio Nagamos drove a passenger bus for a living while he was out of the Marines and applying to get back.
Meanwhile, the leader of that failed power grab — Col. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan — enjoyed caballero (gentleman) treatment in a military prison and eventually became senator.
The same fate was suffered by the enlisted men who followed their superior officers in what is now billed as the Oakwood Mutiny during the time of Gloria Arroyo.
The privates, corporals and sergeants were dismissed from the service and were only reinstated after a long process.
One of the mutineers, Navy Lt. Antonio Trillanes 4th, became a senator. An accomplice of Trillanes, Marine Capt. Nick Faeldon became Customs commissioner.
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So, if you want my humble opinion on whether soldiers would follow their officers who would stage a coup at this time, you know the answer.
An Army technical sergeant probably expressed the sentiments of his fellow enlisted men when I asked him if the foot soldiers would follow their leaders in case of a coup.
“Susunod kami pero kami ang mapuputukan pagkatapos, pero hindi sila. Ano kami, baliw?” (If we follow them, we get blasted afterwards but they go scot-free. What do they take us for, fools?), he said.
And that’s how the cookie will crumble should there be a military adventure at this time or at any other time in the future.
Without civilian support, a military coup will fail.
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