I refuse.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Conrado de Quiros

OVER THE PAST couple of weeks, I've heard a lament from several groups of people, representative of the eight out of 10 Filipinos who want GMA out of Malacaang. The tack of embarrassing the President sufficiently to make her resign, they say, hasn't worked. You cannot appeal to the conscience of someone who has no conscience. You cannot shame someone who is shameless. You cannot beg someone, who can hear only the roar of her driving ambition, to hear the cry of a wounded country.

The usurper in Malacaang, they say, isn't going to leave it without being physically forced to. She will drag the country down in flames before she packs up her bags hurriedly and flies to her version of Paoay or Hawaii. Unfortunately, the groups lament even more, people do not seem to want to take to the streets anymore to mount another People Power. Where does that leave us?

Well, first off, I don't know that Filipinos are loath to mount another People Power anymore. From where I stand, I see that Filipinos are loath only to produce another GMA with People Power. Supremely ironically, in a country that has more ironies than karaokes, GMA's greatest weakness is also her greatest strength. People balk at taking to the streets to remove her for fear of producing someone like her. One is tempted to add, "or worse than her," but that concept strains the imagination.

That doesn't mean Filipinos no longer want an Edsa, it only means Filipinos no longer want the same Edsa. They want a different Edsa, one that makes things better. I am not discounting the possibility of people taking to the streets again in the next few months to oust a tyranny. Aug. 21 and Sept. 21 are flash point dates, the first recalling the murder of Ninoy Aquino in 1983 and the bombing of Plaza Miranda in 1971, the second marking the anniversary of martial law in 1972. All are testaments to the ruthlessness of those who crave power so badly they will cling to it at all costs.

Quite apart from that, there is GMA herself whose more frequent public appearances are bound to do what the exhortations of her enemies have so far failed to-stoke the public to uncontrollable fury. She asserts more things like she was the victim rather than the beneficiary of cheating, and she will single-handedly spark People Power-against her. If I recall right, during the twilight days of martial law, customers in pubs improved their aim in darts by putting a picture of Marcos in the center of the dartboards.