Lies and consequences
By Noralyn Mustafa
Inquirer News Service

OF the three main charges that sum up the impeachment complaint against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo-lying, cheating and stealing-lying is the easiest to prove. All that we need to do is gather all the video clips and published newspaper articles where Ms Arroyo said or promised one thing but subsequently did the opposite, to our collective dismay. But, of course, if we take a closer look, lying, cheating and stealing are really almost one and the same.

The oft-recalled and oft-quoted "first lie" was made in 2002, on the death anniversary of our national hero Jose Rizal that year, when she solemnly announced, with a sense of sacrifice and heroism, that she would not run in the 2004 elections because she realized she was dividing the country.

What followed is a history of habitual lying, resulting in the most sordid situation we have ever suffered. And if like Susan Roces said in her famous "You stole the presidency not once, but twice" speech, stealing is the sibling of lying, then cheating must be its first cousin.

Almost forgotten though was the accompanying promise made on the same occasion: "Instead, as my legacy, I will see to it that we will have the cleanest, most honest and orderly elections." (On hindsight, this was also the most relevant vow.)

But, of course, she started campaigning the very next day and began putting in place anything and everything to ensure the most fraudulent, the most ruthless, the most dishonest and the dirtiest election in memory.

With a distinct taste for the ghoulish, she set in motion this operation to win at all costs. Then national archives department chief Ricardo Manapat used his office and public records under his care to manufacture fraudulent documents for the purpose of dragging from the grave the skeleton of Fernando Poe Sr.; and expose the much-idolized movie star as a bigamist, and his son, Ronnie, who had yet to announce his candidacy, as an illegitimate child and a non-Filipino.

(It is also difficult to forget other images of her fascination with the dead, like her viewing the corpses of slain kidnap-gang leaders, and gleefully announcing that Capt. Panfilo Villaruel had been "neutralized" even as his family was wondering in anguish how to gather the pieces of half of his head that Ms Arroyo's military operatives had blown off. And of course, at the very moment thousands were grieving at the funeral of Fernando Poe Jr., she would triumphantly declare -- before the altar at the Palace chapel -- that she, after all, won the presidential elections.)

And now she is presiding over the death of a nation.

It is a dying nation where lies are taken as truth for the simple reason that they issue from the head of state; and the truth is murdered by a convoluted interpretation of the very laws that were made to protect it.

It is a dying nation where the governed are alienated from the government which has, almost completely, lost their trust.

It is a dying nation where the people look at policies and programs of government as plots to deceive and delude them, and public officials exist for the sole purpose of making the people's lives more miserable.

And it is a dying nation where the majority of the people don't believe that the head of state has their mandate and is, therefore, a mere impostor squatting on the seat of power.

But worst of all, it is a dead nation that is thwarted at every turn in its every effort to exercise its right to know the truth. Many people did not want to impeach Ms Arroyo because they believed that only legitimate presidents should face impeachment; and, in any case, an impeachment proceeding would only be an exercise in futility. They have been proven right.

For the same reason, others also objected to the calls for her resignation.

That is why some of the most credible and respected members of society appealed instead to Ms Arroyo's sense of decency, patriotism and honor -- even to her sense of shame -- and asked her to simply step down. There was nothing to appeal to.

Is Ms Arroyo guilty of lying, cheating and stealing?

From the moment Malacañang manufactured the "genuine" CD of the President's alleged conversation with "Gary" (which to this day no one else has a copy of), in a ridiculous attempt to prove that the Garci-Gloria tapes were fake, through the acts of her functionaries and allies, only the deaf, the blind, the retarded and -- yes, the dead -- would not see the truth shining through all the duplicity.

It is crucial that our faith in government must be restored. It is very important to our image and prestige in the world community that we have a President who has a clear mandate and is the legitimate representative of our country.
We need to believe again. This is a matter of life and death.

We need to believe, for example, that when the military announces it is on high alert and thousands of policemen are deployed all over the place, it is not for the purpose of suppressing dissent and oppressing and terrorizing unarmed citizens. What if they are really meant to protect us?

We need to believe that when National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales tells us that elements of the Jemaah Islamiyah have entered the country and that we are under serious terrorist threat, it is not a ploy to divert our attention from the present political crisis. What if he is telling the truth?

We, the governed, cannot possibly trust any institution or any official under the administration of a lying President.
The impeachment of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is our last constitutional resort to right what we believe is wrong.

Ms Arroyo's allies in Congress must realize that the stake at hand goes beyond her mere political survival. Or theirs, for that matter.

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