EDITORIAL

Salus populi est suprema lex

The welfare of the people is the supreme law

By voting no to the opening of the second Equitable Bank envelope, the eleven pro-Erap senator-judges thought they had succeeded in sealing forever the evidence needed to convict President Joseph E. Estrada. No doubt, the damaging testimony of Clarissa Ocampo would be erased from the records. Acquittal for Erap had been ensured.

Primetime TV captured the jubilance of the pro-Erap senators in the image of senator-judge and UP BOR member Tessie Aquino Oreta shamelessly dancing like a cheerleader in front of an aghast gallery of spectators. It was like rubbing salt on an open wound. It was such a naked display of arrogance.

The jubilation of the pro-Erap camp was short-lived. The permanent sealing of the envelope only unleashed the truth that no fair judgment could come out of the impeachment court. Even gamblers stay away from games that are rigged. What more when it comes to a serious impeachment case on which the survival of a nation rests?

And so we, the people, denied the president his acquittal. Outraged, we left our TV and radio sets, engaged in an instantaneous protest noise barrage, texted messages to each other to gather in that one site where we first manifested our people power - the hallowed ground of EDSA. But there were many other EDSAs that night as people in Baguio, Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and other parts of the country spontaneously massed up in the streets and plazas to denounce this latest travesty of justice.

And the several hundreds of protesters soon grew to hundreds of thousands in the next four days. From UP alone came the more than 20,000 faculty, students and administrative staff who marched daily from Quezon Hall to the EDSA shrine. The impeachment court had moved to EDSA and other sites of people power. And there we delivered the people's verdict on Erap: GUILTY. And there we experienced and learned the great lesson of how a united people can, by an act of direct democracy, bring down a corrupt president.

Many consider the events of January 16 to 20 a repeat of people power. But in a very real sense, everything about People Power II was new.

For one, we transformed technology to a powerful tool of protest. Text messaging gathered us together in EDSA and other sites even before Cardinal Sin issued the call on Radio Veritas. Before the impeachment trial, the internet had greatly facilitated the free flow of information and exchange of views. But in those four glorious days of people power, political discourse was carried out with wit and humor mainly through the cellular phone.

Pluralism characterized People Power II. No individual, no organization/political party, no military faction could claim having mobilized the masses. The main actors in the drama that unfolded were the people themselves. The million that massed up in EDSA and other sites virtually knocked down the cabinet of Erap as his officials belatedly recognized the sign and finally abandoned him. And if in the 1986 peaceful revolution, it was the people who formed the protective shield around the military, this time, it was the overwhelming number of people at the EDSA shrine that forced the Armed Forces command to withdraw support from the president.

Some political observers call the four days of January a people's coup. Others refer to it as a constitutional uprising. One thing is clear. From the time the jueteng scandal broke out to the period of the impeachment trial and on to People Power II, Filipinos were guided by the desire to strengthen rather than weaken the constitution that People Power I gave birth to. Thus we gave the impeachment trial a chance. And when the eleven senator-judges succeeded in concealing the truth and in thwarting justice, we spontaneously took to the streets and exercised our democratic right to change the leadership. The Armed Forces also turned to the constitution to find the basis for their withdrawal of support from Erap. Finally, the Supreme Court, acting en banc, declared the presidency vacant based on the constitutional principle salus populi est suprema lex (the welfare of the people is the supreme law). This paved the way for the constitutional ascent of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as 14th President of the Republic of the Philippines.

When we gathered in EDSA and other sites to assert our people power, we were prepared for a long haul. Erap's spokesman, Ernesto Maceda, predicted with arrogance that the protest would fizzle out in five days. We proved him wrong as daily our numbers grew by the hundreds of thousands in EDSA and in all other parts of the country. No single person orchestrated People Power II. We took this upon ourselves not for any one individual or political organization or party but to exercise our right to change our national leadership and to preserve our constitution. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo therefore owes her presidency not to any one individual or political organization or party but to all the Filipino people.

While supporting the president installed by People Power II in the ensuing period of reconstruction, we the people cannot afford to be complacent. A new moral order must be put in place to guide governance. Justice must be served as the basis for national healing. Widespread poverty must be seriously addressed. Leadership must be accountable to the people.

We owe it to ourselves to be vigilant.

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