Arroyo orders emergency rule in Philippines

[Nutmegger]

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo invoked emergency rule in the Philippines on Friday after security forces said they had foiled a coup attempt, shocking analysts and driving down the country's currency.

--==Snip==--

Talk of plots against Arroyo, who survived a crisis last year over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption, has been running high around this week's anniversary of a "people power" revolt that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

--==Snip==--

"This is a disaster," said one Singapore-based analyst who declined to be named. "If things get out of hand, then she is faced with the situation of sending the police and army in and things could get violent. It will show that she is weak."

--==Snip==--

Arroyo, an economist, has pushed reforms to try to improve revenues, reduce corruption and cut debt but has been plagued by the allegations of wrong-doing, which led to a failed impeachment attempt in September by her foes in the lower house of Congress.

Read the full article: http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=uri:2006-02-24T040806Z_01_SP69755_RTRUKOC_0_US-PHILIPPINES.xml&pageNumber=1&summit=

[doublethink]

1. Odd timing ......

Big U.S. Military Exercises going on in the Philippines right now too. Take your pick from any of these articles......
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn&q=Philippines+Military+Exercises&ie=UTF-8

[IndianaGreen]

2. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is a dictator that took power via a coup

She has learned one trick or two from the old Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship. I won't miss her when she gets what she richly deserves.

BTW, Bush loves her ass!

[libbygurl]

3. Yes, it's Martial Law in the Philippines all over again...

...Marcos had Proclamation 1081 in September, 1972, and Arroyo has Proclamation 1017 today.

Lemme tell you, things have gone from bad to worse especially under Arroyo. The Filipinos will not stand for another martial law, having thrown out the dictator twenty years ago (and things now look very good then when compared to the way they are today under Arroyo).

Unbelievable. Filipinos will have to be ready for warrantless searches and arrests, government taking over the media, the utilities, etc, just like Marcos did in 1972.

Arroyo is making a powder keg situation more and more volatile with her strong-armed tactics. Yes, and she loves Bush - no surprise.

[IndianaGreen]

4. She gave a speech that sounded like Dick Cheney!

In the declaration released to media at 11:20 a.m., Arroyo invoked Section 18, Article 7 of the Constitution that allowed the President to call on the armed forces to prevent or suppress rebellion.

The proclamation will also pave the way for warrantless arrests, government takeover of utilities, including media, and a ban on rallies, Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor said.

Arroyo said that over the past months, “elements in the political opposition had conspired with authoritarians of the extreme Left represented by the (National Democratic Front-Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army) and the extreme Right, represented by military adventurists -- the historic enemies of the democratic Philippine State -- who are now in a tactical alliance and engaged in a concerted and systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly constituted government elected in May 2004.”

She also noted, "Claims of these elements had been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national media.”

http://news.inq7.net/top/index.php?index=1&story_id=67295

[libbygurl]

5. Birds of the same feather... Out with 'em all! n/t

[Judi Lynn]

6. The photos of his visits with her are surely the oddest ones around!

He seemed to go completely ape. It's as if he entered his own little Twilight Zone while she was here. Maybe the idea of a little baby dictator flipped him out. Speaking of babies, the one he holds in the photo below is her granddaughter.

[saigon68]

7. US Military Interrogation specialists will soon arrive

with thousands of orange jumpsuits to quell the opposition.

Or maybe this time they will just "Negroponte" the opposition.


A military interrogation specialist

[Judi Lynn]

12. No doubt Bush would approve a hearty combination of the two approaches.

You undoubtedly remember Psyops leader General Edward Lansdale's "accomplishments" in the Philippines:

Made in the Philippines:Psywar

THE FUROR in the United States set off by a state senator suggesting that corpses of Muslim terrorists be buried with pig entrails reminds us that many of the Americans' psywar tactics were developed in the Philippines.

Guy Glodis, a member of the Massachussetts state legislature, had suggested following the example of the American general John Pershing in his anti-Muslim military campaigns in Jolo province, back in 1913. Supposedly, Pershing buried Muslims with pig's blood and entrails, as a stern warning to other Muslim that they would suffer the same fate. The use of the pig was based on the Islamic prohibition on the consumption of pork, and the perception that the pig is an unclean animal. If true, the Pershing story would be an early example of American psywar tactics.
(snip)

While Pershing's psywar tactics have never been confirmed, those of General Edward Lansdale are well documented. Lansdale believed in psyops or psychological operations and honed his skills here in the Philippines, where he served as the chief operative of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the early 1950s, working with the Philippine government's campaign against Huk rebels in Pampanga and other Central Luzon provinces.

In his memoirs, Lansdale wrote: "To the superstitious, the Huk battleground was a haunted place filled with ghosts and eerie creatures." One of his favorite psywar stunts was to plant stories among local residents that the Huk areas were infected by vampire-like "aswang." After spreading these tales, they would ambush a Huk patrol, silently snatching the last man in the group, killing him and puncturing his neck with two holes. The victim would then be hauled up by his heels and drained of blood. The corpse would be left on the trail and, when discovered by his comrades, rumors would spread rapidly about an aswang attack, demoralizing the Huk squadrons.
(snip)

I'm skeptical about the effectiveness of these psywar tactics. If anything, the proposals only show another kind of "superstition" on the part of the planners themselves. By oversimplifying their enemies' culture-believing for example that Muslims are that fearful of pigs-the psyop planners betray their own anxieties and fears when confronting cultures they cannot or do not want to understand.
(snip/)

http://www.inq7.net/opi/2003/jul/01/opi_mltan-1.htm

[saigon68]

13. Lots of Blood on his hands

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDlansdale.htm

[Judi Lynn]

14. Wow.What a crappy career, & he got all kinds of honors, too!Thanks. n/t

[saigon68]

16. Love this place

I learn something new almost every day

:-)

[leftchick]

9. perhaps he had too much of whatever is in the cup

what a freak.

[leftchick]

8. yes and he calls her rule a "democracy"

and Chavez rules a dictatorship. As usual with bushco the the truth is always the opposite of what they say.

[saigon68]

10. And the sheep eat this shit up

As in "Gloria, pass the potato salad"

[IndianaGreen]

11. Yes, the sheep eat this shit up

Former President Cori Aquino was holding prayer vigils in support of Arroyo, with the full backing of the reactionary Catholic Church. The people that took to the streets today in mass demonstrations want their liberties and they want Arroyo out, no matter what the Church says.

[libbygurl]

19. INCORRECT - Cory Aquino led opposition elements in asking Arroyo

...to STEP DOWN. As is her wont, she led rallies AGAINST Arroyo with prayer vigils.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Inquirer columnist, lawyer arrested during anti-Arroyo march

Inquirer columnist, lawyer arrested during anti-Arroyo march

First posted 02:11pm (Mla time) Feb 24, 2006
By DJ Yap
Inquirer

(2nd UPDATE) POLICE released Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Randy David, lawyer Argee Guevarra and Akbayan president Ronald Llamas on Friday evening, hours after they were arrested during a protest march on Edsa and Santolan in Quezon City.
Guevarra said police filed inciting to sedition charges against them before the Quezon City prosecutor’s office, but the prosecutor, during inquest, recommended that the case be investigated further.

David, Guevarra and Llamas were arrested on Friday afternoon while they were looking for Quezon City police director Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan Jr. to negotiate with him on behalf of their group of marchers. Police had blocked the path of the marchers.

While looking for Radovan, the three were grabbed by policemen in plainclothes and shoved into a car. They were then taken to the police’s Camp Karingal.

At least 21 other marchers were arrested by the police during dispersal operations. Ten were from Pampanga, two from Mariveles,

Bataan, five from urban poor groups and four from the militant group Sanlakas.

Police used teargas, water canons and truncheons to disperse the marchers.
(snip/)

http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=2&story_id=67311

[phusion]

17. BREAKING: Bush orders emergency rule in USA

President George Bush invoked emergency rule in the United States on Friday after security forces said they had foiled a coup attempt, shocking analysts and driving down the country's currency.

Talk of plots against Bush, who survived a crisis in 2006 over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption, has been running high around this week's anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Bush, a failed oil baron, has pushed reforms to give tax breaks to the wealthy, destroy social security, and end 50 years of social progress, but has been plagued by the allegations of wrong-doing, which led to a failed impeachment attempt in September by Democrats in the lower house of Congress.

[sarcasmo]

21. My thoughts exactly when I read this article. Dictator 43 will use

the Bird Flu or their next engineered Terra attack.

[underpants]

18. KICK

sorry I duped you.

This looks to be huge.

[Nutmegger]

20. Aw, that's okay underpants

:hug:

Another :kick: