After the Coup

Now it’s coming out that had the Trillanes coup succeeded, a National Transition Council (NTC) vested with executive and legislative powers would have been formed. This Council would have the authority to "crush with iron fist all pockets of resistance by remnants of the old regime" and to “mete out severe penalties for acts of lawlessness that usually follow the collapse of an ancient regime.”All present government appointees will be summarily dismissed and replaced “by interim bases” and "to avert disruption of government operations, local executives who are not notorious for corruption and abuse of authority may remain in their posts on an interim basis, provided that they cooperate with the new government."

This NTC would immediately convene a constitutional commission that would write a "freedom constitution that incorporates the Bill of Rights; adopt an emergency relief program to address the problems of hunger and malnutrition; repeal the automatic appropriations law and set up a special commission to conduct a debt audit."

In order to forestall a bank run, bank withdrawals "in excess of what an average middle-class family needed to survive" would be temporarily suspended. The conversion of agricultural lands into industrial parks and residential subdivisions will immediately cease and haciendas would be placed under "compulsory sequestration", their owners compensated with long-term bonds.

"Independent boards consisting of professional journalists and academics and representatives of people's organizations," will oversee all media operations.

The police and the military will be purged of the "notoriously undesirable". After the situation has stabilized, elections will be held and "after elections, under the new constitution, the National Transition Council should dissolve itself and turn over state power to the duly elected officials".

If this wishful thinking would only come to pass. Who would compose this Council? Would they not be the same personalities who have already been given a chance before? Who will determine when honest and free elections will take place? Will the option for violent overthrow remain permanently hence?

There are just too many questions that we won’t be able to answer, ever. When we endow imperfect and flawed humans with the responsibility to govern a nation just because they have the capability for armed upheaval, we will be treading upon very dangerous ground.