RP militants: Next 48 hours to be crucial

While they harbor no illusions about the next administration, militants made a last-minute call for vigilance in the May 10 elections against possible moves by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to remain in power after June 30. The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said the next 48 hours will be crucial and people must remain vigilant. "We harbor no illusions on what change the next president will bring about even as we recognize the opportunity of making Arroyo accountable as soon as her term expires and the opportunity to enact pro-people reforms," Bayan said in a statement. "The next 48 hours will be crucial. We call on the people to be vigilant," it added. It said the upcoming polls present a chance to get rid of the much-despised US-backed regime of Mrs. Arroyo. On the other hand, it said any failure of elections that will lead to an Arroyo hold-over or a pro-Arroyo military take-over would be met with fierce opposition. "The people will protest any move to keep Mrs. Arroyo in power," it said. Bayan said Mrs. Arroyo's regime was a defining issue in the campaign, with the people’s massive rejection of Mrs. Arroyo an important factor in bringing to power the next president of the Philippines. "The anti-Arroyo sentiments clearly cannot be underestimated. Conversely, the people have shown their rejection of candidates who have been endorsed by the regime," it said. Bayan said the May 10 polls will be historic not just in the sense that it will be the first nationwide automated polls but also in the sense that it was the first elections that almost teetered on the brink of failure. "The May 10 poll will be historic because it signals the end of the Arroyo regime, and hopefully, the beginning of the process of accountability," it said. No end to problems Still, it said it believes that the problems of the country cannot simply be solved by ending the Arroyo regime. Two EDSA uprisings have taught us that the problems of the country are much deeper and require more than just regime-change, it said. "Whoever will be elected president will have to address the long-standing problems of landlessness, degradation of the domestic economy due to neo-liberal policies, gross human rights violation brought about by the counter-insurgency campaign, massive foreign debt, a mendicant foreign policy, high prices of goods, unemployment and low wages," it said. Many of these issues were skirted or avoided during the election campaign, it lamented. It added most candidates relied on motherhood statements or oversimplified analysis while few dared go beyond the "opposition" and "anti-GMA" rhetoric. "The elections, while a means to gauge the sentiments of the people, ultimately has limits when it comes to the question of bringing about fundamental change," it said. "Ultimately, it is the collective effort and action of the people, more than any single politician, which will bring about change. This we have learned from so many previous electoral exercises," it added. — RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV