MIM Notes 229                   March 1, 2001

MACAPAGAL-ARROYO REGIME IS ALL SET TO BECOME AS BAD AS THE ESTRADA 
REGIME OR EVEN WORSE

By Jose Maria Sison

National Democratic Front of the Philippines Chief Political 
Consultant

8 February 2001

[On January 20 progressives and bourgeois opposition groups forced 
then Philippine President Joseph Estrada to step down from office 
(see MIM Notes 228). The transfer of power from one bourgeois 
faction to the next does not mean that the basic character of the 
Manila government has changed. In fact, already last summer there 
were rumors that the new President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was 
closer to the united $tates than Estrada, at least in geopolitical 
terms. Here the founding chairpersyn of the Communist Party of the 
Philippines outlines in concrete terms the "achievements" of the 
"new" regime. - editor]

There are already strong manifestations that the Arroyo regime is 
all set to become as bad as the Estrada regime or even worse.

1.Estrada is not being arrested for plunder. The biggest cronies 
of Marcos and Estrada, Eduardo Cojuangco and Lucio Tan, have been 
openly embraced by Mrs.Macapagal-Arroyo. Shady deals are 
reportedly being transacted through her husband, Mike Arroyo. The 
recent photograph of Lucio Tan between Gloria and Mike Arroyo is 
emblematic of continuing corruption.

2. Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo has surrounded herself with a military 
cordon sanitaire,with General Renato de Villa in control of the 
powerful office of executive secretary. The same generals like AFP 
chief of staff General Angelo Reyes who collaborated with Estrada 
in carrying out the all-out war policy are working closely with 
her.     Militarism is becoming blatant, with Mrs. Macapagal-
Arroyo herself urging military officers to reduce or eradicate the 
revolutionary forces.

3. The new regime, especially executive secretary General de Villa 
is deaf to the pleas of human rights organizations, churches and 
the people for the release of the political prisoners. The policy 
of holding on to hundreds of political prisoners is poisoning the 
atmosphere for a possible resumption of the GRP-NDFP peace 
negotiations.

4. The new regime is continuing Estrada's repressive policy. It 
has publicly announced that it is stopping the all-out war policy 
and wishing the resumption of the peace negotiations. But Oplan 
Makabayan [a repressive psychological warfare campaign similar to 
the Amerikan FBI's CONTELPRO] is still being implemented.

5. The new regime has a policy of exclusion and growing hostility 
towards even the legal patriotic and progressive forces of the 
workers, peasants, youth, women and intelligentsia that made a 
major and decisive contribution to the overthrow of the Estrada 
regime. A US-directed scheme of psychological warfare and 
repression against their leaders and organizations is at work.

6. The Macapagal-Arroyo regime echoes the pro-poor demagoguery of 
the fallen Estrada but in fact its policies and actions hew to the 
imperialist line of "free market" globalization and further 
victimize the people, especially the workers and peasants.

I will not be surprised if within a relatively short period of 
time the Macapagal Arroyo regime will stink more than the fallen 
Estrada regime.