By Greg Macabenta
You can learn a few things from the most unexpected situations. One of our sons asked my wife how to make a hardboiled egg.
Her reply: “Don’t put the egg in the water when it is already boiling. It will crack. Put it in the water just as it is beginning to heat up. That way, the shell will get used to the gradual increase in temperature up to boiling point.”
That was an Aha! moment for me.
Aha! So, that’s what the logic was behind the “revelation” of the departed Injustice Secretary Raul Gonzales about the distinct possibility of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo running for parliament in her district in Pampanga, should the system of government be changed.
That seeming foot-in-mouth statement of Gonzales was made so masterfully in that you couldn’t tell if he had made it up out of resentment at being dislodged from his cabinet post or if he was revealing a well-kept strategy of the Malacañang Department of Dirty Tricks or if it was a candid conjecture based on a purely hypothetical situation.
But, like the hardboiled egg being immersed in gradually heating water, the Gonzales statement or revelation or conjecture hardly created a stir amidst the uproar already caused by the railroading by the Lowest House of Resolution 1109 calling for a Con-Ass.
What has actually begun to happen in Manila, despite the sound and the fury of activists and oppositionists, is a process of either resignation to or increasing militancy against a move that, if the Senate is to be believed, is an exercise in futility.
But, you see, even the seeming nonchalance of the Senate, purportedly an independent body whose very existence is threatened by the introduction of a parliamentary system of government, may be part of the hardboiled egg strategy.
We should not overlook the fact that Arroyo is not entirely without allies in the Senate. You can also bet that those senators who are interested in becoming president will not mind being persuaded by Malacañang to look kindly on Arroyo should the presidential election actually happen.
In an extremely expensive presidential campaign, the persuasiveness of millions of pesos cannot be ignored.
Besides, if you check out the financial backers of some of the so-called “leading presidentiables” – the ones with double digit ratings – you will realize that these financiers have not been averse to playing ball with the Arroyo government – otherwise, how would they have survived and prospered in the years that she has been in office?
But what about the merger of Lakas and Kampi? Wasn’t that proof, as Arroyo put it, that the administration was preparing for an election?
The skeptics have pointed out, of course, that she didn’t specifically say “presidential elections,” as if it mattered much. Even if she did speficy that type of election, nothing would stop her from changing her mind and, to paraphrase Miriam Defensor Santiago, cutely admitting, “I lied.” Didn’t she change her mind before, when she declared that she wasn’t running after the term she had inherited from Erap Estrada had expired?:
On the other hand, you can also bet that, while Arroyo and her strategists are applying the hardboiled egg technique to prepare the minds of the people and the political opposition for the possibility of a charter change,20the same strategists are laying the groundwork for Plan B, which is for a presidential election to actually be held.
They are making the preparations for the presidential elections very obvious – what could be more obvious than the Lakas-Kampi merger – while making their Con-Ass moves just as obvious, the better to totally confuse the people.
This is part of the hardboiled egg strategy. The masses and even the media will eventually conclude that the Arroyo and her advisers have become confused and no longer know what they’re doing. That is designed to prompt the people and the opposition to let down their guard.
In fact, the clearest indication that the opposition’s guard is down is the fact that it s leaders are allowing themselves the luxury of intramurals. They are so confident that Arroyo or her anointed presidential candidate will be easy to defeat because of her extreme unpopularity, they’re beginning to lose sight of the fact that their ranks have begun to be infiltrated.
Plan B is already operational. Moves have already been taken to soften up leading presidential candidates with campaign resources in exchange for leniency on Arroyo and her cabal, in case of an opposition victory. Because politicians are the way they are – all subscribing to the classic principal of the late Senator Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr. that “politics is addition” - these candidates don’t mind talking to Arroyo’s emissaries and keeping their options open to making a deal. Of course. Plan C is operational as well, which is to ensure that the administration candidate for president will win – in case such a presidential candidate becomes absolutely necessary.
Now, what’s this about Arroyo running for congress after she relinquishes the presidency? According to this scuttlebutt, this explains her frequent visits to Pampanga – something, speculators say, she had never done before.
That, of course, is also part of the hardboiled egg strategy, which is to get the people used to the idea that she may actually want to hang on to power, any kind of power, but not necessarily as prime minister.
Is Arroyo as congressman to be counted as20Plan D?
Yeah, why not? The more plans people and the media attribute to Arroyo, the more confused they will all become. With so many options confronting them, they will begin to feel vulnerable and will be more amenable to a quid pro quo.
The idea is to reach a point, quite like the hardboiled egg, when nothing she and her cohorts do will shock or even surprise.
That’s when Arroyo will make the move of all moves, whether Plan A, B, C or D, designed to ensure that she will either remain in power or will be guaranteed immunity. At that point, her opponents will be more concerned with their interests, especially if profitable, than with exacting their pound of her flesh..
And the Filipino people will not complain – or crack up – because they will have become hardened to the harsh realities of an unprincipled politics - just like a hapless egg.
(gregmacabenta@hotmail.com)
You can learn a few things from the most unexpected situations. One of our sons asked my wife how to make a hardboiled egg.Her reply: “Don’t put the egg in the water when it is already boiling. It will crack. Put it in the water just as it is beginning to heat up. That way, the shell will get used to the gradual increase in temperature up to boiling point.”
That was an Aha! moment for me.
Aha! So, that’s what the logic was behind the “revelation” of the departed Injustice Secretary Raul Gonzales about the distinct possibility of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo running for parliament in her district in Pampanga, should the system of government be changed.
That seeming foot-in-mouth statement of Gonzales was made so masterfully in that you couldn’t tell if he had made it up out of resentment at being dislodged from his cabinet post or if he was revealing a well-kept strategy of the Malacañang Department of Dirty Tricks or if it was a candid conjecture based on a purely hypothetical situation.
But, like the hardboiled egg being immersed in gradually heating water, the Gonzales statement or revelation or conjecture hardly created a stir amidst the uproar already caused by the railroading by the Lowest House of Resolution 1109 calling for a Con-Ass.
What has actually begun to happen in Manila, despite the sound and the fury of activists and oppositionists, is a process of either resignation to or increasing militancy against a move that, if the Senate is to be believed, is an exercise in futility.
But, you see, even the seeming nonchalance of the Senate, purportedly an independent body whose very existence is threatened by the introduction of a parliamentary system of government, may be part of the hardboiled egg strategy.
We should not overlook the fact that Arroyo is not entirely without allies in the Senate. You can also bet that those senators who are interested in becoming president will not mind being persuaded by Malacañang to look kindly on Arroyo should the presidential election actually happen.
In an extremely expensive presidential campaign, the persuasiveness of millions of pesos cannot be ignored.
Besides, if you check out the financial backers of some of the so-called “leading presidentiables” – the ones with double digit ratings – you will realize that these financiers have not been averse to playing ball with the Arroyo government – otherwise, how would they have survived and prospered in the years that she has been in office?
But what about the merger of Lakas and Kampi? Wasn’t that proof, as Arroyo put it, that the administration was preparing for an election?
The skeptics have pointed out, of course, that she didn’t specifically say “presidential elections,” as if it mattered much. Even if she did speficy that type of election, nothing would stop her from changing her mind and, to paraphrase Miriam Defensor Santiago, cutely admitting, “I lied.” Didn’t she change her mind before, when she declared that she wasn’t running after the term she had inherited from Erap Estrada had expired?:
On the other hand, you can also bet that, while Arroyo and her strategists are applying the hardboiled egg technique to prepare the minds of the people and the political opposition for the possibility of a charter change,20the same strategists are laying the groundwork for Plan B, which is for a presidential election to actually be held.
They are making the preparations for the presidential elections very obvious – what could be more obvious than the Lakas-Kampi merger – while making their Con-Ass moves just as obvious, the better to totally confuse the people.
This is part of the hardboiled egg strategy. The masses and even the media will eventually conclude that the Arroyo and her advisers have become confused and no longer know what they’re doing. That is designed to prompt the people and the opposition to let down their guard.
In fact, the clearest indication that the opposition’s guard is down is the fact that it s leaders are allowing themselves the luxury of intramurals. They are so confident that Arroyo or her anointed presidential candidate will be easy to defeat because of her extreme unpopularity, they’re beginning to lose sight of the fact that their ranks have begun to be infiltrated.
Plan B is already operational. Moves have already been taken to soften up leading presidential candidates with campaign resources in exchange for leniency on Arroyo and her cabal, in case of an opposition victory. Because politicians are the way they are – all subscribing to the classic principal of the late Senator Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr. that “politics is addition” - these candidates don’t mind talking to Arroyo’s emissaries and keeping their options open to making a deal. Of course. Plan C is operational as well, which is to ensure that the administration candidate for president will win – in case such a presidential candidate becomes absolutely necessary.
Now, what’s this about Arroyo running for congress after she relinquishes the presidency? According to this scuttlebutt, this explains her frequent visits to Pampanga – something, speculators say, she had never done before.
That, of course, is also part of the hardboiled egg strategy, which is to get the people used to the idea that she may actually want to hang on to power, any kind of power, but not necessarily as prime minister.
Is Arroyo as congressman to be counted as20Plan D?
Yeah, why not? The more plans people and the media attribute to Arroyo, the more confused they will all become. With so many options confronting them, they will begin to feel vulnerable and will be more amenable to a quid pro quo.
The idea is to reach a point, quite like the hardboiled egg, when nothing she and her cohorts do will shock or even surprise.
That’s when Arroyo will make the move of all moves, whether Plan A, B, C or D, designed to ensure that she will either remain in power or will be guaranteed immunity. At that point, her opponents will be more concerned with their interests, especially if profitable, than with exacting their pound of her flesh..
And the Filipino people will not complain – or crack up – because they will have become hardened to the harsh realities of an unprincipled politics - just like a hapless egg.
(gregmacabenta@hotmail.com)
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