GMA: HEED THE SIGNS

The signs of an impending political upheaval are here once again. As usual, the Philippine Senate has found something to keep the Filipino people occupied with and has once more brought President Arroyo's leadership under scrutiny. Rodolfo Lozada's testimony about the alleged anomalies in the ZTE-NBN deal is reminiscent of those in Estrada's impeachment trial. And the ouster of Jose de Venecia as House Speaker also strongly reminds me of the falling out between Estrada and Chavit Singson. Once more, warning bells are ringing, signaling an impending shakedown in Philippine politics.

Looking back now, parallelisms exist between the 1986 ouster of Ferdinand Marcos and the 2001 toppling of Erap Estrada. Two important components in both episodes in our history were needed before a full-scale people power was successful. For Marcos, the assassination of Senator Ninoy Aquino paved the way for the clamor of the Filipino people for change. It was the massive and obvious cheating committed by Marcos in the 1986 snap elections that eventually finished him.

With Estrada's case, the falling out between Erap and Chavit also paved the way to the impeachment trial of Estrada, eventually leading to his ouster in 2001 when the administration-controlled Senate refused to open the envelope during the trial. The refusal to open the envelope was synonymous to the cheating of Marcos in the snap elections.

Now, we have just witnessed two events that are obviously similar to the first steps that would eventually lead to an all out ouster of our president. The falling out between JDV and President Arroyo, and now the hurting testimony of Jun Lozada, are both paving the way to something...

It is interesting to note that the last name LOZADA is a derivative of a Spanish and Portuguese topographic name for someone who lived by an area paved with flagstones, derived from losar, which means "to pave".

Jun Lozada is paving the way to something...what that is, well, is up to Gloria.