It was a day that will forever be etched in my mind and heart, a day that has become part of the history of Iloilo province. It was a day of infamy. It was a day of courage and principles. It was a day that the true characters of people were tested.
On January 17, 2007, about 300 fully-armed policemen, supported by a phalanx of anti-riot officers, an armored personnel carrier and snipers, assaulted the Iloilo provincial capitol to forcibly remove Governor Niel Tupas, Sr. and allow Vice Governor Roberto “Obet” Armada to take his place.
Governor Tupas, along with board members Cecilia Capadosa and Domingo Oso, were “found guilty” by the Ombudsman for “grave misconduct” for supposedly stealing P20,000 which the provincial government had given to the Provincial Board Members League of the Philippines.
The accusation was patently false. The whole transaction was above board. The grant of financial assistance was legitimate. But powerful politicians in Iloilo closely allied with Malacanang knew they couldn’t get rid of Governor Tupas in an election, so they resorted to a foul and devious means to unseat him. They searched the files of the Ombudsman for cases to use as basis for a punitive action that would keep away Governor Tupas for good. These politicians found a very willing patron in DOJ secretary Raul Gonzalez.
There was a multitude of evil motives for this brazen attempt to get rid of Governor Tupas. His political enemies knew that Governor Tupas was so loved by the people that he could not be defeated in an election, even if they had tons of money to spend. The experience of the 2004 elections made that clear. Hence, this group hatched the idea of springing an ambush on Governor Tupas. Part of this group was his own nephew, Rolex Suplico. No need to individually name the rest.
Secretary Gonzalez had his own share of ulterior motives. For one thing, Governor Tupas was a loyal political lieutenant of Senate President Franklin M. Drilon (he still is). Gonzalez wanted to teach Governor Tupas who was really “king” of Iloilo. Second, Governor Tupas wouldn’t budge on the issue of Small Town Lottery (STL) in the province. The PCSO guidelines required that STL franchise holders needed to get approval of the provincial government before it can be allowed to solicit bets in its jurisdiction. Governor Tupas refused this, and Gonzalez, who is the majority owner of the STL franchise, was angry about it. He was being deprived of millions of pesos in bets everyday, from which he stood to earn huge profits.
With the 2007 elections approaching, these powerful enemies decided it was time to kick the governor from the capitol permanently by stripping him of the office and the right to run for political office again. It was abuse of power at its worst.
But as I said, the episode revealed the true character of people.
On the part of Governor Tupas, he proved that he was a man of principle. In the face of such powerful enemies, he could have ended it quickly by bowing to Gonzalez and the Arroyo administration. This was what happened in Batangas, Cavite and Paranaque City, where the local chief executives who were also slapped suspensions raised the white flag to Malacanang. Not so in the case of Governor Tupas.
“The Ilonggo is worth dying for,” Governor Tupas told a radio audience just as the storm troopers dispatched by Gonzalez started the assault.
In the case of Gonzalez, he showed his limitless capacity for telling lies just to achieve his nefarious objective. He peddled the patently false story about a band of NPA guerillas who came down from the hills to fight beside the besieged governor. He didn’t stop at that: according to him, the capitol had become a fortress bristling with tremendous firepower because a platoon of soldiers led by classmates of PMAer Raul “Boboy” Tupas had arrived to reinforce the NPA guerillas. It was really the product of a demented mind.
Governor Tupas stood by his principles and showed a readiness to die fighting for those principles.
And I think it was the greatest lesson that we learned from the episode. In this world of materialism and selfishness and greed, there are still people who stick by their principles. This should give inspiration for Filipinos who grope for a sense of direction with what is happening to our nation.
The timely arrival of a temporary restraining order from the Court of Appeals stopped the policemen in their tracks. It was a big blow to armed might and abusive power. Afterwards, the embarrassed policemen quitely filed out of the capitol, being booed by the people who also refused to abandon the governor even when they found themselves staring at armalite rifles being aimed at them. It was a humiliation for Gonzalez and his cronies. It was a huge victory for the truth and justice. It was a victory for principled leadership.
Postscript: the experience humbled the national government. Last year, when an order suspending Governor Tet Garcia of Bataan was handed down, the DILG and police refused to employ force to compel him out of the provincial capitol. The battle cry “Never Again” has taught the national leadership never to tamper with the political will of the people. Constituents will never abandon their leaders, and the national government would be courting disaster if it tried another episode of the Iloilo Capitol Siege.
