Another foreign ship

I wonder what the administration will do with the thousands demanding for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign. Or the many voices raised in protest against Proclamation 1017.Or for that matter, those who voice their demand.

If the President intends to threaten the anti-GMA forces with the powers to order their arrest and prosecution for sedition, etc., she is trying to swallow what could not enter her gullet. That will mean thousands thrown behind bars.

That could pose a nightmarish logistical challenge. Even if just to feed the jailed persons will mean a gargantuan fund.

In short, that's a threat that sounds loud but not necessarily implementable. It's only the fearful who can be cowed into silence by that. Martial Law had already been tried and tested. And the limits of state power is limited when thousands of the citizenry are involved.

The less she threatens, the better for her. And that should also caution Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez against saber-rattling too often. Soon, that rattle will sound hollow. Especially when lawyers take up the cudgels for those charged in court and argue against evidences of conspiracy and attempted overthrow of the government.

That's why I had a big laugh when Maj. Gen. (ret.) Montano said yesterday that he heard for the first time about Para Sa Bayan, the organization reportedly of military men behind the GMA ouster move.

Well, the country seems to be headed toward a prolonged period of standoff so long as the President and her advisers continue to hold on to PP 1017 as a sword of Damocles to quell any attempt to dislodge her from Malacañang.

History researchers can tell you that threats can work only when it can be imposed like a blanket. In short, total control. Which it can't if you have to contend with an entire population. In a small place, yes. Otherwise, it becomes a useless tool of governance.

****

Buddy Jison of TOP Harbor told me Tuesday that before the end of the month, another foreign vessel will call at Bredco harbor to load 25,000 metric tons of sugar for the US East Coast.

Later, he told me two more are coming. In short, other than Pulupandan, BREDCO is now the export point from Negros Occidental for our sugar bound for the US and the world sugar market.

One reason for the preference for BREDCO is the fast loading by its conveyor belt. Not only that. Another reason, even with a 10 or more feet draft, the vessel is no danger of getting mired in the bottom of the harbor.

This, not only because the harbor is deep, but BREDCO continues to dig into the basin to prevent possible siltation.

****

Negrense women yesterday launched a series of activities to focus on the rights of women.

Now, that may be irrelevant when I discuss my late mother, Gracia Lopez, the niece of Graciano Lopez Jaena.

She was short, she was dwarfed by my father who stood 5'11". Despite his size, I never saw my father lay a hand on Ma. But he was also a commanding presence. As a matter of fact, members of the Knights of Columbus from one end of the province to the other used to call him "El Emperador."

But all it took was the withering look from her to make Pa subside. Yes, she was the female who never managed to elicit questions about women's rights. That was the hallmark of Mama. Her eyes. They were enough to tame us, her children. She did not have to verbalize her displeasure or chagrin. All she did was to look at us with her piercing eyes and we immediately calmed down. Or obeyed her.

And the funny thing. She was not even five feet tall. But she had a commanding presence. More than that of my late father.

Nobody dared to look down on her. All she did was to compose herself, maintain her silence and cast a look at the person. That was more than enough to disarm the would-be challenger or tormentor.

Few realized that her hard exterior masked a soft heart. She was a disciplinarian and disciplined.

If there was a woman that influenced me that much, it was Ma. Other than my late wife, Nene, who also displayed signs of what a woman should be. She was one who, despite her profession as a physician, would stay up late at night to sew the dresses of our children or iron their clothes.

And when a close friend chided her for it, Nene simply replied - "but you know I enjoy it."

God was kind enough to have given me the gifts of these two women in my life.*

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