He’s a military man, not an expert on laws and political strategies - that’s obvious. Maybe he thought that winning in the elections with an overwhelming mandate of 11 million votes will automatically give him the same number of supporters come crunch time. He should’ve taken the surveys more seriously. People sympathize with his cause but condemn the way he acted.

This country deserves a better leader than either Trillanes or GMA, but the opposition can’t get its act together to pose a formidable challenge. Gloria will probably be able to finish her term until 2010. It’s sad because majority of Filipinos dislike her, and would like nothing more than for her to step down from office. That’s why Trillanes won: he’s the ultimate symbol of dissatisfaction with this government. But Gloria is coiled like a serpent around her throne. Nothing can touch her, it seems. Legal means have been sought. Impeachment complaints were filed 3 times in 3 years (that’s the most for any president). They don’t even hear out the complaints because her cohorts in congress have reduced the impeachment proceedings to a sham numbers game (they said so themselves). There’s no interest in finding the truth, only jockeying for votes to kill the impeachment, and getting monetary reward for “loyalty”.

From what I know, there’s only 3 ways to get a president out of office:
- stepping down voluntarily (no chance in hell for this one)
- being incapacitated or death
- impeachment

Having run out of options, I will not be surprised if someday, I tune in to the news and hear about an assassination attempt. Desperate people, who have no legal recourse, turn to desperate measures. Nakakaawa ang Pilipinas.

But perhaps it’s foolish of me to expect any politician (or aspiring politician) to follow the letter of the law. Pilipinas nga naman yan, diba? =P

As far as Trillanes getting elected, I’m not sure if his victory was brought about by faith in his leadership as much as it was brought about by dissatisfaction with the current head of state. There is a difference, diba? Gloria has abused her position (to put it mildly), but Trillanes and his cohorts have demonstrated for the second time that they are not the right people to bring the country out of the mire.

And re: Trillanes’ frustration with the system - I was raised by a family of lawyers and attorneys who taught me to respect the law but also to understand its limitations. You can try to beat the system, but if you can’t, you have to possess enough knowledge to make it work for you. Walking out of your own trial, calling for revolution, and not having any concrete plan of action is not the way to do either option.

I think this pathetic coup reiterates the need for a leader who has ideas to execute, not a man who shouts for change but has no plan on how to implement it. But Trillanes’ method to achieve change was to disrespect the law and repeat the actions that made him a laughing stock in the first place! How can you entrust the country to that kind of leadership? Hanggang ganun na lang ba, replacing one evil with a lesser one? I think that the Philippines deserves better than that.

Just my two cents. ^_^V

I can understand his frustration. He became an ordinary citizen and tried to change the system from within by running for senator. He won and yet they didn’t let him serve his term. Nakakulong pa rin sya sa Fort Bonifacio. He’s not even allowed to conduct hearings within the camp where he’s detained. Kung ako si Trillanes, neck-deep na rin cguro frustration ko.

Do I understand correctly that Trillanes walked out of his own trial? Totoo ba yun?