A quick note on the Iloilo capitol assault

AS I WRITE this, I was hoping Oliver Mendoza already had the inside stories on the PNP assault at the Iloilo provincial capitol that was fortunately staved off by a last-minute 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Cebu-based Court of Appeals.

Nonetheless, what we saw in Iloilo is the difference between a grimly determined, politically motivated hit using the courts -- which is what the GMA administration tried to pull off, through the Ombudsman -- and a non-political one -- which is what private interests, in cahoots with the RTC and the Court of Appeals tried to pull off in Naga, which then Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban fortunately and similarly nipped at the last minute.

The GMA-TV public affairs website yesterday had a "breaking news" item about the Ombudsman being ready to dismiss another 200 local officials; unfortunately, I can no longer find the link to that story. But it is clear that these recent dismissals/suspensions of local officials are the shape of things to come -- with a grimly determined and clearly politically motivated DILG (starring Ronaldo Puno and Wencelito Andanar) serving as the administration's attack dogs.

The upside is: people don't easily forget arrogant displays of naked power like what just happened yesterday. That should translate to one of 80 votes needed to impeach GMA in the next House of Representatives.