Though I am not a fan and I won’t vote for him this coming May, I smell the
dawning of the Rodrigo Duterte presidency.
Violence is predominantly felt every day and
everywhere in so many different forms and levels in our social interactions:
abuse of power, crime, corruption and exploitation. The Filipino people are
sick and tired of this chaotic reality happening right before our very eyes. Knowing
the Filipino psyche, the word “Peace” is only confined to absence of violence
as conveyed to us by both the mainstream and social media. Criminals with their
vicious acts, both in the private and public spheres, continue to flourish as
we see in the news sensationalizing the very
details of the case to the point that they bring irritating negative vibrations
even in our supposedly most solemn or joyful moments. These news, the way they
are presented, are giving us anxieties and even irrational fears or paranoia.
Many of us are now suspicious of every stranger we meet in the streets,
workplaces and even the people in our own neighborhood and homes. The
criminals,- the kidnappers, hold-uppers, rapists, carnappers, etc., continue to draw
blood from the hapless, innocent victims no doubt.
It is in this dreadful background that Rodrigo
Duterte offered himself to the position for the nation’s top post which is the
presidency. The former mayor of the then crime-infested Davao City succeeded in
projecting himself as the crime busting messiah that is why, as of this
writing, he continuous to gain support from the people and get high ratings
from many surveys. To those who are behind him in his campaign and to millions
who hope that criminality could be ended by using the iron fist approach in leadership,
it is okay to employ brute force or even maim or kill in the name of peace and
justice. Here lies the reality that generally, we Filipinos have very distorted
concept of Peace and Justice.
Peace, to a genuine peacekeeper, is creatively and
non-violently dealing with conflicts. True peacekeeping, over and above, is a
way of developing alternatives to violence as means to resolving criminality.
There can be no peace without justice. Justice in plain words is “giving what is legally and morally due to a
person”. Indeed, we are true peacemakers only if we give what is due to
somebody, his/her rights as human being to fully achieve his/her full potential
and full development. The right to due process is foremost. Given the very
alarming level of criminality in our society, presidential aspirants and all
the candidates in general, must be committed to the defense of life and its
sacredness in all its states and dimensions. The life of the suspects included.
There is no room for extra-judicial killings or summary executions but on the
other hand, many Filipinos today out of desperation, believe that such brutal
actions are the only way to combat criminality. It is alleged that when Duterte
was the local chief executive of his city, he formed death squads killing drug pushers
and other criminals. We love men of action both in reel and real life. We are
bombarded with movies depicting screen heroes radiating with fearlessness in
the past thus this idolatry. But to follow the thoughts of Pope Francis, who am
I to judge them?
Meantime, Duterte is scheduled for a campaign here
in Occidental Mindoro on April 15, 2016 and a huge crowd from all over the province is expected to come. Well, even in the internationally
acclaimed Google News and Al Jazeera before me put articles saying that
Duterte’s presidency is inevitable. Except
for this hardline way of achieving peace and order, his other stand on certain
issues, say federalism, are mostly commendable. But it is sad to note that it
is not the issue of federalism or his sound development agenda that moved
people to support him but his street smart personality, his machismo and his
scheme of how to ultimately end criminality.
The present generation clamor for punishers. We as
voters and as citizens lack good voting judgment as it was shown in the past. As
I sense that the Duterte presidency is expected, I also expect that our
immaturity as voters and the patron-client relationship in our political culture will remain, so
is our regressive electoral systems.
People do not care if Duterte has close friendly links
with some top officials of the CPP-NPA-NDF which was classified as terrorist group
by many of the Philippines’ ally nations. His supporters are mum over his
pronouncement that it is okay to pay revolutionary taxes to armed communist
groups. They do not care if Duterte’s stand is not to continue our legal quest
against China over territorial disputes. They do not care if Duterte is a
womanizer. Plain and simple, we thirst for the blood of heinous, hardened criminals,
and corrupt officials except of course if that felonious individual is one of
our loved ones, or perhaps, our own president.
The only thing uncertain is how his supporters
will sustain to back him up and participate in eradicating and annihilating
criminals in this part of the earth in just 6 months (or even after his term).
Participatory governance is essential in every president’s agenda and program.
Are they willing to participate in every drastic action to attain a peaceful
and just society that they and their candidate are aspiring for or trying to imagine?
Ironically, of all the presidentiables, only
Duterte is assured of prayers by the Pope after the former personally sent the
pontiff a letter of apology. Prayers of the pope are still prayers of the pope no
matter what made him do it. Under Duterte’s watch, we must now learn how to
pray more for our nation. God, please, have mercy on us!
As the support for Duterte continues to swell, so
do my sinuses. Due to acute perennial or seasonal rhinitis, my EENT doctor told
me that I would occasionally suffer from olfactory
disorder. Over and above, all communicators have reserve privilege to
change their minds…
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(Photo: Cebu
Daily News)
