It will be a long six years

I have avoided commenting on the post-election scene. I kind of buried my head in the sand, hoping the surreal circus would go away. Or that things would quiet down and the presumptive administration would begin to sound like a serious government-to-be, magnanimous in victory and seriously unifying our society that has been badly fractured by the bruising electoral campaign.

But it’s been almost four weeks and things are only getting more and more bizarre. There has been no let-up in the belligerent rhetoric emanating from Davao.  The bluster, the insults, the threats, the dictatorial pronouncements, the seeming lack of understanding of and appreciation for the separation of powers and democratic processes, the disrespect, have been the stuff of headlines. And the appointment of traditional politicians to key cabinet positions has continued to upset a public that was promised real “change”.

Remember, “Change is coming”? Why then does the emerging list of appointees read like the rogues’ gallery from a past unlamented regime? 

The media is having a heyday covering the incoming president’s pronouncements. But his antics have become tedious, his bluster wearisome, mind-numbing. And he hasn’t even sat in Malacañang yet.

Is this what we can expect for the next six years? 

I have really tried to give the elected president the benefit of the doubt. Hence, my self-imposed silence these past four weeks. Maybe he really just habitually acts on impulse and tends to think aloud.  Maybe he means to say something else but his mouth is faster than his brain.  Maybe he is really a cuddly lovable sheep   underneath the wolf’s clothing.

So far, however, he has sounded alternately threatening and trivial, like the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.  Just replace “Off with his head!” with “I will go after you.”  He also reminds me of the Wizard of Oz who makes fierce declarations from the safety of his office that, when confronted with reality, he either takes back or tries to refine the next day.

What is apparent is he acts on impulse, without thinking things through.  And it looks like his people have given up trying to teach him anything.  He doesn’t seem to listen to advice. Rather, he convinces his staff to see things his way.

For what would make an educated lawyer like Cayetano echo his boss’ wish that 12-year-old offenders be subject to criminal liability?  And do they all agree with his plan to restore the death penalty by hanging?  What does he mean when he asks China to “allow” Filipinos to fish in Panatag Shoal? Isn’t Panatag Shoal part of our sovereign territory?

How is a thinking person supposed to accept the appointment of one whose family is in large-scale construction to head the Department of Public Works and Highways? And the offensive lawyer of the journalist-killing Ampatuans, as the President’s spokesman who has to deal with the media on a daily basis?

In the same manner, how should the martial law victims in his group, not to mention his late mother who was supposedly an anti-Marcos activist, react to his declaration that Marcos will be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani by
September?  Will they simply roll over, accept the bitter pill and allow a self-proclaimed war hero with fake war medals, an obscenity of stolen riches, and a long list of human rights violations to his name, to be buried on hallowed ground reserved for the nation’s heroes? 

His avowed plan to release political prisoners that the military lost many lives and exerted much effort to neutralize, and giving the left vital cabinet positions while the armed conflict continues, are invitations to all kinds of trouble.

And he has declared war on the Catholic Church. I leave his fate on this one to the supplications of the Catholic faithful, whatever their prayers may be for this pugnacious presumptive president.

I have tried to accept the presumptive one who will be the face of my country for the next six years. But so far, he has run roughshod over the values and moral standards that I grew up with: basic respect for the law, the dignity of others, human life and human rights; the value of restorative justice; the inviolability of our sovereignty; good governance; good manners and right conduct; and not the least, the honor of my Pope and my Church.

I am sure there will be other ways he will manage to offend me in the future.  It will be a long six years.