The second coming!

I have seen the second coming of Martial Law and the prospects are as ugly as ever.

It is so ugly that some people have talked about setting up alternative radio communications in case the telecoms companies are taken over and shut down. Along those lines, I’m sure there will be a renewed interest in owning shortwave radios since Marcos Martial Law wiped out all forms of independent media and threw a lot of media people in jail. It has occurred to others to start keeping some cash in their office safe just in case President Duterte declares Martial Law in Metro Manila and the initial military operations force companies as well as banks to shut down for a period of time. Watch the groceries and supermarkets in the following weeks or month because Martial Law survivors will surely begin stocking their bodegas with food and supplies. Those who may not be in good terms with the current administration will probably start making travel plans or serving in a novitiate or religious facility for a few months or God forbid a few years as a way of seeking sanctuary from the wicked “Minions”.

For people who lived through the Martial Law years under Ferdinand Marcos there are no reasons or reassurances enough to take away our fears and apprehensions, not even the presidential declaration of Rodrigo Duterte that “good people have nothing to be afraid of.”

Fourteen years of violence, abuse and deprivation of life and liberty heaped upon us by masters and underlings alike have cut into our minds, flesh and souls. Many victims of Martial Law abuse were ordinary “good people.” They were not enemies of the State or criminals or rebels. They were victimized because they had something or owned something that someone in the regime wanted. Others were related to someone disliked by someone in the regime. Merely being related or associated with someone disliked by anyone in the regime was cause enough to become collateral damage or become a “victim”! My mother, brothers, sisters, and relatives can attest to harassment as well as deprivation of liberty particularly the right to travel.

Just because you are an ally or a supporter or believer of Duterte or Martial Law gives you no guarantee or immunity from being victimized either. There are no fraternity brods, kumpares or kumares under Martial Law. Go read up on the countless books and testimonies written by former supporters, officials, lovers and mistresses who witnessed or were victims of intrigues and demolition jobs. It was all simply a matter of how much lust or how much hatred someone had for someone. The President simply makes the decision but it is the minions who take action and cause injury and abuse.

The declaration of Martial Law is a severe act! It is not an office memo you merely cascade for compliance or some poorly conceptualized law like the Anti Distracted Driving Act that opens opportunities for traffic related extortion or debate and public ridicule. Martial Law and Martial Rule makes captives of us all – both the good and the bad. Martial rule places excessive power, power not just on the President and his generals – but even on lowest rank or the least competent to handle power over life or liberty. Martial Law harshly disrupts peoples’ lives, business, economy. It is a “cure” with such adverse effects that it often kills instead of curing. This very minute hundreds of events, bookings, travel plans and business opportunities all over Mindanao as well as Metro Manila have been cancelled almost instantaneously upon the declaration of Martial Law. Momentary as the need for Martial Law maybe, it is already affecting daily wage earners driving tourist shuttles to fruit vendors and resulting in lost income for hotels, airlines etc.

I would generously grant my concurrence with the President that we are and have long been a country under a state of lawlessness. That is a problem brought about by our serious failure in Law Enforcement caused by serious deficiencies and lack or resources for law enforcement. We need more personnel and equipment for real policemen and real soldiers, not security guards and barangay force multipliers or LGU traffic enforcers. Go talk to your rabid followers in Congress to fix that. Yes we have rebels and criminal syndicates and terrorist bombers in Mindanao and the government has to deal with them with an iron fist. But just in case people forgot, President Erap Estrada beat the separatist rebels in their own camp and ate lechon there to mark the occasion. Under the Duterte administration, the AFP has been bringing the fight to the Abu Sayyaf which is why they are creating all the distractions by sending teams to Palawan and Bohol. The PNP for all their slip ups have been fighting and winning the war against drugs block by block, barangay after barangay. Even while the President was flying back from Russia, his troops had already engaged the Maute bandits and placed Marawi City under government control. The government and our law enforcers have been and continues to be in control with or without Martial Law.

Finally, we are not alone or unique in the global reality of extremist terrorism. Many nations are faced by the same or similar challenges and threats, but none of these global leaders have ever talked of or found any need or justification to declare Martial Law. They know only too well that declaring Martial Law creates an impression that the leadership lacks strength or can be construed as a sign of political ambition and potential abuse. At the very least, I hope and pray that President Duterte will be kind enough to give all of us a complete and transparent explanation why Martial Law is necessary because that is what we all need at the moment.

Let us all pray to our God Almighty to give President Duterte wisdom, godly counsel and divine restraint in doing what must be done and needs to be done.

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