Wistful thinking

Barely one and a half years after Rodrigo Duterte assumed office as President of our country, majority of Filipinos are silently and fervently hoping that he will realize the dangerous and harmful aspects in his style of governance that may have adverse effect on the general welfare of the people and the common good.

He must realize first of all that as President, he is the most powerful official in our democratic Republic with adequate powers and resources to perform his job and to accomplish his programs of government which he believes will redound to the benefit of Filipinos. So he should not feel threatened and insecure about allegations, accusations and criticisms against him and his government by immediately concluding that these critics and accusers are out to oust him as President of the country.

As leader of the country, he should calmly, confidently and squarely confront those criticisms and charges instead of angrily insulting or threatening the critics or accusers, and even ordering that they be impeached or charged and investigated for graft, corruption and other infractions of law, specifically Supreme Court Chief Justice Sereno and Ombudsman Carpio-Morales. This kind of reaction all the more raise doubts in the minds of a lot of people as to why he orders these investigation and filing of charges only now. If there is really sufficient proof that these people have committed all those corrupt and illegal acts, charges against them should have been filed very much earlier. So a lot of people now think that said charges are unfounded and are simply retaliatory and diversionary moves on his part. The timing is quite suspicious.

Right now the Senate is investigating the proliferation and increase of fake news and misleading information which according to Senator Grace Poe may cultivate a “culture of lying” if unchecked. To be sure, there are already fake news even before, but it is only now that it has become so rampant. And Duterte should accept the fact one of his people in the Presidential Communications Office (PCOO), has been their source. In the on-going Senate investigation she even said that the “rules of fairness in reporting the news (by first getting the side of all the people involved and affected by said news before publishing them) should not apply to her because she is “a blogger, not a journalist.”

Hopefully, Duterte should realize that such kind of attitude displayed by his own people is among the root causes of the rampant fake news now spreading all over the country. He should also accept the obvious fact that among the reasons why people are emboldened to spread fake news now are his own admissions about lying and merely fabricating the bank account numbers of the alleged deposits of his arch critic Senator Trillanes IV in a Singapore bank, as well as the supposed on-line closure of said accounts which was denied by the bank itself. He has to realize that his die-hard supporters are just emulating him when they also spread unverified and misleading information especially in social media. He should put a stop to these abhorrent falsities not only by telling his backers to cease and desist but also by showing the people that he himself has stop doing it. Otherwise our future generation will be adversely affected.

Most of our countrymen are also silently yearning that the lingering controversies in our midst will be finally settled so that we will finally have amity and unity. One of them is of course the alleged extrajudicial killings committed in the war against illegal drugs which have attracted so much attention worldwide. It would not be amiss to point out again that most if not all Filipinos agree that we should prevent and stop the manufacture, sale and distribution of these prohibited drugs. However the means employed in achieving this purpose should be in accordance with law. It should not be done by killing of people who are mere suspects. They should first be arrested and tried then meted the proper penalty. These extrajudicial killings that noticeably increased during Duterte’s rule should therefore be properly investigated to find out whether they were done only because the lives of arresting officers have been endangered. So far not a single report has been submitted regarding these killings. Duterte must order the proper authorities to conduct the necessary investigation and file the necessary actions in court if called for.

Then of course there are also the unsettled issues about graft and corruption particularly the smuggling of illegal drugs from China amounting to P6.4 billion. Up to now so many questions remain unanswered here particularly about the people involved. In fact even Duterte’s own son Paolo, has been implicated. There must be a proper and convincing closure to this case so that all speculations, talks and suspicions regarding the involvement of Paolo will end once and for all. Otherwise our country will continue to be divided especially between the pro and anti Duterte people.

And one last issue which people are fervently wishing to be finally settled is about the persisting doubt on Duterte’s own wealth. It has been repeatedly reported even during the Presidential campaign particularly by Trillanes that he has transactions in his bank deposits amounting to billions of pesos. Of course Duterte has also denied such report repeatedly and vehemently. But to put an end to all doubts and show that Trillanes is grossly mistaken, Duterte should finally sign a bank waiver allowing the examination of his alleged bank account. This is the only way to finally and convincingly settle the controversy. It will even put Trillanes his nemesis, to great shame and disgrace.

Hopefully Duterte will take all of these suggestions as friendly advice from people who want him to succeed for our country’s sake.

* * *

Email: [email protected]