True state of the nation

During these times, people really hope and pray that Duterte will realize what is really happening in our country now. He should not merely rely on what his minions tell him but keep his ears on the ground.

First of all, he must realize that we are now in a period of uncertainty. People cannot understand their President at all. It is indeed quite shocking, or surprising, to say the least, that Presidential Spokesman Roque himself has publicly admonished the people not to believe Duterte because he may just be joking sometimes. The latest “joke he uttered is blaming a priest on the landslide that happened in Itogon, Benguet Province. Blaming a priest for the wrath of nature is really absurd and ridiculous especially coming from the President of a country. Worse here is that the joke was made when people were still reeling and languishing from the devastating effects of typhoon “Ompong.”

The state of uncertainty and unpredictability that we are now experiencing is further exacerbated when Duterte’s Spokesman himself put the burden on the people to determine when Duterte is joking and when he is serious despite the fact that people always expect their leader to be always serious when he opens his mouth. For instance, when Duterte repeatedly committed or “threatened” to resign, people believed him because he looked serious and really appeared to be incapable of performing the duties of a President anymore. But up to now he is still in Malacanang and has disregarded his promises and threats. His stance really makes it so hard for the people to find out when he is joking and when he is not. Indeed this is the first time in our country’s history that we have a President who jokes when making official statements and announcements.

As a consequence of his spokesman’s asking us to find out if Duterte is merely joking or is serious, people now do not know whether the much vaunted plans and programs of his administration will really be carried out. Uncertainty now prevails about the implementation of the many improvement projects for our country which he announced and reiterated so many times before. “Build, build, build” now appears to be a mere slogan and not a real and solid plan that must be implemented.

And while the “war” against drugs and crimes, appears to be serious and sincere, the means used in waging said war have generated a lot of legal controversy. And this is due to the unprecedented number of deaths of suspected criminals and drugs addicts before they have been tried and convicted by the courts. Obviously, the war being waged here violates the “due process of law” of our Constitution.

More condemnable here is the highly touted “war” against graft and corruption. While Duterte has pictured himself to be staunchly against graft and corruption in government, such stance seems to be so artificial and for propaganda purposes only.  This is is shown by certain deals with the government where members of his family, both official and personal have been implicated. Most noticeable here is the alleged involvement of his son Paolo Duterte in the importation and smuggling of P6.8 billion worth of shabu. This allegation still remains the talk of the town because it has some semblance of truth. No importation as huge as that could really have escaped the attention and slipped out of the Customs Bureau without the intervention of an influential and powerful person. It is quite obvious that then Customs Commissioner Nick Faeldon, knew about it but could not do anything about it. So he just had to resign when it was discovered. Verily, Faeldon may have been asked to resign instead of being charged about the smuggling because the talks circulating then about the Presidential son’s involvement have not been proven as untrue up to now.

This war against graft and corruption appears to be really just “for show” because officials in the present administration who have been obviously involved in “fishy” deals have just been asked to resign but have not been charged. In fact some of those who were supposedly “fired “have been re-appointed to other government offices, or otherwise “rewarded.”

Of course, there are also many constitutionally questionable moves made by Duterte. Most notable here is his move to lift the ban on the heroes burial of Marcos in the “Libingan ng mga Bayani” which the Supreme Court granted. This ban has never been lifted since the Edsa Revolution because Marcos cannot be considered a “Bayani.” But right after assuming office Duterte caused the filing of the Petition to lift said ban and it was readily granted by a compliant Supreme Court. Then there is also the constitutionally questionable ouster of Chief Justice Sereno through a Quo Waranto petition, instead of impeachment as provided by the Constitution, followed by the issuance of a proclamation revoking the amnesty granted to Trillanes. Revoking something void or non-existent from the very beginning is really quite absurd and ridiculous.

 Indeed, the situation in our country now is quite unstable. And this is not due to the destabilization moves of Duterte’s political foes which they dubbed as “yellowtards.” This is because of the erroneous policies of Duterte’s economic managers that brought about the highest inflation rate in our country, the rising prices of essential commodities and the food shortage.

This current state of our country should be recognized byh Duterte and his supporters, otherwise the situation will worsen. And most importantly, writing about this actual situation should not be taken as an “Anti-Duterte” but a “Pro-Country" move.

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