When populist talk is cheap, ask the right questions

Talk is cheap, but who really is in charge here?

The promise that change is coming under the new President seems to have come and gone.

There was so much to look forward to when RodrigoDuterte came to power on the crest of popularity, novelty and cruelty.

People waited with varying degrees of disbelief and hope that criminality would wane, corruption curbed, impunity abated, economic well-being assured, foreign intervention and domination stopped, and a principled, just and lasting peace pursued. Many just yearned for simple common sense, decency and dignity that the past administrations took away.

Never mind the unique bluster, hyperbole or histrionics of an enigmatic leader. Never mind too the arrogant public officials who fantasize that they are omnipotent. Nor the dimwitted public servants who think public service is a private trust fund.

But after one year, the demagogic promises seem to have given way to compromise, reversals and even betrayal over time.

Indeed talk is cheap, especially the populist kind.  What matters is: Whose side is the President really on?

Who is really in charge here?

Is it the oligarchs, military and the neoliberals? Is it the fascists and machiavellian political and economic elite that hold sway?

Why are scores of farmers still landless? Why do workers still get routinely laid off before half a year?  Why are many still jobless and the face of poverty is still in our streets?

Why don’t we still have our own industries even while we have abundant minerals, timber, waters and all? Why is Mary Jane still on death row?

Why are the poor being slaughtered casually even as families get raped and massacred by evil petty druggies? Why is there still no accountability for rights violators? Why are many now generals, Cabinet members, ambassadors and corporate board members?

Why are there still multiple standards of justice and the people still cynical about the courts? Why are the police and military feared and still have credibility issues? Why are torture and police brutality still commonplace? Why is there an expansive martial law at all?  And why are dictators called heroes?

Why are there still hundreds of political prisoners facing false charges, many sick and elderly? Why are the peace negotiations and socio-economic solutions conditioned on capitulation?

Why are there still US boots on the ground and foreign wings in the air?  Why do we still siphon out our rich resources and get processed crumbs back?

And before we forget, why the hell is Edsa still a big carpark even while the daily commuter becomes corned beef incarnate?

Yes, we need more of SSS, Pandi and Lapanday. We need more of Ka Paeng, Judy and the like in every interstice of government. And we need to be treated with respect as a people. We need justice as we need food. We need liberation as we need land. We need peace as we need progress.

We need more than rambling narratives and confusing signals, no matter how amusing. We need real change. The nation needs a new birth.

Walk the talk, Mr. President. Be on the side of the people you love as you committed, not in the cradle of those who will eventually stab you in the back when you have outlived your usefulness to them.

EDRE U. OLALIA, president, EPHRAIM B. CORTEZ, secretary general,  MARIA CRISTINA P. YAMBOT, public information officer, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, [email protected]