Vigilance

The professors I respect most are those who encourage their students to analyze beyond the printed text because there is always a bigger picture behind the actions and motives of the actors in a play.

Rodrigo Duterte’s rise to power was both impressive and unsettling. His assumption to office excited the millions who voted for him, not because of his campaign promises peppered with familiar refrains. Rather, they saw in him a leader who truly understands their struggles and frustrations, articulated in his long-winded speeches. Here was a toughie from Davao who vowed to end criminality and corruption in a social fabric accustomed to dynasties and political patronage, personality politics, and a forgetful — or worse, a pardoning — public.

This is not to undermine the positive traits of the Filipino, but given the deafening silence to, or at the least tolerance of, the behavior of the government, we should be honest with how we view ourselves as a people.

It is hard to believe that with the present state of affairs, one could dare say everything is normal or tolerable. Where there are numerous violations of fundamental rights committed by uniformed officers duty-bound to serve and protect the people, the situation calls for condemnation and accountability. When due process, the very safeguard against the awesome powers of the state, is dispensed with, when the pounding of the gavel is replaced by a gunshot, an aggressive and sustained opposition is called for. When lawmakers and law enforcers indiscriminately apply the law for the purpose of protecting their self-interests and ensuring their preservation, and coequal branches exercise an overreach of their powers, it offends our most treasured democratic values, and again calls for condemnation and accountability.

But one must shake off the impression that it is the handiwork of a single individual in the person of the President. These flagrant violations are piecemeal steps of many opportunists in ensuring that their self-interests outlive a president’s single term. A friend of mine, having worked in the government, recently shared his realization that the real powers-that-be are not just the politicians but greedy big businessmen as well. They operate behind the scenes, pressuring government officials in whom they have “invested” or sweet-talking those to whom they promise considerable cuts. Included in this group of businessmen are not only the corporate types, but also criminal syndicates who prey on the general public. These opportunists surround the President and have done some serious boot-licking for a year now, taking advantage of his high approval ratings and broad executive powers which, of course, include his power to appoint. Finally getting favored by the President, a cunning public official only has his/her conscience to dictate whether public interest should indeed be the primordial concern. For the seasoned and shrewd politicians who have made public office an enterprise, there is no honoring principled political alliances when perpetuation in office is the long-term objective.

A real observer cannot deny the cycle of political patronage. Not so long ago, Noynoy Aquino captured the presidency in a landslide victory and was met with the same optimism. The political bandwagon, not surprisingly, followed him. Lawmakers either carried his legislative agenda or accommodated his wishes with some latitude of compromise. The more influential ones flitter-fluttered like political butterflies and have shifted alliance to Mr. Duterte. Expectedly, they are now in control of Congress. The officials in the executive branch are also expected to toe the line lest they get the ire of the temperamental President.

There is no denying that shaping public perception is an important factor in somehow legitimizing these unscrupulous activities. Dissent is certainly counterproductive and a threat to what is seemingly a progressing/developing authoritarian or totalitarian rule. A demolition job in the guise of criminal prosecution, character assassination in the form of an ethics complaint, propaganda presented in government-owned or -supported media outlets and by paid hacks, cover-ups, spins and self-serving press releases, political pressure through the threat of impeachment, branding ideologies as enemies of the state, and limiting appropriations to cripple certain government entities—these should all seriously trouble us. All of these make me critical of the real motives behind the push for amending the Constitution, or a call for federalism that could allow strong political families to further solidify their hold on power.

The past administration might be criticized for its incompetence and the “analysis-paralysis” approach of the officials who served therein. But we live in more dangerous times. The gradual concentration of powers is a familiar narrative and should be constantly put in check, if not by a branch of government, then by the very people in whom sovereignty resides and from whom all government authority emanates.

It is my hope that Filipinos will not fail to realize the urgent need to criticize unwarranted actions of the government, lest we stagnate into a society ruled by a select few and not by the supremacy of the people.

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Jose Miguel Solis, 26, is a history graduate of the University of the Philippines and a Juris Doctor student at the UP College of Law.