If the matrix displayed by Malacañang would be used as an indicator of a destabilization plot, then we are a very pathetic country. Our government cheapens the highest office of the land by presenting an under-researched illustration severely lacking in both wit and intelligence, and that would not even pass for a school project.
A matrix is supposedly a visual illustration that is a product of scientific steps: planning and theory-building, data gathering, analysis of data and, finally, conclusions. But the poorly done matrix that was presented had only the intention of maligning the people listed in it and diverting our collective attention.
That matrix was simply a vehicle for Mr. Duterte and his cohorts to stir fear and threaten lawyers, journalists and activists. While on one hand this ludicrous concoction of imagined connections does not merit any serious attention, on the other, it gravely threatens the lives of people named as destabilizers. Even as it insults our sensibility and intellect, we must be clear in our rejection of such a baseless and mean-spirited chart.
Why would the President waste the people’s funds on such a comical yet dangerous matrix? Mr. Duterte makes our country a laughingstock of the world. Most sinister is that the evil plotters are not those named in the matrix, but rather those casting aspersions by naming names. They do not rest. And their schemes are a threat to justice and the very lives of those they have targeted. They further endanger democracy and civil liberties at every turn.
NORMA P. DOLLAGA,
KASIMBAYAN,
Kapatirang Simbahan Para sa Bayan,
kasimbayan@yahoo.com.ph