Crackdown

What a start to the week. Yesterday, people woke up to the disquieting video of a policeman assaulting and attempting to arrest a homeowner in Dasmariñas Village, Makati City, right in his own property. The man had intervened (heatedly, it should be noted) when the cop, in full camouflage uniform, reportedly accosted the househelp who was watering the plants in the driveway without a mask.

The altercation led to the homeowner being wrestled to the ground and the cop declaring at one point, “I arrest you in my presence!”

The barangay later released a statement siding with the police, saying it was advised that: “This resident was on the street and sidewalk which belongs to [a] common area, therefore a public place. He was committing a crime in the presence of the officer, and could be arrested even if he retreated to his property.”

On Tuesday last week, the police were also in hot water for the killing of Winston Ragos, an Army veteran suffering from mental health problems who was shot to death by Master Sgt. Daniel Florendo Jr. allegedly over Ragos’ violation of quarantine regulations.

The killing of a mentally disturbed civilian was an appalling manifestation of the strong-arm approach the government has taken to managing what is primarily a public health crisis. But the public uproar that followed, and the homicide charges eventually slapped on Florendo, apparently have not chastened the police.

As the weeks of quarantine have ground on, human rights and civil liberties are seemingly being set aside willy-nilly in the name of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of thousands of mostly poor citizens arrested, the National Bureau of Investigation has summoned at least 17 people for allegedly spreading fake news during the pandemic, including one who questioned why the government had money to buy a P2-billion jet (a widely reported issue in October 2019) but no money for health services.

The penchant for coercion and intimidation has seeped into local governments. In Cebu, filmmaker and business owner Victoria Beltran was arrested without warrant after she posted a clearly satirical post reacting to the city government’s confounding announcement that the entire Sitio Zapatera in Cebu City (with a population of 9,000) was “already deemed as a contaminated place.”

Days later, in Cordova town, policemen paid a visit to the home of Maria Shanyl Emeliano and interrogated her on her Facebook post complaining about empty grocery and market stalls and nonworking ATMs in her town, which was said to have angered the mayor.

Government employees are similarly forbidden from speaking their minds. After Department of Environment and Natural Resources assistant regional director Marcos Dacanay “advised” employees in a memo “not to comment or post negative in the social media against the government,” Environment Undersecretary Benny Antiporda doubled down on the move by saying “you don’t bite the hand that feeds you” — a justification subsequently demolished by Commission on Elections Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, who pointed out that the Supreme Court has ruled that government workers do not lose their freedom of speech.

In yet another case of the police targeting perceived dissenters, seven members of the militant group Anakpawis were blocked from delivering relief goods in Norzagaray, Bulacan, supposedly for violating the lockdown, and then were red-tagged for bringing with them copies of the alternative newspaper Pinoy Weekly, a legitimate publication existing since 2002.

And over the weekend, Philippine labor officials similarly afflicted with the authoritarian bug took the unprecedented step of seeking the deportation of an overseas Filipino worker in Taiwan for what they described as her “nasty and malevolent” posts against President Duterte. Elanel Ordidor, a caregiver, is not only under threat of being evicted from Taiwan, she also faces cyberlibel charges.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Albay Rep. Joey Salceda prominently shared fake news of the Divisoria market supposedly teeming with people, which turned out to be old photos taken before the pandemic — and they, along with Sen. Koko Pimentel who violated quarantine protocols in a brazen and dangerous way, have been spared the crackdown.

It cannot be helped: One looks at countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Canada, and Germany and feels envy at the sense of calm, common sense, and openness displayed by their governments and leaders in addressing the monumental challenges of the pandemic, in return inspiring support and informed engagement from the public.

In the Philippines, on the other hand, as anxiety stalks the land and many more citizens worry about where to get their next meal, officialdom is busy wielding a deplorable, unnecessary weapon: fear.