Blurring right versus wrong
To be fair, the Duterte administration will leave some positive legacies, perhaps on the economics side, because the President has made a few creditable appointments to govern this sector. To name a few, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, NEDA Secretary General Ernesto Pernia, and the late Nestor Espenilla of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. I guess because he expressly values utang ng loob as a high value, he basically gives Dominguez, the leader of this group, a lot of leeway, and basic policy autonomy. Dominguez, after all, is from Davao, and was one of his early campaign supporters. Besides, Dominguez did not accept the job right away; and reports indicate that President Duterte practically begged him to take the job.
However, aside from the virtually treasonous surrender of our sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea despite our UNaccredited victory in The Hague, the incredible extrajudicial killings in the obsessive “drug war,” the brute force applied against the human rights of outstanding women (e.g., Leila de Lima, Patricia Fox, et al) and public and ungentlemanly insults against other women including the duly elected Vice-President, perhaps the greatest harm that the Duterte administration will leave as a legacy is the blurring of lines between right and wrong. This is truly a serious crime because its potential impact can last for generations.
The sin of lying is being denigrated publicly by the President and his daughter who it is said, is being groomed to succeed him. To make matters worse, honesty is being downgraded as a value in defense of brazen lies perpetrated on her website by the campaign of senatorial candidate Imee Marcos. My mother often told me that lying and stealing are cousins, and that they often go together. What gall, to claim college degrees earned from the University of the Philippines and the Ivy League Princeton University, and what greater gall, to claim fictitious honors! It sounds like the 27 heroic medals fable claimed by her father Ferdinand Marcos. Or, perhaps, by
Perhaps the greatest harm that the Duterte administration will leave as a legacy is the blurring of lines between right and wrong. This is truly a serious crime because its potential impact can last for generations.
extension, the claim of Bongbong Marcos that he was cheated in the 2016 vice-presidential race.
Sara Duterte publicly stated that lying should not be a campaign issue in the coming elections because, according to reports, she says all politicians lie anyway. OMG, if that is true, why hold elections anyway? Is she saying that whoever we choose, they lie (and steal) anyway? These are words from our potential next president? And her own father, our current elected leader actually said that there is no evidence that the Marcoses have illegally acquired wealth?
Thank God international civil servant Ruben Carranza, former deputy of the late Haydee Yorac in the PCGG, who actually did most of the work to recover over US$700 million of hidden Marcos money in Swiss banks (now worth over a billion dollars which hopefully is in process of being distributed to human rights victims of the Marcos government) took the trouble on international cable television to refute Duterte’s wild statement. There is enough evidence, Carranza firmly asserted; and that has been acknowledged by the Swiss depository Banks for aliases William Saunders and Jane Ryan, et al. It makes one wonder what it is that motivates the Dutertes to go this far to defend lies, with more lies. Is it the much vaunted value of utang ng loob? What is the utang ng loob of the Dutertes to the Marcoses? Can it possibly be great enough to supersede honesty as a value?