Behind the turbulent political scene

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N “The Philippines in the Eye of the Political Storm,” Frank Cibulka, an associate professor of social and behavioral sciences at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, wrote that the country “passed through another year of severe political weather. Political instability is becoming expected and almost institutionalized. The country’s division between the supporters of constitutional reform and those who wish to preserve the existing system that mirrors the government of its former American colonial power indicates an increasing lack of legitimacy of the political system.”

That excerpt from an article by an outsider looking in aptly describes the political weather in the country today — except that it was published in “Southeast Asian Affairs” in 2007, during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Some 17 years later, the media is having a field day reporting the trading of comments and accusations from the two most influential figures in Philippine politics today: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.

We have a President who is “high” (with cocaine), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) knows it, Duterte claimed when he fired his salvo of critical remarks against Marcos during a prayer rally in the former’s hometown of Davao City on January 28.

“The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) showed me a list containing his name on it,” he went on in the presence of Sen. Imee Marcos, the President’s elder sister.

Members of the media were frantic to get Malacañang or Marcos’ reaction to the claim.

Duterte’s remarks resulted from his use of fentanyl, which he has been using for six years now, Marcos retorted, shrugging off his predecessor’s accusations that he is a “drug addict.” Get yourself tested for illegal drugs, Duterte challenged his successor as the former swore to get himself tested, as well. And since the PDEA has declared that the President’s name was never on any drug watchlist, the former leader proposed that an independent body would determine the results of their drug examinations.

Just before Duterte’s tirade, surreptitious moves to amend the Constitution by a joint vote of Congress were exposed, causing an uproar. Yet, while the nation reels from this bogus people’s initiative that is marred by allegations of improvident signatures in exchange for “ayuda,” Duterte revived the plan to dismember Mindanao from the rest of the country.

From abroad, a self-confessed member of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS), Arturo Lascañas, was interviewed by the media. He accused Vice President Sara Duterte of participating in summary executions in Davao City when she was vice mayor and, later, mayor. Lascañas also accused the elder Duterte of ordering the execution of certain individuals, maintaining a drug laboratory and keeping a cache of firearms.

Sara vehemently denied Lascañas’ accusation, calling it “scripted.” She was aghast that she was named, along with Senators Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa and Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, as involved in extrajudicial killings under “Oplan Tokhang.” In a statement pregnant with meaning, she said she did not need to create a DDS for jobs she could do by herself. She bewailed the desperate efforts to link her to the alleged murders for her to be indicted in the International Criminal Court (ICC). She dared her accuser to file cases against her but reiterated that she was willing to be tried only before a Filipino court presided by a Filipino judge.

These events are not one of those ordinary exchanges of political diatribes. If National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Artemio Balisacan is to be believed, these indices of serious political instability in the Philippines are what drive away prospective foreign investors, which was also among the reasons cited for the need to amend our Charter.

These involve the sitting president and commander in chief of the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) being accused of using illegal drugs; the intensity and manner by which it was attempted to be licked is now the subject of the ICC probe. This is about his immediate predecessor calling on these organizations to “correct” the current administration’s perceived plan to keep itself in power and admitting having summoned retired generals about the “rampant and uncontrolled graft and corruption” that could bring down the government.

Apart from the obvious local political interests behind this upheaval, could there be external forces in whose playbook these circumstances conform? While many observers see these as political maneuverings for survival or to wield power between the two most powerful political dynasties in the country today, could there be foreign interests instigating the actions of one to create political instability in the country? Could this be an extension of a broad spectrum of the battle for political, defense and economic superiority in a region between two opposing superpowers? Sometimes, truth can be stranger than fiction. After all, Sun Tzu once said: “To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the supreme excellence. To subdue the enemy without fighting is.” The defense and security sector should know, and the citizenry should be wary.

Despite this political noise that invariably affects it and the many organizational issues unknown to the public but hound the organization, commendations are in order for the AFP to remain focused on accomplishing its mission. In fierce firefights spanning two days, army troopers belonging to the 103rd Infantry Brigade, led by Brig. Gen. Yegor Barroquillo, under the operational control of the 1st Infantry Division commanded by Maj. Gen. Gabriel Viray, neutralized at least nine suspected members of the terrorist Dawlah IslamiyahMaute Group, who were reported to have perpetrated the deadly bombing at the Mindanao State University Gym in Marawi City last December. Four soldiers were wounded in this operation, during which eight high-powered firearms, a grenade launcher and improvised explosive devices were among the weapons seized.

In a period of six weeks to date, in Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Bukidnon provinces, which are among the 4th Infantry Division’s area of responsibility, 16 New People’s Army (NPA) terrorists were killed, four were captured, and 14 high-power firearms (HPFAs) and two low-power firearms were seized in the four air and ground combat offensives of units under the tactical and operational control of the division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Jose Ma. Cuerpo. These focused combat operations also led to the surrender of 16 NPAs, a Milisyang Bayan member and 21 HPFAs.

But like the 12.9 million Filipinos who rated themselves as “poor” in the Social Weather Stations’ December 2023 survey, AFP and PNP personnel earnestly yearn that our politicians and national leaders legislate and execute laws that would uplift the abject conditions of our people. The men and women in uniform cannot afford to fail in their mission to keep the nation safe and secure despite the political turbulence.