Creeping discontent

IN what appears to be a smoldering unease and apparent restiveness, a large segment of the populace is presently engaged in a whispering — sometimes agitated if not boisterous — dialogue on their disenchantment, if not disgust, over not only the ineffective response by those constitutionally tasked but more often by their inaction to the problems besetting the country.

Worse, those given the mantle of power by the sovereign people to adopt the politically willed governance of the Duterte administration that saw the dismantling of the drug syndicates that placed an entire generation at peril and made families dysfunctional have refused to heed the people’s raison d’etre for placing them in the corridors of power.

The forceful and successful campaign against drug lords, criminals, communist rebels and terrorist groups brought about tranquility and security to both the common people and the propertied class.

Instead of inspiring and encouraging the men and women in uniform to continue their aggressive and relentless pursuit of criminals and other enemies of the state who were either jailed or killed while resisting arrest or who scampered away in mortal fear for their lives — these law enforcement agents despaired in anger when they were ordered to submit their courtesy resignations and threatened to be divested of their pension and other entitlements.

The iron hand enforcement of the laws respecting no friends, relatives and allies created a pleasant and safe environment for work, business and pleasure and resulted in the dramatic and significant reduction of the dreaded more than half-a-century-old CCP-NPA-NDF terrorists who were responsible for the killing of thousands of Filipinos, destruction of property and destabilization of the government, giving a sense of relief and security to a once fearful citizenry.

That state of being free from danger has been shattered by the weak and vacillating method of fighting the anti-government forces.

The following factors and circumstances, if not immediately attended to, will bring about an unwanted repeat of history, a deja vu, to wit:

– The uncontrollable rising prices of basic commodities, the increasing number of unemployed;

– The inadequate grant of lands to the landless and shelter to the homeless; the continued lack of support to the farmers in building irrigation for the farmlands, giving them loans to buy modern farm implements and fertilizers to increase production of agricultural yields;

– The insufficient assistance given to the fisherfolk by way of providing them fishing boats or motor engines for their boats; the failure to provide sufficient free medical treatment and medicine to those without means;

– The inability to expand free education to millions of Filipinos who remain uneducated owing to poverty;

– The continuing neglect of OFWs on their concerns by government agencies; the unstoppable corruption in revenue-collecting institutions;

– The continued refusal by the members of Congress to account for the funds appropriated for government projects, in addition to their constant bickering to protect their selfish interests as well as messing with the Constitution to perpetuate themselves in power;

– The failure to undertake infrastructural projects so needed to propel the country’s economy to stability and progress;

– The reckless placing of the Philippine territory in danger in the event of war by kowtowing to the demands of the United States, allowing the installation of military bases and installations in strategic parts of our archipelago for their offense and defense against their adversaries;

– The violation of the right of peaceable assembly and prior restraint on the freedom of speech and of the press, as exemplified by the closure of a media network (SMNI);

– The curtailment of the rights of individuals and persecution of persons deemed to be critics of corrupt and incompetent government officials exemplified by the evident persecution of the embattled Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ;

– The unmitigated and orchestrated assault on the good name, reputation and honor of Vice President Sara Duterte and former president Rodrigo Duterte, who have both maintained their astronomical popularity and trust ratings by political scoundrels and opportunists; and

– Other national concerns requiring undivided attention and immediate response that remain largely ignored.

All this has given birth to a creeping discontent that, if not satisfactorily quashed — and immediately responded to — will develop into a political conflagration that will find the powers that be in the vortex of another political upheaval.