PRELUDE TO ‘GREATER TERROR’?

WITH the arrest of 7,000-plus so-called “tambays” in Metro Manila, including those apparently merely waiting for a ride, standing outside their house semi-naked to cool off, or buying cell phone load in nearby stores, is President Duterte conditioning the Filipino people to martial law? Even during martial law under Ferdinand Marcos, not as many people were picked up in a week’s time while outside their homes. Is this a prelude to more bold moves?

The road to declaring martial law, if President Duterte so desires, has become easier now after the removal of Maria Lourdes Sereno as chief justice, and the President’s control of the House of Representatives. Remember, Hitler had his Braunhemden (“brownshirts”) throw into jail those he considered undesirable humans like homosexuals, vagrants and women of ill repute, when he became chancellor of Germany.

If Filipinos do not organize and resist this descent into an authoritarian regime because they have become acclimatized to daily killings and the impunity of brazen police raids in their communities, then we deserve whatever greater terror will befall our benighted land.