Why ‘Tunay na pagbabago’ is not going to happen

As we all know, the tagline of President Duterte during the election was “tunay na pagbabago.” We can already see a lot of changes in the government particularly in how they serve the public.

However, the very essence and root of real and concrete change will not happen unless the three branches of the government will unite in pursuing this objective. The Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches must have one goal to be able to achieve the change that we all desire for our country; the change that the public long for. But if some members of the other branches continue to use their power to inhibit the Executive branch from fully functioning in service of the people, then it would truly be impossible to achieve real change. If we look at the Legislative branch, I believe that as long as we have traditional politicians (trapo) who only serve themselves and their personal agenda the government is losing time which can be used to truly serve the will of the people.

As long as we have senators like Trillanes who’s clearly diverting the flow of Senate hearings to throw attacks to the President and his family, then the time for the people will continue to be used in serving the personal interest of this type of politicians. We have already seen how they operate and how they can use the senate hearing to achieve their own goal; just like what happened to the Senate hearing on alleged EJKs, which they diverted to the topic on Davao Death Squad and President Duterte’s alleged involvement in the group. And recently, at the Senate hearing regarding the P6.4-billion shabu shipment, Senator Trillanes again used this opportunity to throw baseless and evidence-less accusation to involve the Duterte family in the smuggling issue at the Bureau of Customs.

Another senator, Kiko Pangilinan, also seems to have an ulterior motive when speaking about the drug-related killings committed recently by some policemen. Together with Senator Hontiveros, they want the public to believe in their conclusion that the recent deaths of minors should be blamed on President Duterte and his war on drugs.

But what was the order of the President to the police? His order was for the policemen to do their duty, and if in the process their lives were put in danger, then they can protect themselves. Now what was wrong in giving these police the authority to protect themselves? If some politicians would always question the police for protecting themselves in the line of duty, then will the police be truly able to fulfill their duty to protect the public? Especially if it seems that politicians are telling them that the lives of the criminals are more important than theirs.

Another flaw in some of our politicians that I see is their naivety when it comes to minors being used or involved in criminal activities. President Duterte himself slammed Senator Pangilinan for Republic Act No. 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act that he authored:

“The problem with Pangilinan was that he was too much in a hurry and had that law passed. That is why we produced about five to six generations of people who committed crimes and released on the same day irrespective of the gravity of the offense.” – President Duterte

Now, the Liberal Party is even planning to block the budget of PNP over their drug war campaign. I believe that this plan to block the budget of PNP is influenced by their biased conclusion that the police are intentionally killing suspects and even innocent people. Let me ask you something, if they succeed in destroying the drug war campaign of the PNP, who do you think wins: the people or the drug lords and narco-politicians? So by blocking the budget for the drug war campaign, who are they really fighting for, the people or those involved in the illegal drugs?

In my own experience as a government official, there are a lot of changes that I think must happen, but most of them can only be achieved if Congress and Senate amend some of the laws to truly serve the welfare of the people. We have the numbers in Congress, especially now that some switched sides. However, what we need now is not to allow traditional politicians (trapos) – who only serve themselves – in our government. Since all of the members of the Legislative are decided by the people, it is my hope that we make sure these enemies of change must no longer be re-elected, because as we have seen these past years, they may act like they serve the people, but what’s truly important to them is their own interest, agenda, and power.