They lie in wait

“Sadly, the situation, as the man on the street perceives it, is sliding back to before Duterte launched a determined campaign against narcotics and crime

“The irrelevance of the yellow mob or the pinklawans was nowhere more palpable than in the recent two national elections that opened the portal for their extinction.

One of the reasons that the majority of Filipinos repudiated the hubristic mob was its members’ complete detachment from the basic aspirations of Filipinos that, in turn, former President Rodrigo Duterte successfully tapped into.

The irrelevance of the yellow mob or the pinklawans was nowhere more palpable than in the recent two national elections that opened the portal for their extinction.

In the United Nations Human Rights Council’s fourth Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines, the mob attempted restitution of its bankrupt agenda.

The UNHRC was supplied with information detrimental to the former regime primarily on the drug war and what was claimed as a crackdown on the opposition that is apparently aimed at baiting the current administration to perceive overwhelming international pressure and thus allow the return of the climate where the civil socialites thrive.

Dragged into the report was the bygone quo warranto proceeding that removed former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno which it claimed as having created a chilling effect on the judiciary.

It seems that the author of that portion of the report was made to believe that the former President had direct participation in the ouster while it was an 8-6 decision of SC associate justices. Sereno’s colleagues, which resulted in the termination of the post she held.

Consider the part on the UNHRC report referring to “the extremely high number of extrajudicial killings, particularly in the context of the government’s anti-illegal drug campaigns, and of grave human rights violations involved in these killings” which was right out of the playbook of the opponents of the former President.

“It is particularly concerned about reports of incitement to violence against and extrajudicial killings of suspected drug offenders by high-level officials, including the former president,” was a patent prejudgment that the report allowed.

Likewise cited was the use of a “drug watch lists” of suspected drug offenders which the report claimed was “based on unsubstantiated information as well as non-judicial house visits, the “Oplan Tokhang” made by the authorities based on these lists to persuade suspected offenders to surrender.

Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla said the government has nothing to hide and would allow the visits of special rapporteurs to see for themselves the situation in the country.

Remulla said the government will invite the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz, who is a forensic pathologist which is a rare expertise among doctors in the country.

The UNHRC report listed recommendations to address the assessments based on information supplied by the mob.

Among these points that the country was urged to immediately address is to “strengthen its cooperation with the international human rights mechanisms as well as the ongoing investigations by the International Criminal Court.”

The clash between a leadership that has its ears on the ground and those opposing it who rely on the backing of the liberal democrats of the world to upturn its ruined political future is reflected in the report.

Duterte completed his term as the most popular president the country ever had and this was primarily the result of the peace of mind that most Filipinos, particularly those who work abroad, nurture that the government is in full control and the streets are free of criminals.

Sadly, the situation, as the man on the street perceives it, is sliding back to before Duterte launched a determined campaign against narcotics and crime.

The eventual aim of the mobsters, who are unheard of when it comes to the drug problem, would be for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos to allow an environment where public support if not tolerance for them will pave the way for a grand comeback and open the door for another power grab.