More and more express dissent
MORE and more people are coming out of their silence over extra-judicial killings (EJKs), President Duterte’s pugnacious ways, profane language, abusive attitude toward people, and confusing foreign policy.
I’ve always considered those who have been silent as complicit in the administration’s extreme measures.
But more and more, Filipinos are telling the President he can’t always have his way on every issue.
Early on, I had identified four key sectors that will have to play crucial roles in the coming months: The Catholic Church, media, academe, and the military.
The Church has lately been vocal, calling for a cessation of the killings, which have caused a lot of anguish among the families of the victims, especially the minors killed who didn’t look like they had been involved in drug trade or use. Still, Church leaders have to do more.
Media will have to step up in going deeper into the real stories behind the administration’s actions and policies instead of merely reporting what they see on the surface. Media people do take stabs at the government when they can but they will have to be more consistent and harder hitting.
The academe, too, has been coming out (literally out of the classrooms) lately. The millennials and both students and young professionals will have to play key roles. But they shouldn’t just do it in spurts.
It appears the military is standing its ground on being professional and independent so far, although of course it will not be immune to the blandishments of an administration that has a humongous budget. When crunch time comes, though, military brass and rank and file will have to decide on which side they’re on.
I’ve not factored in the activist Left because they’ve been vacillating in their stance vis-à-vis Duterte. They have to make up their minds whether they’re with the masses or not and for democracy or not.
Members of civil society and society at large who’ve been coming out lately surely realize that, as disparate groupings, they stand very little chance of exerting influence on the administration. As they start as small groups now they must later endeavor to coalesce as a larger body for, as the basic truism tells us, there’s strength in numbers.
Critics of anti-Duterte groups may say the antis’ ranks consist of some of the same people, the “usual suspects” so to speak. There’s nothing wrong with that; that confirms their common advocacies and objectives.
But what they need to do next is to beef up their numbers and expand, again to achieve credibility and strength in numbers. Only large numbers, a critical mass as it were, will scare those who might wish to experiment with a dictatorship.
Activists must show by their numbers that the administration must listen instead of simply ignoring the people and going ahead with whatever it wants to do. The people, as the sovereign power, must be heard and listened to.
The key is that the disparate antiDuterte groups must eventually become a united front to make the administration take notice and listen. Continuing as separate and divided groups, they stand no chance.
*** Tantrum Ergo. Aren’t there stronger terms than “fat” and “thin” to describe dynasties? How about “major” and “minor,” or “extended” and “limited”? Or “multi-layered” and “thinly layered.” “Fat” and “thin” are almost a trivialization of the utter rottenness of the dynastic political system in the country. “Fat” and “thin” don’t sound serious enough to fully bring out the enormity of the problem.