From my mail: Yellows and Reds are the real threats to Philippine democracy?

Ihad hoped to write today on the surreal Senate hearing on the “fake news” epidemic. But after watching the hearing online and discovering that blogger Cocoy Dayao did not show up and kept the show stranded, I decided to defer the piece to next week, when I hope to know more about the world of blogging, like knowing what a “bot” is and how the criminal cyberworld operates.

I found it terribly unfair at the hearing that the bloggers were so knowledgeable about their arcane world, while the republic’s senators knew so little about it.

The hearing was actually informative and interesting, until it was turned into a confrontation between the LP senators and two pro-Duterte bloggers and government employees: Rey Joseph Nieto and Mocha Uson.

For the hearing to be productive, the mismatch must be corrected.

Article from my email

From time to time, I have printed in my column some documents and records as well as the letters of readers, when I

consider them helpful in providing perspective on what is happening in our country and in the world.

Today, I will yield my space to a long comment on the current political situation that was sent me by a longtime reader. I reproduce the comment with some editing and abridgement, in accordance with my rules for reproducing the work of others.

I leave readers to judge for themselves the merits of the article. Some will agree with the author’s points. Others will disagree. I will reserve comment for later, and will only perform for now the role of messenger.

The full article can be uploaded through this link: http://thestagnantfilipino.com/2017/10/theyellows-and-reds-as-real-threatsto-philippine-democracy/

Democracy’s real threats

The article ,“The Yellows and Reds as real threats to Philippine democracy” by Jun Avelino, follows:

“Those who are opposed to the Duterte administration have labeled the President as a fascist, a dictator and a leader who has murdered his own people. They claim that the country is heading to dictatorship with Duterte’s iron- fisted rule akin to that of the Marcos dictatorship. While this characterization of Duterte is not shared by the overwhelming majority of Filipinos, it needs close scrutiny and debate if only to educate the proponents of such a preposterous claim.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes, since the day Duterte assumed the presidency up to now, has called the President corrupt, a murderer, charged him with crimes against humanity, and accused corruption. Yet Trillanes continues to enjoy his freedom to be an idiot up to now. And he calls him a dictator? Sanamagan!

Sen. Leila de Lima, who claims also called the President a coldblooded killer of his own people, hurled insults at him and accused him of being behind the extrajudicial killings ( EJKs) in the country. But where is De Lima now? She’s enjoying her time at the PNP Custodial Center and continues to badmouth the President even behind bars. If Digong is a dictator, De Lima would be history by now. Sanamagan!

Yellows, the real fascists

Religious groups and the opposition use children to mock and ridicule the President using placards bearing indecent words during rallies and other antigovernment gatherings. Has Duterte bothered to prevent them? No. We see the Catholic Church and other religious groups continue to speak out freely. And yet they have the audacity to brand the Duterte government as immoral and demonize it through the ringing of the church bells. Duterte even encourages people to demonstrate on the streets and organize rallies to express their grievances against the government.

A dictator is one who exercises absolute political power. The last time I checked, the three branches of our government were still fully functioning and the Philippine Constitution is still dictating our affairs of state. So how can you call the President a fascist, dictator and an autocrat if all his actions are in accordance with the law? His decisions have been challenged many times before the Supreme Court on matters like Mindanao martial law, Marcos burial, etc. He defended his decisions fair and square before the highest court of the land and he prevailed. Now you call him a dictator?

As a democratic country, we Filipinos have different perspectives, preferences and ideas of how this country should be governed. That is why we have regular elections to choose the leaders who will lead the country based on the programs they presented during the election campaign. Those elected have the mandate of the Filipino people, which the losing party or parties are obligated to accept in the spirit of democracy.

The Yellows are guilty of antidemocratic acts. Post-EDSA revolution, the Yellows symbolized the promised change and reform after Marcos. But today they merely obsess about Duterte’s ouster from the presidency.

The Yellows are the real fascists, not Duterte.

Reds’ game plan

The Reds likewise threaten the heart of our democracy. I refer to the CPP/NPA/NDF and all its allied organizations operating in legal fronts like Akbayan, KMU, Bayan Muna, the so- called Makabayan bloc in Congress, and the rest who are supportive of the programs of the extreme left. They espouse their own form of government based on Marxist-Leninist ideology. Like the Yellows, they don’t subscribe to the will of the majority. They have been staging their people’s war for the last 50 years, ignoring the fact that only a few fools still buy their obsolete ideology.

The peace negotiations with the Reds failed because they did not want peace on our government’s terms. Duterte can’t be swayed by the Reds’ tactic of blaming the government for the collapse of the talks. He has drawn the line because the Reds have revealed their true and hidden agenda.

The writing is on the wall. You only have to connect the dots to realize that what is going on in this country is part of the grand design of the extreme left to elbow the Liberal Party out of the scene.

The Reds’ game plan is obvious. Silently expand their mass base through organizing and recruitment using government resources while allowing the Liberal Party or other opposition forces to be their decoy, to demonize the administration with numerous charges against the President. Have you ever wondered why the Reds never asked their Cabi of the huge resources they can steal from the government for waging war against it. Within the House of Representatives, party-list groups use government resources to strengthen - ment. Yet our system allows it.

The Reds’ ultimate target is to seize power when Duterte is gone.

With the vigilance of the Filipino masses, who abhor communism, these plans of the Reds will not materialize.

A service to readers

Does publishing this comment amount to endorsing it?

No. I have my own view and analysis of the national situation. I see my work as columnist and journalist as principally a service to enlarge and deepen the debate on public policy that is vital for our democracy.

I submit that serving as a chan others is part of my service to readers and the