If ever there was a dark cloud lurking on the horizon of a country, it seems to be the current goings on in the Filipino homeland. Almost everyone, me included, is watching in anticipation, and with a bated breath, as to when this cloud is going to burst.
The signs are ominous and the time is ripe for the battle to begin; so, all you Filipinos, get ready to stand up and be counted in this hour of reckoning for it is finally going to fall on your shoulders to take sides in this god forsaken war that is looming large.
This is the time when the whole world will stand aside and judge both the warring sides while taking up the cause and justify either side. In fact the warring sides are not two; the situation is a lot more complex than that.
Who is on whose side will ultimately be decided only as the movie unfolds in the days to come; but, there have been a few unfortunate incidents that point to the likely of an unfortunate turn that the events in Philippines are likely to take. Two of these are quoted here to show that there are still some forces professing patriotism that would provoke the newly elected President to take strong measures.
In an incident that could cause the administration of the incoming President to react forcefully, there was an incident involving the hijacking of a trailer truck that was transporting a huge quantity of Rice valued at more than P- Seven Million on the highway near Nueva Ecija; this was conveyed by the police authorities much later on Sunday.
This misdeed was reportedly carried out by five gunmen who held up the truck at Carranglan City; the consignment comprising about 750 cavans was on it way from Metro Manila and belonged to a resident of San Fermin village, Reynold Montemayor.
The culprits had seized the mobile phones of the staff as soon as their lorry had been taken over; the Driver of the transport vehicle and his two assistants later narrated the whole incident after they were released in Calumpit in Bulacan.
Meanwhile, the police authorities in both Carranglan and Cuayan and the owners of the rice consignment are reported to be coordinating the operations to trace the consignment.
In another disturbing incident that displayed scant regard for law five people died in an event on 21st May at the Close-up Forever Summer Concert; an American was also stated to be the victim of an alleged overdose of drugs and alcohol. The authorities however denied that stating that postmortem revealed that the deaths were not induced by drugs.
This was not really convincing since there was a belief that the whole show was deliberately staged away from the trained eyes of the police who were asked only to monitor the periphery of the arena even though the heavy parties were on the inner area.
This incident also revealed that the normal steps taken to avoid the misuse of drugs were blatantly overlooked to ensure that the drug runners had a free run.
Such incidents have become quite frequent on one side while on the other President Duterte is likely to take over the reins of office in June ending; this would, to my mind throw up an ominous scenario which needs to be looked at quite closely.
On the one side, we have the President-elect who has been quite vocal in his assertions with regard to security and his dealings of the law and order situation. His is also a case of a formidable man having to live up to his reputation as a fierce opponent of the lawless while also keep the promises that he made to his beloved nation.
On the other side, the Liberal Party nominee for the post of Vice-President’s post Leni Robredo has managed to scrape through past a defiant Marcos Jr thus providing a major say in the affairs of the country to the ruling party.
How they gel with Duterte is to be seen.
This combination may be having a potential for being the starting point to foment trouble between the two stakeholders. Moreover, we now have some more forces that may be playing a vital role in the very foreseeable future. Let me enlist them one by one.
Abu Sayyaf Extremists
The Abu Fayyad militants have been very active on the Jolo Island and it has become a veritable pain in the neck for the army and other keepers of the law to gain any semblance of control over them; Duterte had made a poll promise that in a matter of three to six months, he will eradicate corruption and crime in his nation if he is elected the President.
But, with the election of Leni Robredo as Vice-President, there is likely to be a clash between the approaches of the Liberal Party and Duterte; moreover, even the police forces are quick to point out that in spite of the iron fist of Duterte for 22 years, crime still continues to hold sway in Davao.
They also claim that the announcements of Duterte are not likely to succeed even though Duterte in his press conference has spoken about a major offensive against the Abu Sayyaf extremists.
The Communists
A major departure from the local politics of the past government is his declaration that he will make all-out efforts to win over the Marxist Guerillas to his side in an effort to enlist their experience and hold over the working class which forms a vast proportion of the labor in the impoverished nation.
To this end, he has planned to ensure that the founder of the Communist party in Philippines will be invited to emerge from his exile and contribute to the welfare of the working classes since the Communists are the most enlightened group in the matter of labor management and welfare.
Now, Duterte has announced that he will bring the Communists to the mainstream and enlist their services to carry the benefits of progress to the labor class, the poor and the downtrodden.
He will be offering cabinet posts to the Marxists particularly in the areas of agriculture, environment, social welfare and labor to consolidate reforms which will benefit the common man.
Power to the people
It is a well-known fact that the Americans, while providing independence to Philippines had left the power with some very powerful families and land-owning clans which had their own share of Chinese who did not quite gel with the local populace.
These clans were the controllers of commerce, local government bodies and provincial governments; this trend continued even after independence and these powerful commercial clans continued to take over the institutions and government one after the other.
There were reformers in between and upheavals and rebellion including the 1986 overthrow of the Dictator Ferdinand Marcos. However, the reign of the previous President did benefit the nation through its financial reforms and rapid growth.
This had the result of attracting and augmenting the investment climate in infrastructure, education and health sectors and the nation was progressing with an expectation of this wealthy clans continuing but Duterte suddenly jumped on the bandwagon and declared his candidature.
The rebels, the discontented and the common man had had a taste of his governance and rooted for him.
This period is likely to provide more power to the masses through social reforms.
Capital Punishment
It is well known that Philippines had banned capital punishment ten years ago in 2006 under the rule of President Gloria Arroyo; the advent of Duterte who is famous for his wholehearted support of the vigilantes called Davao Death Squads and his promise to the Filipinos that he will get rid of crime and corruption in a matter of three to six months.
His thrust on re-introducing the death penalty is a push in that direction; he does assert that the ultimate punishment will only be imposed only in the case of specified crimes like Drug peddling, Rapes, Murders and Robbery.
An amusing, though serious concept in these punishments is that they are likely to introduce what is known as double the hanging which is a second hanging ceremony to ensure the death of the culprits who are responsible for rapes and robberies.
The method to be adopted for carrying out the capital punishment will avoid wastage of precious bullets as per the punisher President to be.
Shoot to kill
In his efforts to effectively tackle crime, the incoming President promised to provide the security forces with powers to shoot-to-kill in case there was any resistance, armed or violent; this would also introduce the fear of the law in some people who had no fear of the security forces.
This would be applicable to members of organized crime and for this purpose the services of army sharpshooters would be requisitioned to enforce the rule of law. He went on to add that every citizen would have the option of being law abiding or face the music.
In his emotional speech, he exhorted his countrymen to refrain from breaking the law and destroying his country or else, “I will kill you”.
Curfew
It was also announced by the President-elect that they were contemplating certain other steps to provide a better way of life to the citizens with particular stress on enforcing a life of discipline for all.
The restrictions regarding consumption of liquor will be enforced from 2 AM daily; strict action will be initiated against those drinking beyond the curfew time.
With immediate effect, the responsibility for ensuring that your children are within doors is that of the parents; parents of children will be responsible to ensure that their children are not found loitering alone after nightfall; failure to ensure this will entail jail terms for the parents for abandoning their children.
The public, meanwhile, are in a state of suspense while praying that the situation in their country does not become worse than it already is. This country has had its fair share of dictators, criminals and drug peddlers.
Umrao Singh Umraoz.wordpress.com
Written for: Lars-Magnus Carlsson www.thephilippinepride.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
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