Revolutionizing martial law

PerryScope
By Perry Diaz

Duterte visits Marawi

Recently, political debate was sparked on whether the 1987 Constitution would allow President Rodrigo Duterte to form a revolutionary government in lieu of declaring martial law. Supporters of Duterte say that by forming a revolutionary government, he doesn’t have to make a report to Congress, which is a proviso of the 1987 Constitution when martial law is declared.

The framers of the Constitution believed that by requiring the President to report to Congress when the President declares martial law, it would prevent a repeat of the Marcos-era martial rule where Congress was transformed into rubber-stamp legislative body. It supplanted the rule of law with the rule of man.

But President Duterte figures that by forming a revolutionary government, he can still avail of the military’s support, which is stacked up with loyalist Dutertistas, who would keep him – and themselves — in power. And they’ll be part of a power structure that will protect their personal and business interests. It’s a philosophy that keeps the few elite in power.

Dutertism

Duterte’s campaign against criminality and illegal drugs has so far claimed the lives of at least 10,000 alleged drug users. However the “war on drugs” has failed to put the powerful drug lords out of action. Duterte himself has admitted to the existence of Chinese triads in the country. Tons of the illegal drug “shabu” continue to proliferate the country due to conniving customs officials, powerful smugglers, and corrupt influence peddlers.

But what is interesting to know is that with all these anti-crime, anti-drug, anti-corruption, and anti-poverty campaign the government is pursuing, the country is still sick just as it was once when it was called the “Sick Man of Asia.” The government hasn’t eradicated poverty as it claims it to be. The peso is falling and the cost of food is going up.

With each passing day, the country’s gloomy situation has evoked fears of martial law. And as criticism against Duterte’s “war on drugs” and extrajudicial killings intensifies, Duterte warned that he’d declare a revolutionary government if his critics’ attempt to ”destabilize” the government escalates and causes trouble. He accused the “Reds” (communists) and the “Yellows” (Liberal Party and supporters of former President Benigno Aquino III) of conspiring against him. He said that he’d arrest all of the destabilizers once he declares a revolutionary government, just like what Marcos did when he declared martial law. He jailed almost all of the Liberal Party leaders including Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. (Cory’s husband).

He likens his move to what former President Cory Aquino did. He said that Cory was about to declare martial law and then changed her mind and instead declared a revolutionary government.

However, lawyer Romulo Macalintal disagreed. In a media interview, Macalintal said that as a lawyer, Duterte should know that “revolutionary government is the result of a revolution where the existing legitimate government is completely overthrown by a new group of leaders that establishes its own government.”

He cited the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986 that ousted the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and installed Cory Aquino as its “titular head,” and later as the chief executive, under the Freedom Constitution (also known as the Cory Constitution).

If Duterte insists on pursuing a revolutionary government, then it goes without saying that he is doing it to circumvent the Constitution; thus, it is illegal and unconstitutional. It is also presumed that Congress would cease to exist, as we know it. How can it continue to function as a legislative body under a revolutionary government where Duterte would rule by decree? He might allow Congress to exist only to rubber-stamp his own legislative agenda. Wasn’t that what had happened during Marcos’ martial law era?

The Supreme Court under a revolutionary government could likewise be under the indirect control of Duterte. In my column, “Dutertesized Supreme Court” (September 22, 2017), I wrote: “If Duterte succeeds in removing [Chief Justice Maria Lourdes] Sereno and appoints someone whom he knows would be loyal to him, it would create a 13-justice super bloc that could easily provide him with a minimum eight-vote majority.”

Fascism

The Fascists: Spain’s Francisco Franco, Germany’s Adolf Hitler, and Italy’s Benito Mussolini.

If Duterte succeeds in appointing majority of the Supreme Court Justices led by a Chief Justice of his own picking, then Duterte’s revolutionary government would become a one-man dictatorship in the mold of the late Benito Mussolini, the founder of Fascism, a form of radical authoritarian nationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and control of industry and commerce. Fascism flourished in Europe from the 1920s to the end of World War II. The three major fascist states were Germany under Hitler, Italy under Mussolini, and Spain under Franco.

Mussolini believed that the government is “supreme and the country is all-encompassing, and all within it must conform to the ruling body, often a dictator.” Mussolini also believed that “any type of questioning the government is not to be tolerated. If you do not see things our way, you are wrong. If you do not agree with the government, you cannot be allowed to live and taint the minds of the rest of the good citizens.”

Dutertism is clearly fascistic in its philosophical outlook. Its strong emphasis on nationalism coupled with a hazy “independent” foreign policy is nothing more than a camouflage for what Dutertism hopes to achieve, which is total subjugation of the people under a fascistic regime.

President Rodrigo Duterte and the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Duterte’s idea of a revolutionary government can be traced to Marcos’ martial law regime. Indeed, Duterte is taking a page from Marcos’ playbook. It is “revolutionary” in name only. It is martial law disguised as revolutionary government. What Duterte is doing is revolutionizing martial law. It’s one and the same with one exception: Congress is left out of the power equation. Indeed, it’s coup d’état against the democratic government he was elected to serve.

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)

Nowadays, PH doesn’t have a Christian society

No Limitation
By Ted Laguatan

Man’s first loyalty should be to God and not to political or economic interests and much less to evil, powerful people who engage in all kinds of demonic activities.

How is it that so many church-going German Catholics and other Christians gave their support and loyalty to Hitler, a murderous tyrant, cheering and hailing him even if they knew or pretended not to know that he instigated the genocidal mass murder of Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals, which is clearly against God’s laws?

Good and evil inclinations lurk in the hearts of human beings. The Germans who cheered and supported Hitler sided with the evil inside of them and allowed their cowardice and herd mentality to overcome their individual Christian responsibilities of speaking out against and resisting evil. Calling oneself a Christian means nothing unless one lives and even dies if necessary, like a true Christian. A man (or woman) who cooperates with evil with his silence or actively serves and supports evil clearly displeases God. Many Filipinos today who call themselves Catholics or Christians serve and/or support evil forces.

When a leader obsessed with death and violence rules the land by terrorizing the citizens and mocks God with his lies and insolent mouth–and when he wants to kill or imprison or dispose of all of his political enemies–we ought to recognize that terrible demonic dark forces are at work. Such a leader brings out the worst in people. He will drag souls to hell with him.

Millions of Germans were used by Hitler to carry out his evil ways. As Nazi enforcers they arrested, tortured, imprisoned and murdered innocent men, women and children to ingratiate themselves with their evil leader in exchange for some privileges and security. They chose Satan over God. Where are these evil men and women now? Most of them are dead just like the millions they murdered. Are their souls in the same place? The past is a great ocean of truth.

An evil ruler wants to convince the people that the evil things he does are for the good of the country and insists that he is telling the truth when he gives justification for his murderous policies. He knows that men and women desire to know the truth. But, in reality, he is not really interested in the truth. His interest is “to be considered as being in the right.” As such, he presents partial or fake truth that strongly argues that he is right. By so doing, he wants to show that his critics are wrong. He needs his critics to be wrong because if he is able to persuade his audience with his lies that he is right–then his untruth becomes truth. His cruelty and violence become virtues. His mass murders are then considered justice.

The Germans under Hitler lived under a tyranny of lies which affirmed itself in establishing power and gained increasing control over men and women’s minds and hearts in proportion to their belief that they are doing good in being faithfully obedient to the Fuhrer’s commands. People often believe not because they want to know the truth, but because they think they have something to gain even if they sense that what they believe in is false.

Millions of Filipinos know that the Philippines today is governed by a terribly evil man surrounded by opportunistic characters from the top to the bottom of society who see life as primarily one big struggle for money and power. Consider the many sycophantic bootlicking Senators and Congressmen and judges and government officials and individuals who lie and cover up for their evil leader instead of being outraged as decent human beings at the terrible killings and lies that are going on.

A leader instigating the murder of thousands of human beings, fomenting mass fear and hate and causing family members and friends to turn against one another and claiming that he is doing this for love of country is clearly engaged in demonic activity.

The Philippines is 86 percent Catholic. But is it a Christian society? A Christian society does not mean that it is a society run by the Catholic Church or by priests and nuns or by Protestant sects. It is not even one where people go to church. A truly Christian society is one where a true love for God and His command to love our neighbors as ourselves exist in the hearts and minds of the people. Authentically loving God means a commitment to what is true and right and good. Genuinely loving one’s fellowmen means respecting him, helping him when he needs help, protecting him and forgiving him when he has done wrong.

As long as we do not have this genuine love for God and man, we cannot call ourselves a Christian society. The Philippines now has a leader with no moral leadership who formulates anti-human policies, openly instigates mass murders and then hides behind legal niceties saying that there is no evidence that he and his men are behind these killings. Everyone knows they are but the ordinary man and woman overwhelmed by fear remains silent or even shows support for this clearly evil regime for his own security. The Philippines clearly presently does not have a genuine Christian society.

We have very short lives. How we live and how we die depends on what we believe in and what we value most. These are trying times in the Philippines when God is putting individual Filipinos everywhere to the test. Either we side with God or with the devil. God created us for only one purpose: For Him to love us and for us to freely love Him. We may have different situations but these are just circumstantial incidentals.

From the first man and woman on earth to the last, human existence has to do with the choices between good and evil that we make which relate to our final destination when we leave this earth. We need to be constantly conscious of this reality. Trading one’s soul for ephemeral things such as money, power, fame, pleasures or a sense of security is the worst bargain that a man or woman can enter into. Yet how many people every day engage in killing, hurting others, stealing and lying for these things. In the end, it makes no difference how much suffering and difficulties we face on this earth, as long as we are sincere in truly loving God in every facet of our lives and obey his command to love our fellowmen we win.

The most fundamental God-given right of every human being is the right to life. The due process right of an accuse to prove his innocence in a proper court of law is also a fundamental human right developed over hundreds of years by the human family. The Philippines and its people recognize these fundamental sacred rights. The Philippine Constitution declares unequivocally: “Article XIII sets out the state’s duty to promote social justice and protect human rights. It also establishes the Commission on Human Rights.”

The Philippines now has a dark anti-human President who openly declares that he does not respect human rights and instigates extrajudicial killings as an instrument of national policy. Over 14,000 people have been killed since he sat in office. Those who support his anti-human policies are part of a very great evil whose effects on Philippine society and culture will be long-lasting. They are establishing among Filipinos the mindset that it’s okay to violate God’s and man’s laws, that it’s okay to engage in violence and murder and that fundamental human rights have no value. In openly and clearly violating the Constitution and disrespecting basic moral values the President has betrayed the citizenry. No one is above the law. By betraying the people, including handing over the country’s territories to the Chinese, he has lost his legitimacy to lead the country as its president.

In a world starved for love, kindness and peace, the present Philippine President foments hate, cruelty, violence and death. He even wants the death penalty restored, imprison children as young as 12 and continue with the government policy of extra judicial killings. He openly encourages police and military elements to unhesitatingly engage in these extra judicial killings, plant false evidence of guns against those they kill and claim that they fought back. He assures killer police elements that they will not suffer penalties as he will pardon them. As a result, policemen or policemen disguised as vigilantes have killed thousands. He wants the world to openly know that he is behind these killings but at the same time mocks the law by saying that no evidence can be produced that he ordered these killings. But the situation speaks for itself that he is the one who is behind these murders. The legal principle known as Res Ipsa Loquitor — or in understandable layman’s terms translated as “the thing speaks for itself” — clearly applies. If he were not the president, basic logic suggests that these killings of thousands of people would not have happened.

In the future, Filipinos would look at this era of thousands of extrajudicial murders with shame. Any individual with a modicum of moral conscience can easily grasp the great evil in torturing and murdering thousands of human beings without affording them their basic human right to prove their innocence. How so many Filipinos supported this great evil in these times will be remembered with great shame for generations to come. They will ask: How did this terrible distortion of moral values happen to our people in those times? It appears that Philippine society has strayed away from the straight path. Every decent human being who respects the sanctity of life should speak out, condemn and protest against these serial killings that are going on. We must do our part in creating a better society for future generations of Filipinos. We should not accommodate ourselves to the evils of the Philippines’ present society and government. Put your trust in God, not in the lies of a demonic leader. Christian principles are definitely counter to the mass murders, the violations of human rights and lies that are going on.

When Hitler was dead and gone, the thousands of Nazis who carried out the mass murders of millions of Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals claimed innocence, saying that they were just carrying out orders. The Nuremberg court did not buy that argument. Many were condemned. But many more escaped. There were so many of them that the courts were overwhelmed by their numbers. But they had sold their souls to Satan and had to live the rest of their lives and maybe even after with that reality. The killers and toadies of a ruthless tyrant president will also have to live with the reality of their cooperation with great evil long after this president is no longer in power. The evil of mass murders going on in the Philippines is obvious and recognizable to even the most ordinary person with a normal sense of what is morally abhorrent. The whole world recognizes and condemns these extrajudicial state-sponsored killings. But toady troll supporters, real or paid or computer generated who threaten the Philippine President’s critics with insults, bodily harm and even death shout that only they understand the problems of the Philippines and the world has no business in interfering with Philippine policy. Wrong. Filipinos are part of the human family and when a ruthless tyrant is slaughtering thousands and violating human rightsit is right for the whole global human family to cry out against these anti-human crimes and stop them.

The living conditions in a country’s prisons reflect governmental attitudes towards prisoners who do not cease to be human beings even if they are prisoners. Overcrowded, sweltering hot, stuffy, smelly Philippine prisons are the closest thing to hell on this earth. Cells designed to hold a limited number of prisoners are stuffed with 5 or more times than the limited number. They are fed food unfit for human consumption. Toilet facilities are not able to accommodate the great number of inmates. They have to defecate and urinate on the small space on the floor where they sleep. Medical care is hardly available for those who are sick. Many inmates become insane or die or kill themselves because of the horrible conditions. Philippine prisons are the most overcrowded inhumane prisons in the world. The Philippine leadership shows no concern for the plight of the poor inmates and even mocks them, which clearly reflect an anti-human attitude. This is a very important human concern that needs to be addressed.

The spiritual and everyday lives of Filipinos everywhere are now faced with
the possibilities and challenges of the present times. A great darkness weighs heavily on the land. We must face this darkness with faith, courage, hope and prayers. For sure, the reign of all evil rulers ends sooner or later. The questions we need to ask ourselves now while we are living in these evil times: Am I cooperating with the evil that is by allowing my fear to silence my conscience? Am I in some way sustaining the present evil by not resisting it and worst, supporting it because I am gaining some material or political advantage? Woe unto those who keep themselves blind to the reality of evil powers and principalities.

Atty. Ted Laguatan is a San Francisco area based human rights lawyer and is also one of only 29 lawyers officially certified continuously for more than 30 years by the California State Bar as an Expert-Specialist in Immigration Law. His law firm also does major accident injuries and wrongful death cases. Tel 650 634 8668 email laguatanlaw@gmail.com

Revolutionary government?

GLIMPSES 
By Jose Ma. Montelibano

So much talk about a revolutionary government, so many individuals and groups proposing to set up their core teams around the country. The leadership must be serious.

A revolutionary government is not as alien, or scary, as it sounds. The form of revolution today is not as crude or violent as it used to be. At least, in the Philippines. After all, the Communist rebellion of more than 50 years has given us glimpses of what works and what will not – ever. At the same time, the Muslim secessionist struggle, bloody as it had been, also serves as a warning to present and future leadership that violent means are short-lived and will not find sustained support. In other words, large swathes of the population have experienced the radically violent. Not alien, not acceptable, not sustainable.

What motives drive the Duterte administration to push the revolutionary government? I am sure there are positive ones that can be openly discussed and debated. I am just as sure that there are hidden motives as well. For as long as the move is towards the consolidation of power instead of empowering a greater number, there will always be the darker, more secretive part. Though every adult Juan de la Crus can smell it, there are few brave souls out there who will openly admit, “I want power!” I wonder what makes it so difficult for them to come out and say they want power?

And with power comes wealth, and the other way around. So, what else is new? In a society that has long surrendered much of its time-honored values for power and wealth, so much so that those who possess these are magnificently awarded (sometimes, at their own initiative expense), what we need is just more self-honesty. If we can recognize and admit our own attraction, fatal or not, to power and wealth, then we can more objectively discuss the various alternatives on the table. However, the problem is that those who are deeply desirous of power and wealth try so much to cover their agenda with verbal and written expressions of nobility, patriotism, and principles. They forget. or believe, they can defy the law of body language and the truism that actions speak louder than words.

The most serious challenge for democracy is to democratize wealth, or equitable access to, and opportunity for, wealth. Wealth and power are inseparable when they are elitist or reserved only for a few. But democratized wealth is a firm ground for democratizing power as both empower the greater number instead of a chosen few. What will a Duterte revolutionary government do? What direction does it intend to push? Power and wealth for a few or the democratization of both via a very centralized methodology? Is that possible? Or is that an oxymoron?

While I do hear talks from the ground about the desire of the Duterte presidency to establish a revolutionary government, I must admit it is only because I have many people from many provinces telling me about moves to recruit core groups to push a revolutionary form of government. In other words, the marching orders from President Duterte have not been openly given, if it will publicly come at all. The recruiters are all claiming that the President wants the revolutionary government yet the principal himself has not announced a formal drive for his officers and core followers to push the initiative. It seems that the movement towards a revolutionary government has a big “IF”, if there is enough public support for it, or there will not be a strong resistance to it.

I have also been told that the moves to recruit some community leaders come with a promise of an appointment to positions in the barangay. The postponement of the barangay elections is being pointed out as proof that there is an intent to appoint instead of elect new sets of barangay officials. This promised appointment for those who will actively push for the establishment of the revolutionary government is the carrot for core group membership. More carrots are promised, of course, especially some pecuniary compensation. While offering carrots is a natural political strategy, it is also staining the purity of the motive.

Public debates about a revolutionary government and defining its purposes and parameters are a more noble methodology of recruitment. But then again, who likes to admit before the people that they want wealth and power with less law to restrict them? Or, who will be believed when they publicly say they want power but not wealth? The personalities and the character of recruiters from the national to the local communities will define the purity of principles involved, or the lack of them. After all, unprincipled people cannot be the drivers of a noble movement.

What can actually happen is that leaders who are hungry for a revolutionary government may simply gamble that they can get away with it even if they are not so credible or their intentions are not so pure. They may read the Filipino people as more docile than demanding, more pliant than insistent, or more prepared to compromise their values for some promise. They must have some basis for reading the people so, especially their constituents who are perpetually lining up for favors, for money or for jobs. But they may be wrong, too, and misread the people badly enough to cause social and political turmoil.

The key remains to be President Duterte himself. Power emanates from the presidency and the President. And wealth bows to power when the President is charismatic and strong-willed until the holders of wealth feel threatened that their wealth will be taken away from them. It is President Duterte himself, and maybe himself alone, who has credibility with most Filipinos. It is he who must sell the idea of a revolutionary government. Furthermore, he must promise the people that the leaders he will appoint will not abuse the unrestricted power of that form of government. Can he? Will he?

Clearing the path to tyranny

ON DISTANT SHORE
By Val G. Abelgas

It seems the Duterte administration is hell-bent, in the words of the Liberal Party, on demonizing the opposition in the country. The other week, the President himself alleged that the “Yellows” – his name for the Liberal Party leaders – and other opposition groups are conniving with the “Reds” – the term used for members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the militant Left – to destabilize his government and eventually oust him from power.

The allegation is as baseless as it is preposterous. It is simply unbelievable that the Liberal Party and its leaders, representatives of the Establishment that the Left has long wanted to depose, would find common ground with the communists and even the militant Left. Neither would the Reds have anything to do with the Yellows, and although both perhaps share the goal of removing Duterte from power, the Yellows would do it democratically through elections while the Reds would want to remove not just Duterte but the entire political establishment, including the Liberal Party, through armed struggle.

Duterte’s wild accusations, seconded as usual by henchman Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre III, was made without an iota of proof or truth, just as Aguirre falsely accused Senators Bam Aquino and Antonio Trillanes of having a hand in the siege of Marawi based on his allegation that the two opposition senators met with some Muslim leaders in Marawi just before the Maute attack began. His allegations – and the photos he produced to bolster his claim – burst on his face as it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that neither Aquino or Trillanes were in Mindanao at the time and that the photos were taken months ago and not in Mindanao.

Except from saying that the Yellows and the Reds are plotting to destabilize and overthrow his government, Duterte did not cite any incident or circumstance to boost his claim.

Equally preposterous is the claim of a self-confessed bagman of a drug cartel operating in the Panay-Negros region that Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and former DILG Secretary Mar Roxas are the protectors of alleged drug lord Melvin Odicta Sr. of Iloilo, who was killed along with his wife in August last year, among the very first to fall in Duterte’s bloody drug war.

The bagman, Ricky Serenio of the Berya drug cartel, accused Drilon and Roxas of partnering with Odicta to control “the illegal drug business in Western Visayas… by kicking out the Berya Tolentino and Camaria group from their dominance as local drug suppliers.”

“Being in power with close association to the PNP, it was easy for the Roxas-Drilon tandem to paralyze, and eventually overthrow, the Berya-Camaria drug operations and wipe out these groups from operating in Negros Island,” Serenio’s affidavit read.

It’s simply hard to believe that two prominent politicians who have distinguished themselves in public service would suddenly slug it out with criminals to gain control of the illegal drug trade. Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who has in many occasions defended Duterte’s drug war, couldn’t believe it either.

“For me, not only probably because I know Senators Drilon and Roxas too well, but also it is hard to believe the words of a rival drug lord of Odicta who cannot anymore confirm or deny that statement,” Lacson said. Precisely.

But that’s not what bothers many people. Serenio is after all a self-confessed criminal who would do anything to get into the good graces of the powers-that-be to hopefully gain immunity or pardon, avoid summary execution, or even just get a light sentence. What’s alarming is the way the Justice Secretary is giving credence to an obviously absurd claim.

Aguirre said the Department of Justice may treat Serenio’s affidavit as a complaint, and use it as basis for the agency’s preliminary investigation on the matter. And instead of waiting for the results of the investigation, Aguirre decided to make public Serenio’s claims in an obvious attempt to further “demonize” the opposition and make his boss in Malacanang happy.

After all, wasn’t Aguirre the same official who boastfully asked a throng of Duterte supporters after sending opposition Sen. Leila de Lima to jail on trumped up drug charges, who they wanted to send to jail next, to which the crowd shouted: Trillanes!

Apparently, Aguirre couldn’t find any convicted or self-confessed criminal to accuse Trillanes of any crime other than libel, which the Department of Justice did not hesitate to file against Duterte’s fiercest critic.

All these bring to mind the way Aguirre used alleged affidavits of convicted criminals inside the New Bilibid Prisons to file illegal drug charges against the feisty De Lima, who has been in detention for more than eight months now.

The Supreme Court, voting on purely partisan lines, recently denied De Lima’s petition for bail in a decision Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio described as “one of the grossest injustices ever perpetrated in recent memory in full view of the Filipino nation and the entire world.”

“Based on the Information itself, the accusation of illegal trade in drugs … is blatantly a pure invention. This Court, the last bulwark of democracy and liberty in the land, should never countenance such a fake charge,” Carpio, an appointee of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, said in his dissenting opinion.

Four appointees of Duterte and five appointees of Arroyo voted to shun De Lima while all five appointees of former President Noynoy Aquino voted with Carpio to allow De Lima to post bail.

The threat to link the top two LP leaders to illegal drug trade, a non-bailable offense, comes on the heels of impeachment threats on the heads of two constitutional democratic institutions — Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, who have both resisted efforts by the Duterte administration to intimidate them. It also comes just after Duterte threatened to declare a revolutionary government.

And now comes newly appointed presidential spokesman Harry Roque, a former human rights lawyer, let me remind you, threatening to throw “hollow blocks” at the President’s critics. At the same time, Duterte is doing what the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos as soon as he declared martial law when he organized the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan. The President, through her daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, last week organized a nationwide alliance purportedly to support his father’s agenda, with Ilocos Gov. Imee Marcos and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada in attendance.

All these point to one thing: this administration does not tolerate criticisms and is out to dismantle all opposition to its agenda. The administration is clearing the path to tyranny.

(valabelgas@aol.com)

Digong unleashes his attack dog

PerryScope
By Perry Diaz

Harry Roque made his mark fighting for people’s human rights. His resume is quite impressive. He is a member of the 17th Congress representing the party-list group Kabayan or Kabalikat ng Mamamayan, which represents marginalized sectors of the Filipino community, the disabled, senior citizens, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), fishermen, farmers, and the poor. He is a lawyer and a human rights advocate. He is a professor at the University of the Philippines.

Lawyer Harry Roque represents relatives of victims of the Maguindanao massacre.

Since 2009, Roque has been involved in the Maguindanao massacre case as one of the legal counsels for the families of the 32 media workers killed on November 23, 2009. At least 58 people including the 32 journalists were allegedly slain by armed men led by Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of the town of Datu Unsay in Maguindanao.

The “professor”

The “Society of Honor: the Philippines” website has the following post about Harry Roque, dated October 12, 2012: “Harry Roque, until today, taught law at the University of the Philippines, Diliman campus. He referred to himself as a “professor” rather than an “attorney.” Today he is resigning, very likely to pursue a seat in the House of Representatives. I’m inclined to think that Mr. Roque views the field of law as a utility, a device, a tool to be used for gains along the way to fame and self-enrichment. He doesn’t view it as a profession requiring the exercise of sound ethical judgment to protect the integrity of his colleague, justice as an ideal, or the nation.

Lawyer Harry Roque with supporters of murdered Jennifer Laude.

“Harry Roque, as an attorney, runs his cases through the media and he is “slash and burn” in his style. He’s the guy who received a disbarment complaint for egging the German boyfriend of the murdered Jennifer Laude over the jailhouse fence in order to point the finger at the accused Corporal Pemberton and declare him ‘GUILTY!’ before trial could get started. And before such shenanigans would be considered “in contempt of court.”

“He’s the guy who incited the family of Laude to march against the Philippine/American Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) because Harry knows the value of grief to extract compassion and anger from the public. Harry both opposes the VFA and represents Laude, in separate legal actions. He didn’t mind mixing two unrelated cases in which he has vested interests, and stepping on the dead to gain advantage.

“That’s Harry. Playing games with words and laws and ethics in search for an edge. And for notoriety, I suppose. Who knows what personal neediness drives such stunts. I’d imagine the Supreme Court rolls its collective eyes each time another trivial complaint brief from Harry hits their desks, gumming up their agenda some more.

“Harry Roque represents . . . to me . . . an example of the damaged goods that is Philippine ethics. I think he’d sacrifice the nation to push his personal agenda. He’d go outside the boundaries of decency to gain a point.

“From what I can see, he holds himself above propriety, above the courts, above his fellow lawyers. As far as I can tell, Harry is for Harry; he is not for any common good, and certainly not for respect of those with whom he disagrees.

“If we want to grasp why the Philippines is not a unified nation, we need only observe Harry Roque.”

The “opportunist”

Harry Roque accepts appointment as President Duterte’s spokesperson.

If what the blog said about Harry Roque were true, it would depict him as an “opportunist” who doesn’t have any qualms about what people think of him. And he’d go to the extreme – come hell or high water — to get what he wants.

Last October 28, President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte made a stunning announcement: Roque would be his spokesperson. The announcement was made during Roque’s birthday party held in Davao City. It could have been his best birthday present. Heck this could be Roque’s ticket to winning a Senate seat in 2019. Or it could demolish him politically and banish him into oblivion, never to see daylight again.

Accepting the appointment is the boldest and biggest decision the firebrand human rights advocate/lawyer has made. But what is more mysterious is why the hell did he accept the job, which would require him to defend Duterte from allegations of human rights violations? He would be shredding to pieces all the work he had done to represent the marginalized sectors that include the disabled, elderly Filipinos, and the poorest of the poor.

The “propagandist”

Duterte’s attack dog Harry Roques (L) and the pastor Ernesto Abella (R).

Roque will be replacing the soft-speaking spokesperson Ernesto Abella, who has a rank of undersecretary and is a pastor by profession. Duterte was reportedly unhappy with Abella’s explanations regarding the sharp drop in his ratings. And what did Duterte expect Abella to say why Duterte’s ratings fell 18%? Abella did the best he could say without lying, something you don’t expect a pastor to do.

In an attempt to justify his new role, Roque said (in Filipino) during a TV interview, “He [Duterte] just said Abella is really a pastor. He said this is a not a church and what is needed is someone who can understand his remarks.” This is in reference to Duterte’s fiery remarks and controversial policy statements.

Hitler’s Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels.

So, how would Roque explain the unexplainable? To deliver what’s expected of him, Roque would have to use Joseph Goebbels’ – Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda –mantra, to wit: “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.” It worked in Hitler’s Nazi Germany; it should also work in Duterte’s Philippines.

Duterte justified his appointment of Roque by saying: “To get the message clear, sabi ko [I said], Harry will fit the… kasi medyo malikot ang bunganga naming [because both our mouths are naughty].” Duterte also elevated Roque’s job to a cabinet secretary.

Well, Roque did not disappoint his new boss. Roque plans to attack Duterte’s critics head-on for any negative remark they’d say about him. He warned critics and bashers to be careful with their words because they might meet their match. And in an “attack dog” fashion, Roque served them notice: “Pag nambato kayo, hollow block ang igaganti ko.” [If you throw a stone at us, I’ll throw a hollow block at you].

Revolutionary government

Duterte’s “propaganda minister” Harry Roque.

In my column, “Revolutionizing martial law” (October 27, 2017), I wrote: “With each passing day, the country’s gloomy situation has evoked fears of martial law. And as criticism against Duterte’s “war on drugs” and extrajudicial killings intensifies, Duterte warned that he’d declare a revolutionary government if his critics’ attempt to ‘destabilize’ the government escalates and causes trouble. He accused the ‘Reds’ (communists) and the ‘Yellows’ (Liberal Party and supporters of former President Benigno Aquino III) of conspiring against him. He said that he’d arrest all of the destabilizers once he declares a revolutionary government, just like what Marcos did when he declared martial law.”

Roque’s appointment as Duterte’s spokesperson would fit well into Duterte’s future revolutionary government, which many believe, is already in the works. He could be Duterte’s “propaganda minister,” a role he would certainly relish with gusto.

And as Duterte unleashes his attack dog, there are two things that the people should be aware of. Goebbels once said: “Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will.”Actually, it’s happening right now in social media where hordes of pro-Duterte netizens and trolls are defending Duterte’s “war on drugs” and state-sanctioned extrajudicial killings. But the irony of it all is that Goebbels had also said: “There will come a day, when all the lies will collapse under their own weight, and truth will once again triumph.” Watch out!

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)

Is a demolition job against Trillanes in the works?

PerryScope
By Perry Diaz

For someone who led a mutiny against the government, imprisoned for more than six years, ran for senator while lingering in prison, and won a Senate seat without leaving the confines of his detention cell, Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV is facing the biggest challenge in his life. This time he’s locked in battle against President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte, the most powerful man in the country. That took a lot of guts. But like they say, “No guts, no glory.” And this time around, Sonny Boy might be thinking that for one more battle to fight, he just might get to taste the sweet flavor of glory. Even for just a moment. After all, this would be like David fighting Goliath. Yes, it would certainly be a moment of sensational victory… more sensational, less victorious. And this begs the question: How is he going to repeat a battle that was more biblical than historical?

Vice presidential runBut Trillanes must have a high regard of himself. The fact that he was able to organize and lead a mutiny against the Arroyo government bespoke of a man guided by a vision of patriotism and a mission of righteousness. He must have dreamed – nay, calculated! — that whatever the denouement his mutiny might have been, he would have earned the respect of the people and rewarded with a seat on the Philippine Senate. Sonny Trillanes reached the apex of power and prominence by sheer guts.

But having a seat in the august chamber of the Senate didn’t seem to satisfy him. He tested the murky waters of politics to see if he could make the big step to the vice presidency. There was no reason that he could have failed. He still had that quixotic fervor. He was “mabango” – untainted with no record or complaint of corruption – and he must have been very confident of himself of facing a packed field of vice-presidential wannabes, among which was the heir to the Marcos loot, then Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Little did Sonny know that amongst his rivals for the vice-presidency were two young ladies, one wearing the “yellow” color of the Liberal Party and the other wearing white polo shirt that seemed to suggest “purity of character.”

Trillanes failed miserably in the vice-presidential race due mainly to lack of funds and lack of organization, The other, Sen. Grace Poe Llamanzares, who was an early front-runner but she fell out of the race because she couldn’t unload the “excess baggage” that her rivals accused her of.

Undaunted by his political setback, Trillanes took his anti-corruption crusade to the Senate. Last February, Trillanes dropped a bombshell when he claimed that Duterte had secret bank accounts. He challenged Duterte to disprove allegations that he had P2 billion in transactions in three bank branches from 2006 to 2015. He also claimed that Duterte’s common-law wife Cielito “Honeylet” Avanceña had almost P200 million in bank transactions between 2004 and 2009. Duterte denied the allegations.In the end, the “yellowista” Leni Robredo, the widow of the popular late Jess Robredo, won the vice-presidency. She defeated Bongbong Marcos by some 200,000 votes. The small margin of Leni’s victory gave Bongbong enough reason to file an electoral protest and recount, which is now before the Supreme Court acting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET).

Trillanes then asked the Office of the Ombudsman to release Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) records showing Duterte’s flagged transactions in various bank accounts. AMLC denied Trillanes’ request.

Last September, Duterte claimed that Trillanes had “a lot” of bank accounts abroad – in Hong Kong, Australia, and the U.S. Trillanes called it “fake news” and Duterte a liar.

Trillanes meets Rubio

The Duterte-Trillanes feud has gone international when Duterte accused Trillanes of being a “traitor.” The accusation is based on what U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said in a tweet: “Senator @TrillanesSonny & I discussed U.S.- #Philippines alliance, combating corruption & protecting #humanrights amid their narcotics crisis.”

Trillanes confirmed he met with senior US government officials, including Senator Rubio during his recent trip to the U.S. He said his meeting with Rubio focused on “enhancing RP-US relations, corruption, and the human rights situation in the Philippines,” which is pretty much what Rubio said in his tweet. Trillanes also denied a newspaper report that he went to the U.S. to convince officials to stop the state visit of U.S. President Donald Trump, which is scheduled for November.

But in a radio interview last October 22, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar was asked to comment on whether Trillanes should be charged with “treason.” Andanar said it would be up to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to study such “legal matters.”

In response to Andanar’s comments, Trillanes – Duterte’s toughest critic — said he “pushed for the interests of our country, which are not necessarily the same as the interests of Duterte.”It’s interesting to note that last year, Rubio and two other U.S. senators wrote a letter to the U.S. State Department after they visited the Philippines. They expressed “grave concern about the campaign of extrajudicial killings and human rights violations under the Duterte administration.”

Act of treason

It is a known fact that Duterte hates Trillanes for a variety of reasons. Foremost of which are the “war on drugs,” extrajudicial killings, alleged corruption by members of Duterte’s family, and corruption by administration officials. He even went as far as to accuse Duterte’s son, Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, of being a member of a Chinese triad that smuggles the illegal drug “shabu” into the country.While the verbal exchange between Trillanes and Andanar had remained civil, Duterte’s hordes of social media netizens and trolls attacked Trillanes accusing him of treason, which begs the question: Where is all this leading?

Although Duterte’s “war on drugs” has so far eliminated more than 10,000 drug users, these are mainly poor people. Powerful politicians are believed to be protecting operators of “shabu” manufacturing laboratories.

Last October 19, Trillanes filed an ethics complaint against Gordon for committing “slander” and “unparliamentary acts.” Trillanes said Gordon called him a “peddler of gossip” in a Senate blue ribbon hearing on the P6.4-billion worth of smuggled “shabu” on August 31. But it was Gordon who first filed an ethics complaint against Trillanes who had threatened to file plunder charges against Gordon over alleged corruption in the Red Cross.Last October 11, Trillanes described the draft report on the P6.4 billion “shabu” shipment from China being routed by Senate blue ribbon committee chairman Sen. Richard Gordon as a “mere cover-up.” He said that those behind the entry of the “shabu” shipment are not being held answerable to the law. “Suspected drug pushers and users are wantonly killed in the streets while the people behind the illegal drug smuggling are merely subjected to a lifestyle check. This is a clear case of cover-up by Senator Richard Gordon to please his political master,” Trillanes said. [Source: SunStar Manila, 10-11-17]

And now, the DOJ is going to look into Trillanes’ alleged treasonous act because of his meeting with Rubio in the U.S. If the DOJ determines that there is a probable cause to file charges of treason against Trillanes, then the DOJ could initiate a detention order against Trillanes. And once again Trillanes could find himself behind bars for the second time in his life… and probably for life, too.

Which makes one wonder: Is a “demolition job” against Trillanes in the works?

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)