When President Rodrigo Duterte started talking about an alleged ouster plot by the communists, the opposition, the Magdalo group and his critics in civil society, I had serious doubts.
I cannot believe that former soldiers and the Liberal Party could become allies with communists. They know too well that the communist agenda is to oust anybody in power.
So is Red October real, or just part of a psy war to divert the people’s attention from the real ills hounding them?
Now comes the President claiming that some elements of the military and the police are involved in the plot. I don’t think it’s likely. This is a president who doubled their salaries and gave them more perks.
Mr. Duterte did not identify who these soldiers are. But could they be that stupid? They know that no military action against the President can succeed without a people power component. Likewise, no mass action can succeed without military support.
I have been a journalist for nearly 70 years and I have seen a lot. And now I don’t see any coup attempt. So what is the President talking about?
I think it’s all psy war, meant to distract the people.
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This month I am reminded of the tragedy that occurred to some 900 Customs employees who worked overtime. They claimed some P1.3 billion in pay, but this had not been given them because the Customs commissioners appointed by President Aquino did not pay attention to them.
Some of the 900 have already died and many have retired.
They have not gotten what is due them despite a September 2013 decision by the Supreme Court, penned by Justice Antonio Carpio, that it was the obligation of the Board of Airline Representatives—an organization of both domestic and foreign airlines—to pay the employees for the overtime work they rendered.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling, however, the Customs commissioners sided with the airlines. Did they get free tickets to many countries? This is the tragedy.
I know this because the Customs employees sought my help.
What is ironic is that Customs hired about 1,000 workers to work overtime, paying more than the P1.3 billion that the employees were seeking.
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I analyzed the latest Pulse Asia survey of President Duterte. There was a big drop in his approval and trust ratings. The same decline also happened to his Cabinet members.
This can only mean that the people are showing signs of discontent, given the gut issues that they continue to struggle with.
People also do not seem to like minions of the President—Harry Roque, Christopher Go and Ronald dela Rosa —so much so that they did poorly in they survey for possible winners in the Senate race.
This should be a wake-up call to the President and his official family on what they should be attending to.
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One of my friends in the legal profession asked me to enumerate the legacy of Marcos which I wrote about.
1. The Judiciary Development Find, the basis of the financial benefits of the members of the judiciary
2. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, an alternative source of revenue to fund miscellaneous activities of the government
3. The Export Processing Authority to attract foreign investments
4. The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board
5. The Philippine Coconut Authority to develop and enhance coconut production and export
6. The Philippine Tourism Authority
7. Laws on socialized housing
8. Specialized hospitals like the Philippine Heart Center, the Lung Center of the Philippines, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, the Philippine Children’s Hospital, among others
9. The establishment of the biggest oil company now known as Petron
10. A nuclear power plant
11. Geothermal power plants as a source of energy
12. Exploration and drilling at Malampaya
13. The importance of culture
14. Venues for the promotion of arts and culture and the holding of international conferences.
Marcos issues 2,036 presidential decrees and out of these only 67 have been repealed or amended.
Interestingly, one of the 67 is the law on coup d’ etat.
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