Marawi City remains to be under siege. The city is war torn. As of now, there is no accurate count of how many have perished in this war. More than 300,000 residents have been displaced, most are staying with relatives or friends in nearby towns, and some in evacuation centers. They do not know if they still have homes and livelihood to go back to. Their future is uncertain.
The whole of Mindanao is under martial law and the threats for expansion in ML coverage and extension of timeframe persist.
The Supreme Court dismissed petitions questioning the legality of President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of Martial Law by a vote of 11-3-1. Eleven (11) junked the consolidated petitions against ML, three (3) agreed to partially uphold the declaration, and one (1) voted to grant petitioners’ plea for the lifting of ML. This is alarming to many as the High Court’s ruling seems to have relaxed Constitutional safeguards against ML abuses.
In the meantime, the “war on drugs” continues, and people still get killed. Only this time according to reports, policemen bother to bring those they gun down to hospitals where many are declared “dead on arrival” or DOA. By so doing, these uniformed men are able to evade media coverage of the shooting and possibly the crime, and have effectively obliterated the probable crime scene. This is ingenious.
It is also notable that the count of victims of this “war on drugs” seems to have stopped. But really, such count is very difficult to continue due to this new scheme used by the police in dealing with those they “get.”
The legislative branch, Congress, is, at this point, a stamp-pad Congress. Both Houses are tightly controlled by Duterte’s men. They are like meek sheep that follow the President’s wishes. So much for checks and balances in governance.
Fake news abounds. We even have officials in high positions who are themselves either the source, or propagator of “fake news.” One even earned the monicker, “fake news king.” Another, from being a blogger of pro-Duterte propaganda, is now the undersecretary of this administration’s official communications group.
It is no secret that President Duterte is not a fan of human rights. In fact, based on his statements, he despises them. It is not surprising that he continues to lambast and threaten critics, particularly, human rights advocates and activists. Sadly, many cheer him on.
If the most recent Social Weather Stations survey is to be believed, despite the several thousands killed in the name of “war against drugs,” the Marawi siege, the declaration of martial law in the whole of Mindanao, the Chinese incursions in disputed areas in West Philippine Sea, the unsolved and further deteriorating traffic and transport problems, and a host of other issues involving the President, Duterte remains quite popular. His net satisfaction rating as of June, according to SWS, is a high +66.
Duterte gets what he wants when he wants it. There is no real opposition in government except for a handful of legislators. Many times, his, and his people’s way of doing things disregards due process. And due process and the rule of law are crucial for democracy to function.
The country is virtually under an authoritarian rule. No matter if the ruler is popular.
Why are people still supporting this president? Where did we go wrong?
The struggle to regain democracy and our freedoms lasted for decades. Thousands sacrificed even their lives for this fight. This culminated in the Edsa people’s uprising. We ousted the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Edsa was a political transformation. We succeeded in reestablishing our democratic institutions. We won back our rights to vote, to free expression. These are very important gains but should have served as only the beginning.
The ultimate goal was supposed to be the betterment of the lives of the millions of ordinary Filipinos through good governance—real public service. Thirty years after Edsa, we should have been able to prove to our people that democracy works, that good governance is achievable, and that public service under a democratic set-up for our people.
All the succeeding administrations after Edsa failed to achieve this. People have not learned that life under a democracy is better than life under a dictatorship. No wonder, there are those who claim the contrary to be true. No wonder, many have become desperate and are now agreeing to very drastic, authoritarian-like measures implemented by this administration.
We should have nurtured and strengthened our democratic gains. The mantra “Never Again” should have resulted in a populace that deeply values our freedoms and human rights. It appears that we also failed in our responsibility to instill human rights education in our people.
Too many are unaware of what human rights are and how important these are in our lives. The battle ground is the communities where ordinary people live. Human rights advocates and activists cannot be content in preaching to the choir, or be content in being social media activists. We need to directly communicate with people. We need to go to them, converse with them, learn from them so we may fully understand why many do not see the relevance of human rights in their very lives.
We need to address people’s apathy head on.
We need to go back to the basics. Human rights education is too important to forego. We need to protect our democratic gains so as not to lose our freedoms, our rights.
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