“There are those who see 2028 as far too long to wait while the majority suffer the terrible consequences of economic decline”
The ancient Chinese had a political concept that legitimized the rule of their emperors, believing that the right of their rulers and his heirs came from a divine power called heaven. According to this belief, a just and virtuous ruler would be granted the mandate, while a corrupt one would lose it.
Signs of losing it were natural disasters of such magnitude that made the people suffer, or extended famines that made people hungry, causing widespread revolts.
The mandate of heaven concept was used from the Zhou Dynasty (1046 to 256 BCE), until the end of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912).
A parallel theory was the European “divine right of kings.”
Both have been rejected in modern history, except for a very few, by the near universality of the practice of democratic choice of leaders.
In the wake of all the natural calamities happening in succession, from torrential rains bringing floods, to strong typhoons, to earthquakes, with unimaginable loss of lives and property, highlighted by the discovery of humongous corruption in infrastructure projects including flood control, many are asking if the current leadership is fast losing the “mandate.”
That mandate was probably made in heaven, when the former president’s daughter acceded to a political marriage with the former dictator’s son, who promised to redeem his family’s inglorious exit from power.
But the overwhelming mandate borne of political unity that promised reform and good governance sooner than later broke upon the shoals of greed, ambition and feckless leadership.
The vice president who brought the solid votes of Mindanao and Central Visayas on top of the outgoing president’s high popularity to the table of political marriage soon found herself beleaguered by charges of wrong doing.
Inquisitorial proceedings in the House whose jurisdiction she disdained eventually led to her impeachment.
The president publicly disclaimed the impeachment, but his son was first to sign with his first cousin marshalling the numbers needed with promises of hefty “insertions.”
Meanwhile, persistent inflation reduced the purchasing power of both the middle class and the poor, while the uber-rich politicians and their partners in thievery flaunted their nouveau richesse.
The president’s Alyansa had all the political hotshots in the mid-term elections., and poll surveys indicated an administration sweep.
But hubris and an appalling lack of timing made those whom the gods wish to destroy, mad. “Kidnapping” an ailing leader and surrendering him to the arms of a foreign court brought about an emotional wave of resentment.
That resentment has grown with the discovery of thousands of shoddy and ghost flood control projects even as the president himself denounced it before the very perpetrators of the crimes.
Then again, improvisations motivated by optics have left people wondering whether there is an end game.
Meanwhile, investigations muddle the issue, and the former lawmaker whose legerdemain in budgetary mischief provided the funds for extremely huge kickbacks that created shoddy and ghosts has flown the coop, likely asked to make himself unseen, even as his lawyer now says he is “deathly afraid” for his personal safety.
Without this missing link, only the engineers and the contractors will be convicted with reasonable doubt.
The legislators who inserted the provenance along with the masterminds will just bide their time and get nothing more than slaps upon their bejeweled wrists.
But heaven has its way of expressing its displeasure, enough perhaps to awaken a public that has suffered far too long from the iniquities of their leaders, many of whom bought their votes.
The rains have fallen in torrents and the earth has shaken, leaving a trail of dead bodies and properties destroyed with people’s savings washed away.
“Gaba” the Bisaya call it, but why must the innocent bear its brunt?
Many look at 2028 as the moment of retribution.
Even without the geomancers and astrologers reading the stars, it seems fairly certain that promised redemption has become a curse upon the nation.
As the dowager empress of the Qing Dynasty wailed before she left the Forbidden City, “the dynasty is dead.”
And whoever is blessed by this leadership in 2028 will have been given the “kiss of death.”
Yet, there are those who see 2028 as far too long to wait while the majority suffer the terrible consequences of economic decline.
They pine for a leap into the unknown.
Already, the Iglesia ni Cristo has called for its millions to gather for three days from Nov. 16 to 18 at EDSA and the Luneta, calling for transparency and an end to impunity.
The Roman Catholic and Christian churches along with many in civil society call for a similar outpouring of resentment on Nov. 30.
Is the president losing the mandate of heaven?
