"There is hope when politicians disdain entitlement and privilege."
"There is hope when politicians disdain entitlement and privilege."
One has to commend Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong for his no-nonsense management of the summer capital. Not only did he make the quick decisions to lock down the city and systematically test and trace, thus keeping the level of infections as low as could be. He has seriously implemented health checkpoints on the roads leading to his city up to now.
Even San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora, whose PNP escorts did not heed the checkpoint in Kennon Road, was not spared. Asleep in his vehicle, Mayor Zamora did not even know that their convoy had flown the coop, thanks to PNP escorts who still clung to a sense of entitlement.
But Benjie Magalong, who is a friend of the Zamora family, follows his rules strictly, with no exceptions. To his credit, Mayor Francis immediately apologized and had his entire entourage tested for the Covid infection.
There is hope for our country when you have politicians who know that it is their duty to see to it that laws are followed to the letter. And who have learned to disdain entitlement and privilege.
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Funny how those legislators who signed their names as co-authors or voted approval of the Anti-Terrorism Bill are now scampering to withdraw their John Hancock’s.
Is this a case of bigay-bawi? For legislators some of whom may have been elected with a little help from dagdag-bawas?
No wonder the late Speaker Monching Mitra, once remarked that congressmen “will sign anything, even on a piece of toilet paper.”
There are claims that some congressmen who abstained were counted as having voted in the affirmative. What is this, even the House secretariat has become Smart-matic? Or learned how to count under the mentorship of former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano?
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Still and all, and despite the vociferous protests of those who for principle or fashion, oppose the enactment of anti-terrorism legislation, this writer is for standing the ground on the controversial bill that is soon to be signed into law by the president.
We are a nation too zealous about our “rights,” but too lackadaisical when it comes to performing our duties. We decry any potential infringement of our rights, just like those white-skinned Americans and Europeans who are now likewise being gripped by the scourge of terrorism, such that we protest even if the law is intended to safeguard our lives.
This is a different and more dangerous world we live in. And if Singaporeans, Malaysians, Indonesians, Vietnamese and Thais have lived through more stringent security laws, why can’t we? These nations have prospered, their people conscious more of their duties as citizens, rather than the concept of untrammeled rights that the Western countries have drummed into our Asian consciousness.
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With the President’s term narrowing down to just about two years, one legacy he should go for without let-up is putting an end to the scourge of the Abu Sayyaf and even their “imported” variants. And likewise end the world’s longest-running insurgency, that of the New People’s Army and their front organizations who for half a century and counting have stifled progress and peace of mind.
Much as he would like otherwise, COVID-19 has laid our economy prostrate, and wishing he could leave office come 30 June 2022 with our economy back in tip-top shape is unlikely.
The sufferings this contagion has wrought will increase our poverty levels, and many might be enticed by the siren call of the leftist insurgents, whether in the countryside or in our urban warrens.
The State must be armed to confront these threats. I support the Anti-Terrorism legislation, even if many of my friends from the progressive sectors object.
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Because the ambitious Build, Build, Build program which President Duterte had hoped to be his economic legacy is now hobbled by lack of wherewithal, and revenues are expected to lag in the remainder of his term, with spending priorities now skewed towards health and social development, it may be timely for the President to re-think the kind of legacy he will leave.
Best to allocate scarce resources to those sectors which will feel the impact quicker, such as agriculture and food production, reviving the tourism infrastructure to be prepared for its renaissance under the next administration.
And use his residual powers and political capital, towards amending the 1987 Constitution, not to push through with his dream of a federal system, which is too contentious and too difficult to operationalize at this time, maybe even in the next two decades of the nation’s life.
But to make meaningful changes in the political and electoral system, and preparing the economy for what will be a scramble for capital in the next two decades of hopeful global recovery.
