"Without criticism or rebuke, Rodrigo Duterte felt enabled."
"Without criticism or rebuke, Rodrigo Duterte felt enabled."
An extensive change has taken place in the landscape of the Senate of the Philippines during the past year, more particularly during the last few months. From the start of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to the end of 2020 – a span of four and a half years – the upper chamber of the 18th Congress was made up of two groups, to wit, the super-majority, composed of senators sympathetic to or tolerant of Mr. Duterte, and the small band of Liberal Party Senators.
Today the Senate is made up of three groups: The senators fiercely loyal to or still tolerant of President Duterte, the Liberal senators, and the neo-oppositionist Senators.
There were five Liberal senators at the beginning of Mr. Duterte’s term – Franklin Drilon, Francis Pangilinan, Antonio Trillanes IV, Risa Hontiveros and Leila de Lima. But Mr. Trillanes left the Senate in 2019.
The neo-oppositionists are 2022 Presidential candidates Panfilo Lacson Jr and Manny Pacquiao, Vice Presidential candidate Vicente Sotto III and Rodrigo Duterte’s current favorite punching-bag, Richard Gordon. The rest of the 23 senators are still members of the super-majority.
The transformation of the Senate, and the recent movement of some super-majority members away from President Duterte, has added a new word to the lexicon of contemporary Philippine politics: enablers. Enablers is the name that true-blue oppositionists and independent observers are calling the oppositionists. Although Senators Lacson, Sotto, Gordon and Pacquiao have been welcomed into their ranks, the true-blue oppositionists feel that due account should be taken of the fact that from 2016 to 2020 the neo-oppositionists kept largely quiet while Rodrigo Duterte pursued his misguided and divisive policies. The critics say that had the neo-oppositionists raised their voices in the criticism or rebuke, Mr. Duterte would not have been able to pursue those policies – rampant EJK (extra-judicial killing), subservience to China, inaction on the Philippines’ South China Sea arbitral award, coddling of erring officials etc. – with complete freedom of action. Without criticism or rebuke, Rodrigo Duterte felt enabled.
This is not to say that the neo-oppositionists – the enablers- never raised their voices in criticism of, or opposition to President Duterte’s policies. Panfilo Lacson was sometimes critical of Malacanang or national-budget and foreign policy issues. Senate President Sotto took Mr. Duterte to the Supreme Court on the question of the need for Senate participation in the abrogation of treaties. In recent months, Manny Pacquiao called Mr. Duterte’s attention to the continued high incidence of corruption in the government.
But it is Richard Gordon who has really established his credentials as an oppositionist, albeit of the new variety. With his Blue Ribbon Committee’s dogged pursuit of the Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation malefactors. The former SBMA (Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority) chairman has scored a multitude of points for the government — and incurred the eternal ire of Rodrigo Duterte. The Chief Executive will never forget Richard Gordon’s statement that he seemed to be lawyering for Pharmally.
Whether or not their opposition to Rodrigo Duterte has come late in the day does not matter much. What is important is that they are now opposed to President Duterte and his administration. Welcome to the opposition, Ping Lacson, Tito Sotto, Dick Gordon and Manny Pacquiao.