USO ANG BOBO

KAMAKAILAN, pinutakte si Ambeth Ocampo, pinipitagang propesor ng kasasaysayan at historyador, ng mga troll ni BBM, hinggil sa kanyang naisulat na paninindigan na hindi batay sa tsismis at kasaysayan. Sinagot ni Ambeth ang walang saysay na panukala ng isang hindi kilalang aktres na batay sa tsismis ang kasaysayan. Hindi, ani Ambeth, batay iyon sa mga dokumento at realidad. Kagagahan at kamangmangan ang tinuran ng starlet.

Kamakailan, nakialam ang aktor na si Richard Gomez na nagmungkahi na palitan ang ilang probisyon ng Konstitusyon. Bilang patunay ng kanyang kamangmangan, inihambing ng limitadong pag-iisip ni Richard ang Saligang Batas sa isang lumang kotse kung saan pinapalitan ang lumang piyesa. Pinagtawanan si Richard.

“Hindi parang lumang kotse ang Konstitusyon. Dito nakasaad ang balangkas ng kapangyarihan sa Pilipinas kung saan ay ipinapakita na upang pigilan ang pang-aabuso ng mga naitalaga o inihalal na mga opisyales ay ipinapaalala sa kanila na ang lahat ng power nila ay galing sa taumbayan.” Ito ang tugon ni Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno sa kabobohan ni Richard.

Isa pang kabobohan ang panukalang batas ng isang hindi sikat na mambabatas na palitan ang pangalang Ninoy Aquino International Airport ng Ferdinand Marcos International Airport. Maraming problema ang bansa at huwag na gawin iyan, ani dating Senador Frank Drilon. Wala ng darating na turista dahil hindi ayon sa daloy ng kasaysayan ang pangalan ng diktador.

May nagpanukala na palitan ng pangalan ng mga magulang ni BBM ang NAIA – Meldy and Ferdie International Airport. Hindi maganda ang tunog ng acronym. Kahindik-hindik.

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HALAW ang mga sumusunod sa aming aklat “KILL KILL KILL: EJKs in the Philippines; Crimes Against Humanity vs. Duterte Et. Al. at the ICC.” Nasa huling yugto na ako na pagsusulat.

NAGGING QUESTION. The nagging question is whether or not the PNP, as an institution, has accepted Duterte’s war on drugs and registered any opposition or warning about its illegal character. Officially, the answer is yes. But there appeared to be more than what meets the eyes. Although the rumor mill has kept on grinding yarns upon yarns of speculations and interpretations, the 20-page white paper, entitled “Special Report: the State-Sponsored Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines,” gave indications that the war on drugs had a different dimension that was not openly disclosed. The alleged involvement of the communist-led National Democratic Front (NDF) was neither known nor openly discussed.20

Incidentally, Duterte pitched on several occasions the possible inclusion and involvement of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the war on drugs. The AFP gave an icy reception to Duterte’s advances. It somehow managed to strike a middle ground by its counterproposal to involve itself in data gathering or providing his office with intelligence information. Although it did not make its position public, the AFP was categorical to say “no” on what Duterte wanted. Except to provide intelligence information, it would not involve itself in the war against drugs. The AFP, as an institution, knows its mandate. Any inclusion or involvement in the anti-drug war is not part of its mandate. The anti-drug campaign is essentially a police issue, which is better left to the PNP. The AFP had learned its lesson during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. It did not want to bite more than it could chew.

On September 21, 1972, the AFP supported the martial law declaration by the emerging dictator Ferdinand Marcos on an essentially single issue: the alleged threat to national security by the then newly reorganized Communist Party of the Philippines and its military arm, the New People’s Army. The outlawed NPA was then composed of a few squads from the remnants of the Hukbong Mapagpalaya sa Bayan (HMB) and had insufficient and outdated firearms. The AFP support for martial law was ironically dismal, as it showed acquiescence to 13 years of Marcos dictatorship. The communist threat was not that big for the AFP to bear and support the martial law government of Marcos, which later metamorphosed into an abusive, corrupt, and plundering dictatorship.

CLARITY OF THOUGHT. The PNP understood Duterte had exaggerated the magnitude and dimension of the illegal drug issue to get elected into office and obtain the people’s mandate to launch the brutal war against drugs and its users, pushers, and wholesalers. It knew Project Double Barrel and its two components Oplan Tokhang and Oplan High Value Targets were only good on paper but unsustainable in practice. They were hardly implemented on the basis of their original mandate and objectives. But many police officials persisted to support Duterte – both fully and halfheartedly. They could not be blamed, but they were watchful of Duterte’s actual intentions and on what he was doing.

Although drug users, pushers, and other persons involved in drug trade were identified early in the anti-drug campaign and told to mend their ways, a number of persons, who surrendered voluntarily before their barangay officials, were later slain to indicate bad faith and duplicity of purposes. A number underwent rehabilitation as mandated by the existing anti-drugs laws, but they were nonetheless summarily executed. Why and how these summary executions happened was a matter of conjecture.21 Oplan Tokhang is clear on rehabilitation and monitoring of drug users. Certain persons in the know said in confidence that the anti-drug war, even on its early stage, was just unsustainable. Duterte himself did not exactly know what to do. He was not gifted with the clarity of thought, they surmised especially on its end game.22

The white paper alleged that a faction within Duterte’s coalition attempted to take advantage of Duterte’s lack of initiative to put down the details on how to proceed with the anti-drug war. It took a direction far different from its original intent. It discussed lengthily the inclusion of a program, which certain alleged members (or former members) of the communist-led National Democratic Front (NDF) had included in the war on the anti-drugs project. It was their way to high jack the war on drugs to the NDF’s favor.

A month after Duterte was sworn in, the Kilusang Pagbabago (KP), a new political party formed purportedly “to protect the new president,” was launched by a group of political leaders led by then Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. It was conceived to be a mass movement that originated from the top, the Office of the President, to blossom into a grassroots-based political party below. Although it was supposed to have been launched on Aug. 13, 2016, not much was heard about it. But the Dec. 5, 2016 report of rappler.com led with this paragraph: “President Rodrigo Duterte’s most trusted ally, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio ‘Jun’ Evasco Jr, is going around the country to launch a nationwide mass movement – Kilusang Pagbabago (KP).”23 It could be surmised that KP, which was on the drawing board since August, did not take off immediately, pushing its launching toward the end of 2016.

The news report said KP was “growing fast” as it drew huge crowds in its launching in Cebu and Cavite. Its organizers thought of organizing a KP unit in each barangay. Conceptually, it was envisioned to become the political vehicle to bring government services down to the ground. But its bigger role, it appeared, was to form a critical mass to protect Duterte, as he was supposed to pursue radical reforms, according to the rappler.com report citing a document on its creation and objectives. The KP mentioned possible destabilization plots if ever Duterte pursued “reforms” but it did not give details. In fact, KP had singled out certain police and military generals supposedly involved in illegal drug trade as enemies, giving rise to the perception of its anti-military and police bias.