Duterte, the black horse

Mariano Carrasco

WE haven’t  seen anything like this before in politics. A seeming black horse. Duterte was late in coming to town, so to speak, and yet, he is surprisingly leading the pack of presidential contenders in so short a time, and almost effortlessly. His popularity is hard to explain vis-à-vis his pronouncements that, if elected, he would have all criminals executed summarily and without trial, and his admission to being a womanizer, aside from his anti-Pope statements.

In a population of 100 million, we can conservatively estimate the notorious criminals to be about two million or three million strong. Some of them must be senators or congressmen, or mayors, or governors, since some of them have been charged with the serious crime of plunder. Some of them must be coming from Malacanang. Some public officials who have not been charged, but who are known to be corrupt thieves of the public funds, would also need to be executed extrajudicially. We heard it from him in the interview at ABS-CBN—that he would authorize the police to do the execution, and presumably, they would be given the task of choosing or deciding who are the criminals to be executed since it would be physically impossible for Duterte to be making the decisions by his lonesome self.

For a people longing for freedom from widespread criminality, Duterte’s campaign promise is like rainfall in the desert. Or is it mere rainfall or a devastating flood like that of Sendong or Yolanda?

I think, and I maybe wrong, Duterte is a people’s romantic dream that could become a horrifying nightmare. It is obvious that if Duterte wins, he will have to declare a presidential dictatorship far worse than Marcos. He would use the iron hand to implement his campaign promise. He will have to abolish the courts and the legislature. No more law would be necessary. No debates or congressional inquiries or investigations would be tolerated, since the people are presumably tired of those boring and long debates. Those who oppose his policies would be arrested and put to prison, if not executed, too. Nene Pimentel and Koko Pimentel, legislators as they are and who would most likely oppose any bloody dictatorship by Duterte, could also be lined up before the firing squad. Mediamen who would be complaining and protesting on the airwaves would also be arrested and executed.

When opposition and criminality are finally stamped out, then perhaps, Duterte  can start to overhaul  the entire economic, political, and governmental system. He might just do away with the dirty landlord and business-elite-dominated capitalist system and corrupt elections that has caused so much poverty and criminality, or he would just cause so much social  and governmental chaos to allow the armed left to seize power in a less protracted manner. A revolution without need of a People’s War and a People’s Army? Perhaps Duterte is the better shortcut to a systemic change? He he, joke. In reality though, Duterte needs to reckon with another political giant whose conformity must be secured—the American government.

But what’s this–my lawyer wife’s candidacy and campaign to become congresswoman would now become useless if Duterte wins!

Ohh, I’m having a headache…

(Mariano B. Carrasco is a lawyer based in Cagayan de Oro.)