Sick joke

Ric Maulion

THE coalition of Duterte that is pushing for a revolutionary government and sole powers to the President to govern and rewrite the Constitution are either crazy or disoriented. Andres Bonifacio would have turned himself up from his grave if he heard their call on his 154 birthday celebration last week. It’s no wonder why Liberal Party head and Sen. Francis Pangilinan was alarmed, and requested President Duterte to go after those who staged rallies against the Constitution.

Before you cause further damage and be relegated to dust bin of history, recall the lesson from past dictatorship that is echoing even stronger today.  Never again!

What a nerve you have for ramming down the throat of the President your baseless desire to overhaul bureaucracy and allow him to rewrite new constitution en route to establishing another dictatorship. Wow! A journalist wrote something to this effect: Why do you insist on a Revgov when you are not even considered revolutionaries to begin with? Good grief!

Labaw pa mo sa taga Palasyo that already made clear its stand on the call for a Revgov — it said it is not needed, and there is no “factual and legal” basis to push this. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the President himself sees no need to declare it as the country would not get anything from it.

But we should read between the lines though. Duterte has thinly veiled dictatorial tendencies and a penchant of creating scenarios to feed his ego and his inclination towards perpetuating himself in power like his idol Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Elson Elizaga advises those who would like to have a real taste of dictatorship: You may volunteer, and you’re welcome to live in North Korea,

To save your time and resources however, why don’t you just read relevant books about dictatorship? There are many in the library to your heart’s delight and content. If you are a millennial or a post-martial law baby, may I recommend my work “The Needle (The Metaphor of Marcos’ 14 years of Dictatorship).”

It was like hell living under the Marcos dictatorship. It was like a needle thrust into your cranium that was slowly killing you day after day.

For the middle aged or “young once,” you may want to undergo a needed medical checkup to see if you have Alzheimer’s. If not, then liberate yourself from the trap. You rally for a Revgov without understanding the issues and unmindful of the motives. Or was it because of the juicy meal, uniform,  pocket money, and other freebies?

You want real change? Tell that to the President to reform policies, says Judy Taguiwalo, Duterte’s former social welfare secretary. Monopoly of power, as in Marcos’s time, is not the solution, she added.

It’s difficult but let’s face it, Revgov is not a show of force but a sign of weakness. It’s an indication of confusion and disagreement within the political coalition supporting Duterte, many of whom are actually only after the spoils of the last election and their share of economic pie, veteran analyst and scholar Walden Bello contended. There is still process on this, said former senator Aquilino Pimentel Sr..

If you force the issue, then go ahead and suffer a repeat of the infamy in Philippine history. We’d been there. We fought a dictatorship and recovered our long lost freedom and precious democracy during February 1986 People Power Edsa Revolution.

Don’t underestimate the military. They were there, standing the ground and protecting democracy. Uncompromising, they are not about to allow the resurgence of a dictatorship. Not yet.

You’re just courting a curse of the past. Better still, pagpuyo na lang sa mo before people start pressuring the President to herd all of you to prison for your illegal call and activities against the Constitution and the duly constituted government.