When the elite revolt

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has just begun to warm the presidential seat in Malacañang Palace and the elite that held power in the country since Independence was declared in1945 won’t have him for another day, if they can.

To the credit of the political elite, we are seeing many “firsts.”

1) The voice of the majority poor is being drowned by incessant claims of abuse of political power and mass murder.  2) A sitting president, for barely 9 months, is facing an impeachment complaint while the United Nations is being asked to intervene, and the International Human Rights Watch marshaled to condemn the government’s political and law enforcement officials. 3) A president is being accused of atrocities allegedly committed before he was elected; yet, the elite found nothing incriminating when he was questioned as sitting mayor.  4) A vice president is openly finding faults in the president, not because of her mandated duty but as head of the Liberal Party.

Yet, no one is marching in the streets to affirm the mostly fabricated claims except by motley groups of Fil-Ams in New York and San Francisco.

Given the mood of the 16 million people who voted for him despite efforts to stop his advance, we give the protesting elite zero chance of succeeding. But yes, the elite will most definitely have their pound of flesh when he finally ends his 6-year term, but that is a different story. He’s no longer president.

Today, Mr. Duterte, as the duly elected president, should continue to govern.

Real road to peace

PEACE talks will resume shortly and the nation rejoices, yet again.  Peace has always been that elusive because of various forces each having its own vested interest to protect.  For example, some from the government side are reluctant to adhere to some agreements being struck that tend to erase sins of the past committed by the opposing side.  Same goes true from the other fence, where not all rebels are sold to a total embrace of the “forget and forgive” dictum.  But despite these and other stumbling blocks of gargantuan proportions, President Duterte is hell-bent on not torpedoing the peace process altogether.  To him, the real road to peace is through communication and not canons.

When both sides are talking, communicating with each other, there is that hope—a mere glimmer maybe—that promises only lasting peace in the end. Each time opposing forces talk, peace gets closer everyday.

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