Which Side of History Are We On?

House owned by the former Justice Secretary's driver.  From www.inquirer.net. 

I believe this is a critical point in our history.   We actually have a chance of turning a roaring lion into a feral cat.   I have been putting this off for the past weeks so I wouldn’t be called a Dutertard.  But sometimes we need to risk being labeled.  They’re just labels anyway.

 Aren’t we all tired of the culture of impunity and traditional politics?  We now have a president who is trying to transform a country where the criminals are afraid -- not the law abiding citizens. 

Haven’t you for years been crying out against presidents who could not stand up against powerful countries, against tutas ng Kano?  Here is a president who dares show the world that we ARE a Sovereign nation, equal in rank with the rest of the Sovereign countries in the world, regardless of per capita income.  We can speak up FOR OUR national interests without them manipulating us through foreign aid and foreign trade.   “Well, how about China?”  One may ask.  Read any one of Thinking Pinoy’s take on the issue.

The driver of former Justice Secretary has done, as reported in this news story, what most of us ordinary citizens have been loathing and helplessly crying about for years – people who can punch even police officers and threaten Barangay Tanods because they know people from up above.   In this case, no less than the Secretary of Justice herself .  He was then accused of discharging a firearm.  We have a president who is trying to remove this kind of common behavior.

Medicines have side effects. 

Totoo namang mali ang extrajudicial killing.  However, Duterte does not endorse EJK.  It is a side effect.  All medicines have side effects, whether intended or not.  The voters chose this medicine.  This is one of its side effects.  Ano ang mas mahalaga?  Yung sakit ng side effect o yung sakit na magagamot nito?

Those who oppose Duterte, whether politicians or regular citizens, have the right to voice out their opinions.  This is important in a democracy.  I hope they also remember that those who voted for the President (seem) to have wanted this.  One can’t expect them to stop defending Duterte if one also can’t stop attacking the latter. 

We are in the Olympics season.  In a team sport, the members of the team are bound to protect, support, spur, their main player.  In basketball they provide screens and other means to protect their scorer because they really want to get that point.  Duterte supporters feel like they are in a team they have so long wanted to be a member of.   Finally, we feel like we are no mere spectators.

“Fine.”  You may say.  “Then you should feel responsible for every EJK, especially of the innocent victims.”    I think we can own up to that, even though that may have a hint of emotional blackmail.  Someone argued that that is fine as long as those who voted for the former administration should also feel guilty for the heartaches and humiliation of the likes of the Mamasapano and Manila hostage taking.  I don’t see any point in arguing along, nor against, those lines.

I believe, like others believe, that we are in a critical juncture in national affairs where we actually have a fighting chance at ushering forth a society that has a healthy regard  for law and order.   Ironic, you may say, that the quest for law and order has to be done this way.  YES, because this is the Philippines.  This is different from the West.  They have mature systems, institutions, and possibly people.  If you have lived long enough you would be acquainted with the pains and joys of irony.

Please forgive us for wanting change.  We know you so badly want change also.  It just happens that your candidate lost and we wanted to try this one out.  It just happened that our will became the will of this thing called democracy.  So the maxim now stands.  Vox populi, vox Dei.  The voice of the people is the voice of God.  Is this absolutely correct?  NO.  But you know its how this thing called Democracy works.  You’re probably in the same situation where I was 6 years ago.  But I had to sit it out and support a president I didn’t really believe in.  For the sake of the country and the greater good I supported and prayed for the previous Administration from day 1.  Read My Dear Noynoy Gets Published.

For the religious who are allergic of blood.  Didn’t the Lord Jesus leave the perfect peace of Heaven knowing that He was not leaving this earth without blood?

Please don’t think we are lovers of gore and bloodshed.  We only know that with a problem such as ours, it is IMPOSSIBLE not to consider the cost of the opportunity.  ThinkingPinoy wrote about stats on EJK.  I suggest you check it out also.

The very notion of this Social Contract we call a Constitution or a Saligang Batas is about giving up one’s rights for the benefit of the common good.  The spirit of that Social Contract is that we can live in this country as long as we fulfill our obligations and not abuse our rights.  Our people, especially those in power and those who cling to them, have mastered the ways of ignoring and circumventing these laws and have used the very same institutions and mechanisms that should have been used against lawlessness.

This is not an Aquino problem, not a Marcos problem, not a Ramos nor an Erap problem.  This is a FILIPINO problem – a problem within our psyche manifested  in our daily lives.  This is not a Duterte problem. 

If you are not corrupt, if you are not an addict, then I have a very strong feeling  we both want the same things.  We just don’t agree on the means. 

This is what the people want now.  I am so sorry that it sears your conscience but please don’t think ours have already melted with every news story. 

We want this Presidency to succeed because we believe this is going to leave a better Philippines.  This is vox populi now.  Yours was vox populi for the past previous years.

Do I expect you to shut up?  No.  Please keep speaking up.  Just don’t be too hard on yourself, nor on us,  if the President doesn’t think the way you do.  If he does then he would not be the president we elected.

To our friends who pin their hopes on God (and rightly so). 

Isn’t it true that the Lord’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than ours?  That in His Sovereignty and against our moral compasses He can surprisingly bring forth truth and justice?  --That in the chaos of the darkness he formed the perfect order of the Universe?

What if, just what if, this is one of those times? 

What if, just what if, this is what we have been hoping for but we are frustrating it by wittingly or unwittingly getting in the way?  If we are on the wrong side of history because we cling to our established standards of decency and appropriateness?  If the Lord Himself chose to honor these traditions, then wouldn’t the King of Kings Himself have chosen to be born in a fitting palace where Legations can ascribe to Him the decent honors he deserved?  Wouldn't He have chosen to live inside gated subdivisions, out of the earshot and eyesight of the bloody streets?

Didn’t YHWH, in his inscrutable wisdom allow, or  sanction, the bloody Davidic reign?

"Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." (Biblehub)

Why?  Because He had a purpose for His people.  God wanted him to drive out those who were occupying His intended territory.  Isn’t that scandalous?  An unbecoming act of a peaceful and loving God?  Is God Machiavellian?

It is also interesting that despite His approval of King David’s acts, He didn’t allow David to build His Temple.  David in his zeal for his God wanted to build the Temple himself but God did not allow him.

YHWH sanctioned David’s bloody campaigns but at the same time He didn’t allow David’s bloody hands to build His temple.  It was a work fit for his successor, someone with cleaner hands.

If President Duterte’s campaigns succeed, he may not enjoy its rewards.  It is a reward that his successor can build upon, just as King Solomon enjoyed the benefits of peace and prosperity that His father David left him.

We have an opportunity at this juncture of history.  On which side of history do we want to be a part of?  Either way we choose, history will move forward.  Time will tell.