Over the weekend I saw some Facebook posts of people I knew to be staunch Catholics. On Good Friday, though, they were in a state of merriment, eating good food and lounging in some five-star hotel or beach resort.
What did they wish to prove, I wondered.
Only God can judge us, of course, but why post all of those photos on the holiest of days? Do they wish to say—look what you faithful Catholics are missing by observing the tenets of the Church!
I think this is the biggest tragedy of our nation. Our morals have indeed sunk so low. I believe we should have a moral regeneration.
***
Harassed by corrupt revenue personnel? Shoot them! Even only for the amount of P10!
This was supposedly uttered by President Duterte during a business forum in Qatar.
But would Arabs really do it in the Philippines? Our rule of law states that a person is innocent until proven guilty in court. That remark must have drawn laughter from his audience.
I am sure the spokesmen of the President will clarify what Mr. Duterte supposedly truly meant by that statement. Perhaps they will say he was exaggerating so he could drive home the point that he really wants to end corruption in the country.
In fact, does he not fire people, even those close to him, if they are accused of corruption? For example, he fired those two immigration commissioners even as they are supposedly his fraternity brothers? Then he also fired his friend Peter Laviña who acted as his spokesman during the campaign. He also fired his Interior and Local Governments secretary.
I am bewildered however at the fact that he still has not fired his environment secretary, Regina Lopez, despite allegations that she and her entourage went on an all-expense paid trip to Paris for her help in securing a Department of Energy contract for her friend.
***
There was no letup in President Duterte’s war on illegal drugs, not even during the Holy Week. At least 39 were killed. In fact, there were 131 people, allegedly involved in illegal drugs, who were killed between March 1 and April 16.
Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa seems extremely proud of the killings. I just wonder, though, how many of these killings violated human rights, and how many were done by vigilantes.
Killings are killings, in whatever form and for whatever intention. For right-thinking people, the end does not justify the means.
Many of our people have been desensitized by these killings. We just need to look at Mr. Duterte’s still-high ratings as proof. The people do not mind at all and approve of his performance anyway. This shows that we have really gone so low.
I still believe that only God has the right to take a life away. This is why I am against the restoration of the death penalty.
***
Every now and then, President Duterte threatens to impose martial law in the face of terrorism and violence.
Now, with the presence of the Abu Sayyaf in the Visayas, especially in Bohol and Cebu, I wonder: What could the President be thinking?
If President Duterte reads Section 18 of Article VII of the Constitution, on the Executive Department, he would remember he can impose martial law in cases of lawless violence, invasion and rebellion. And right now there is no threat of invasion nor rebellion to speak of.
Lawless violence when the public safety requires it? This is far-fetched, of course. The military, of which the President is commander-in-chief, still has full control of the country’s national security.
It is practically impossible for him to declare martial law in the present context. That move will need the permission of Congress and the legitimization of the Supreme Court. In effect, the 1987 Constitution has made martial law useless!
This was a reactionary provision in the 1987 Constitution. Then-President Corazon Aquino did not want a repeat of the Marcos dictatorship.
We should be thankful for this provision, really. And this is the reason I believe there will be no martial law under President Duterte.
***
I mourn the passing of my good friend Al Yuchengco who died at the age of 94. Al remained a friend even when he became a taipan, chairman of the Yuchengco Group of Companies engaged in banking, insurance, construction and other businesses.
When I was president of the defunct Business Writers Association of the Philippines, we gave him two awards: Insurance Man of the Year and Young Businessman of the Year.
He was also a consummate diplomat, having been a permanent envoy to the United Nations, and ambassador to Japan and South Korea and the People’s Republic of China. Under the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, he was presidential adviser on foreign affairs.
My deepest condolences to his family.