The Unstable Sees Destabilizers Everywhere

The accusers of the woman caught in adultery kept pestering Jesus as he bent down writing on the ground. Jesus straightened up and said to them: “Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her.” (Jn 8:7) The point of this story: instead of pointing accusing fingers to others, look first at yourself. This can be applied to the political situation of our country. Duterte and his cohorts so hastily accuse people of destabilization. Whenever there are serious allegations of wrong doings against them, they easily cry wolf – destabilizations! Let them look at themselves. Maybe they are so unstable in their governance, or they are so unstable themselves, that instead of answering allegations, they readily shot down people and organizations which accuse them. Would it not be better to prove the allegations wrong by rational arguments and proper evidence to the contrary? Perhaps they cannot dismiss the allegations so they resort to counter-accusations.

We see this happening again this week when the henchmen of Duterte, Salvador Panelo, the presidential spokesman, and Dante Ang, the President’s special envoy for international public relations, came out with the “Matrix,” which both claim came from Duterte himself, showing the relationships among the “destabilizers” of the government. This time they are the journalists and groups who investigate his undeclared wealth and his connections to the narcotics trade. There is Bikoy, the unknown person who uploads video clips that show how the Duterte family receive money from the narco trade – all the way from Digong himself, to his daughter Sara and his son Paolo, to Sara’s husband, Manases Carpio, to the President’s partner Honeylet Avencena and daughter Kitty. Bong Go, the senatorial candidate is also implicated. Then there is the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) which exposed the undeclared wealth of Duterte and his family members.

The web in the “Matrix’ includes the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), the Rappler, and such journalists as Ellen Tordesillas, Carlo Almentral, Manny Ayala, Flgencio Factoran, Glenda Gloria, Winnie Monsod, Federico Prieto, and the Vera Files. How all these are related to each other is not explained at all, except by lines that connect them to each one! This is another version of shaming and threatening people like that of the infamous Narco List. Unlike the allegations against Duterte and his family which are backed up by evidence – whether they are true or not is another matter - the “Matrix” and the Narco List are not backed up by any evidence at all! They are pure allegations!

If there are indeed illegal or criminal basis for such claims, let them be charged in the proper courts. If none, what is the point of coming out with the Narco List and the “Matrix”? Are these not libelous accusations which are groundless? For example, what had come out of the Red October Plot and the White Christmas Plot that sounded alarms of destabilization and even revolutions?

Do all these destabilization alarms show instead that the government itself and those who run it are unstable?