Dear Editor,

Divisiveness, it seems, has become the order of the day for the country in the past few weeks.

Aside from the push to amend the 1987 Constitution supposedly for “economic gains,” which sparked an apparent rift between the House of Representatives and the Senate, there are reports that the Marcos administration and former President Rodrigo Duterte’s relationship are already cracking.

In the past few days, we have seen the word war between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the former President regarding allegations that they are using drugs — the incumbent with a sniffing problem while the former struggling with “injections.”

Not only that, Senator Imee Marcos — who presented herself as a staunch supporter of the Dutertes — had her moment in throwing tirades against her cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez regarding the push for Charter change, saying that the House Speaker is behind the People’s Initiative campaign.

But if we look at it closely, it seems that all the rift, scuffle, and mudslinging in the government were derived from a well-written teleserye script meant to have the public train their sights on the incidents and away from the real issues and problems that hound the country still.

For one, the tirades between Marcos and Duterte — especially regarding the use of illegal drugs — may be a farce because if all the allegations were true, then we should be seeing these two leaders behind bars.

Now, we see some twist in this “teleserye” as the former President calls on his supporters to keep their cool, saying that he and Marcos are not fighting.

Duterte stressed that he just wanted Marcos not to push through with the Charter change — although it seemed a tad short of superficial advice since the former President had accused Marcos of being “a cocaine addict.”

The former President even disclosed that “Marcos and friends” used to hold drug sessions in a plantation in Davao del Norte as he rued how the incumbent president was being used by the people around him, particularly his wife and cousin.

Duterte advised Marcos to enjoy the remaining six-year term and then leave Malacañang at the end of it. He even warned that the junior may end up like his father, who was ousted following a people’s uprising in 1986.

But in this case, we may not agree with the former President’s call for calmness and unity as he had also let slip a plan to separate Mindanao and secede from the Philippines — which is another form of divisiveness.

To recall, the former President has raised the idea of separating Mindanao from the Philippines while there’s an ongoing heated argument over the People’s Initiative for Charter change.

And what do you know, Duterte even suggested that the plan be pushed through if they could gather enough signatures from those who wanted Mindanao to separate from the Philippines.

Looks familiar, right?

Senators have also opposed the former President’s proposed move, saying that it will only sow — again, with the word — divisiveness.

Whether we like it or not, we now witness the country’s biggest “teleserye” unfold, dividing an already shaky and uncertain way of life.

Paulus Mauricio

paumau2001@yahoo.com