The Makabayan bloc’s impeachment complaint, similar to the yellow mob’s own filed last Monday, was a challenge to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. more than an action against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Focusing on the House investigation into the confidential and intelligence funds of Duterte, including during her stint as Department of Education chief, the left-wing groups stressed the independence of Congress in defying the President’s entreaty not to go through with the divisive process.

The communist guerrilla front representatives earlier whacked the President for a breach of the independence of the Legislature from the Executive after the President texted House members to say that Duterte’s impeachment was unproductive.

The reaction of the left-wingers unmasked their intent to create mayhem in government and generate public outrage.

Mr. Marcos’ deft move doused the burning political cauldron despite him, the First Lady and the Speaker being at the receiving end of an emotional outburst from Duterte.

National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) executive director Ernesto Torres Jr. sees the ultimate aim of the two impeachment complaints as hijacking the intense political climate that the President wants cooled down.

“In a landscape where every move can ripple across national stability, the Makabayan bloc has always been at the forefront of rocking the boat at every turn imaginable,” he said.

Torres, a former Army general, warned against political opportunism masquerading as a principle, particularly by groups “that have no real concern for nation building.”

He said the call of the President to do away with a political action against the second highest official of the land was meant to redirect the nation’s focus to addressing the challenges that truly matter to Filipinos: economic stability, the public welfare, and national security.

“Let us not second-guess that the Makabayan bloc has this in mind while operating in the House of Representatives. They intend to burn that house down,” he said.

Impeaching Duterte while condemning Marcos for not supporting it is meant to foment discontent.

“If the impeachment is about justice and accountability, why should the President’s neutrality — or even opposition — be a factor? Makabayan’s demand for legislative independence rings hollow when they simultaneously seek executive validation of their sinister crusade,” Torres said.

He indicated that President Marcos’s call to drop the impeachment was a call for national unity, which goes against the intent of the Makabayan bloc and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to capitalize on political instability and factional disputes among the elite.

Fueling distrust and amplifying discord in government undermine the institutions that the Makabayan bloc should be reminded they are part of.

The House radicals position themselves as defenders of the constitutional separation of powers but their actions reek of political opportunism.

“Being a concoction and political machinery of the CPP, the Makabayan bloc has no genuine concern for national unity or progress,” Torres averred.

“Its public leaders, current representatives in Congress, howl like mad dogs for justice when they themselves refuse to face accountability. (Alliance of Concerned Teachers Rep.) France Castro is a convicted felon who trafficked indigenous people’s children in the name of the CPP’s campaign to ‘save Lumad schools’ in Mindanao. (Kabataan Partylist Rep.) Raoul Manuel has been identified by several former cadres of the CPP as a recruiter for underground mass organizations, including the New People’s Army,” Torres asserted.

The Makabayan bloc’s real aim is political instability and the effort of the provocateurs to maintain a heated political conflict is meant to affect the economy by deterring investors and disrupting the growth momentum.

In throwing the economy into disarray, the rabble rousers hope to generate another mass movement against the government.

Perpetuating divisive rhetoric and fanning the political flames is aimed at speeding up the erosion of faith in government institutions, which Torres said is their endgame.

Allowing the Makabayan bloc to run the show at the House of Representatives is like patting the head of a rabid dog.