Losers, agitators beat drums

Losers, agitators beat drums | Daily Tribune

The vicious nature of what constituted the basis for the oust Vice President Sara Duterte movement unraveled with the pronouncement of the left-wing detractors that should Duterte’s impeachment trial stall, discussions on it would be brought to the streets and the schools.

Anchored on the alleged misuse of intelligence funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, which Duterte had headed, the impeachment process faces a dim prospect as questions are raised about the need for it due to time constraints, as the 19th Congress concludes by the end of the month.

The complaints endorsed by the Makabayan bloc center on Duterte’s alleged mishandling of P612.5 million in confidential and intelligence funds, alleged fabricated accomplishment reports, and disallowed expenditures by the Commission on Audit.

The Vice President has disputed the charges and claimed a frame-up by her political opponents and critics.

Senate President Chiz Escudero moved the start of the trial of Duterte by a week to 11 June, giving the proceedings a narrow window of 19 days to wrap up before the start of the 20th Congress.

Constitutional experts believe the trial cannot cross over to the new Congress and would need a reset, which means Duterte would be covered by the one-year ban on another impeachment case.

The Makabayan bloc which is made up of the rabid proponents of the campaign to oust VP Duterte is now turning to the parliament of the streets for support insisting “the people should be involved in the discussions.”

When the left-wing legislators speak of the people, they can’t be the Filipinos who repudiated them in the recent midterm elections.

None of the 12 bets of the hypocritical left-wingers for Senate seats won or even made it to the top 20 votes.

Thus, their claim of the need to bring their arguments before the people lacks credibility.

Now the likes of France Castro, who landed a dismal 40th in the Senate race, seek to implicate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the pressure to halt or shorten the trial.

Their electoral repudiation has weakened the claim of the communist front in the House of Representatives that they represent the Filipino people.

Their appeal to “the people” is addressed to their ideological base rather than a broad cross-section of the public as an independent survey indicated that 50 percent of Filipinos oppose the impeachment, suggesting that the bloc’s insistence of a widespread public demand for accountability is overstated.

The disconnect between their viewpoint and reality raises questions about whether the call to take the issue to the streets and schools is a genuine appeal for public participation or a tactic to compensate for their lack of legislative and electoral influence.

Taking the divisive issue to schools involves politicizing educational spaces, which are meant to be neutral grounds for learning.

It only exposes the rabble rousers’ true objective, which is to engender strife that favors their ultimate aim of instability.

The call to the streets is a rehash of the template of past protest movements that ousted two popularly elected presidents.

Members of the leftist bloc, all discredited in the ballot, seek to stir up the social cauldron and bring the conflict between powerful political forces to a boiling point which would work in favor of the radical alternative that they offer.

The Makabayan bloc was a disaster in winning the trust of the public in the polls but it remains the most pernicious of all political groups, useful for schemes and maneuvers.