The Liberal Party brands itself as a righteous opposition against a looming dictatorship of the Duterte administration. They claim to be the only hope for a vibrant democracy to survive in the Philippines in the backdrop of state sponsored extra judicial killings. They proclaim themselves as spotless and immaculate politicians who are here to fight for the well being of the poor against a corrupt traditional political dynasty of the Dutertes. The Liberal party brands itself as the only true and genuine opposition against the Duterte administration and asks everyone to rally behind them.
I personally believe that a vibrant democracy requires a genuine opposition but I also believe that the Liberal party is not one. A true democratic opposition plays within the bounds of the rule of law and the existing mechanisms of the democratic institutions. A true democratic opposition tells the story straight and does not play with hyperbole and grand standing. A true democratic opposition fights corruption by providing solid proof and not unverified and unproven sensational accusations. The Liberal party is far from qualifying as a genuine democratic opposition just by looking at their two most common tactics.
Sign or resign.
The Liberal party opposition’s most recent battle cry is “sign or resign”. They are challenging Duterte to sign a bank waiver or resign in order to disprove the allegation made by the Liberal party. They say Duterte should provide the evidence to prove his innocence and if he does not sign the waiver it only proves the allegations true and therefore he should resign. The Liberal party does not see the callousness and the malignant nature of such a tactic. They conveniently forget that in a democratic society, one is innocent until proven guilty and that the burden of proof rests on the person making the allegations. If the nature of their opposition is to preserve the democratic institutions in the Philippines, then why are they so ready to violate a very basic tenet of a functioning democracy? Instead of chastising Trillanes and Alejano for making unproven allegations, they empower them instead. The violation of such a basic tenet of the rule of law is also very malignant to a functioning democracy. Allegations of corruption should be proven first by the person making the allegations before we even take it seriously. If we violate this basic rule then we are nothing but a fake democracy. We will never have a functioning government as opposition groups can just throw allegations around like candy and the accused is put in a corner and unable to focus on governance. The Liberal party has an answer to this predicament – just sign the waiver and be done with it because if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear. This mentality gives you a good idea of the kind of opposition the Liberal party is. To them democratic institutions and the rule of law can easily be thrown in the garbage if there is an easier solution. This mentality should not have any room in a democracy. It is the same thinking as “if you have nothing to hide then you should be ok with the government having a 24/7 camera pointed at you.” It is the exact same mentality and it has the same corrosive effects.
The Liberal party opposition and their supporters will try to justify their demand by saying – the rules should be different for Duterte because he is a government official. This mentality again has the same corrosive effect as their original request – the rule of law applies equally to everyone in a democracy. If any distinction was to be made for government officials, I will even argue that any allegations against the President or any government official should carry a higher burden of proof compared to a private citizen. This is because of the nature of Philippine politics where political rivals have been given too much room to throw unproven allegations against their rivals for no other reason but to discredit them. Once their opponents political career is dead after the court of public opinion has made their judgement, no real charges are filed and nobody really goes to jail. This creates a very disruptive form of government and is not how a functioning democratic republic should function.
The irony of their demand to have Duterte sign a bank waiver is the fact that PNoy said no to signing a bank waiver when allegations were made against him and Sereno, who they are supporting, is also refusing to sign a waiver. I commend PNoy and Sereno for not giving in.
Trolls
The Liberal party and their media machinery also made it public recently that they stand behind a known online troll when they took in the self proclaimed owner of Pinoy Ako Blog. Prior to this development, the Liberal party was very aggressive in discrediting social media personalities and bloggers who support Duterte. They used their media machinery to propagandize the dangers of Thinking Pinoy, For the Motherland and Mocha Uson blog. They raised a lot of alarm bells saying the kind of support the Duterte administration is giving to bloggers by accrediting them for the Malacanang press is a step in the wrong direction. The Liberal party wanted to protect traditional media saying they have a very important role to play in a democracy while trolls and bloggers only serve to degrade democratic discourse. Until the day Thinking Pinoy uncovered an online troll farm that is linked to the Liberal party.
Instead of being on the defensive, the Liberal party and their public relations machine kicked into full gear. They sponsored a media blitz for Pinoy Ako Blog, took her on as part of their charade and took hold of the narrative. They have publicly proclaimed Pinoy Ako Blog as a clear example of bravery in a democracy in crisis. Some of them have even come out to say she is doing a public good in her blog. The Liberal party has suddenly taken a complete reversal of their previous stand against blogs. They called pro-Duterte bloggers as trolls and people who spread fake news but when a blog is linked to them that blog is doing a public good? This is disgusting! Either they have not read Pinoy Ako Blog or they are just this calloused and think their supporters are that stupid.
So just in the last week, the Liberal party has shown to use that their opposition is built around two key things – making unfounded allegations and justifying online libel through the use of anonymous blogs. If that is the only opposition our country is capable of having then we are all doomed.
0 Comments