Nothing indeed , but the possession of some power
can with any certainty discover
what at the bottom is
the true character of any man. -Burke
EJK or Extra Judicial Killing crept into global consciousness with a brown flavor. Definitely. Overwhelming and undeniably alarming, its wake gave the islands a rather twisted picture. Rodrigo* , true to his character lambasted his critics in a trail of presidential speeches which were not only tainted with anger and a cuss here and there, but rather an alzheimeric [not a real word] oral diarrhea whatever the occasion or audience. He hammered on his promise to wage war on drugs and whoever was into it within his breathing space he would 'PATYON KA NAKO!' [I will kill you!']. While the I-will-kill-you-slur is embedded into the colonized culture, it offers a myriad of effects on a diverse inter island population not to mention the persistence of several generations sharing a nation in a single sweep of the digital age. His triumph over the rest of the presidential candidates is basically a mysterious gig which may be dismissed as phenomenal, unorthodox with a dash of voodoo. As a 'perennial' mayor of Mindanao's Davao City, his notoriety may just have done the trick of making the common tao feel that he was one of them. He ruled the city , as claimed in volumes of journals and newsbits not just by intimidation but rather with a precise flair of the perfect streetwise hooligan. Of course he must have meant well in molding Davao City into safe, livable and progressive metropolis, but as allegations flood our thoughts with regards to the existence of a Death Squad in charge of brutal lawless execution of underworld characters we cannot help but ask where he got the inspiration to be such. THUNDERDOME , a high-end girly bar along Timog Avenue in Quezon City during the 80s had on its wall written an adage which cunningly explains Rodrigo's scheme of thought : 'IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE WHAT IS GOOD, YOU HAVE TO FIRST DO SOMETHING BAD'. At his best, he could be your favorite drinking buddy whiling the wining with tall stories , hyena laughter and threats that if you leave the table you kick the bucket.
The TOKHANG [Knock/Request] modus operandi of the police force took a bloody slant when the early evening news started reporting random street deaths of alleged drug characters. It created paranoia when in a day almost 5 persons were found dead, wrapped in garbage bag , duct taped with a tag : PUSHER/TULAK AKO WAG TULARAN. In the last quarter of 2016, there wasn't a news feed that didn't have a killing incident on it. All these inspired by Rodrigo's vision of eliminating the menace of drugs, particularly shabu. He would in a fatherly manner remind his detractors that they would not want to find themselves and their kin in a situation where they would be raped and/or murdered by these drug crazed zombies as he called them. He simply did not realize that of the hundred million or so Filipinos; the four million dealers/addicts he was referring to was a pale blood droplet in the ocean of peace-loving, progressive, successful, God-fearing, and SANE citizens who made sure that their lives were according to the norms of morality. Of course, there is more to the drug menace: economic sabotage. Those inside its realm stash billions of undocumented earnings without being taxed for doing business, oh well illegal business is illegal business. But then, [again!], in a Third World setting poverty institutes a wide frontier to make best of the looban concept to live life on a day-to-day frame on a 'help-yourself-basis'. It is rather a travesty that there an ANTI-POVERTY COMMISSION when it should be properly called POVERTY COMMISSION, since to be against it is to embrace it. Had Rodrigo campaigned for PROGRESS and DEVELOPMENT, he wouldn't have a ghost-of-a-chance to be where he is right now.
As the first impeachment bid comes after a little less than a year in office , he may just have to promptly cremate all the skeletons in his closet before it is too late. TOUCHE.
*We should all start calling him RODRIGO. His utter disrespect for protocol among other things makes him as common as we all are. By doing such, we address him like we would with people who cuss at the slightest provocation; these types do not deserve reverence but rather nonchalance.
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