One of the Rody Duterte presidential campaign’s key distinguishing features is all the tough talk on how he proposes to get rid of crime and corruption. The most glaring proposal he and his friends in media is the claim that he’ll turn Manila Bay into Death Bay by turning it into the dumping ground for the bodies of criminals and corrupt government officials.
One popular Facebook page continues circulate a statement which is attributed to Duterte and it says, “Ngayon pa lang ay nagbabanta na si Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte na papatayin niya ang 100,000 kriminal sa oras na mahalal siya bilang presidente ng Pilipinas sa 2016.” (Translation: “Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte warns that he will kill 100,000 criminals the moment he gets elected president of the Philippines in 2016.”)
The people who liked and commented on the page post didn’t seem think about the implications of that statement. All they cared about was that someone said something that they wanted to hear and that’s what politicians are really great at.
What people don’t realize is that if there’s one thing that Duterte is good at, it’s playing the role of the seducer. He knows people are so sick of crime and corruption that they’re so desperate for any solution, so Duterte told them the most fantastic thing they wanted to hear and people allowed themselves to be played.
Thing is, Duterte’s seduction strategy is poorly played and easily found out.
All one has to do is ask how Duterte intends to LEGALLY kill 100,000 criminals IMMEDIATELY after he is elected as president in 2016 given that RA 9346 prohibits the imposition of the death penalty.
If Duterte says that he will ask congress to repeal RA 9346 and reinstate death penalty, he runs into another problem because also swore to abolish congress.
Now, if you’re scratching your head at this point, let me help you by saying that Duterte’s way of getting around the need to repeal RA 9346 is to establish a revolutionary government.
If that is so, then, I have to ask… WHY EVEN FRICKING FILE FOR CANDIDACY?!!!
Moving on…
The next thing that bothers me a little about Duterte are his followers and how they think that they can actually pick which laws ought to be followed.
One argument I’ve come across is this, “The criminal justice system doesn’t work, therefore we must abolish due process.”
First of all, they fail to conclusively prove that the country’s criminal justice system doesn’t work. Second, I don’t think they even understand what the implications of abolishing due process means.
Article III. Bill of RightsSection 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.
To put it simply, abolishing due process means that any agent of the state can do anything to anyone for any reason. That there is your basic definition of tyranny.
So, at this juncture, I am really curious as to how a political party as illustrious as PDP-LABAN can support Duterte?
My friend JP Fenix asked the party’s leader, Senator Koko Pimentel, this question and has so far not received an answer:
Maybe Senator Pimentel is too busy to answer questions from us nobodies. LOL!
Anyway, Senator Koko Pimentel assured that Duterte would follow the law once elected and I am daring Pimentel to ask Duterte to account for his statement admitting to links to the Davao Death Squad.
Thing is, if Duterte indeed IS the Davao Death Squad, he could be liable for breaking a number of laws including the Philippine constitution.
If Duterte turns around and says he IS NOT the Davao Death Squad, then he was lying and really, proves himself to be no better than all the other nuisance candidates.
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