By Jose Alejandrino
My main concern has constantly been the national interest which is the welfare of the majority of Filipinos who have been exploited and abused and kept in ignorance and poverty by a hundred or so families who hold seventy percent of the wealth of our country in order to maintain a corrupt political system that was and is advantageous to them to retain their hold over power.
When Digong assumed the presidency he did not realise the magnitude of the problems he inherited from an incompetent and corrupt Aquino administration. He did his best - and produced singular achievements in the realms of foreign policy, the economy and investments, in education and healthcare benefits, and, to some extent, in housing, in tax reform, in raising the salaries of soldiers, policemen, and soon, teachers, in infra projects - during his first three years in office despite many attempts by liberals and leftists to obstruct and discredit him. While he made gains in his war against illegal drugs, the presence of narco-politicians and narco-generals from the two-billion US dollar drug trade annually have not subsided and illegal drugs continue to flow in large quantities into the country because foreign druglords want to turn the Philippines into a major transshipment point and hub for the spread of drugs in SE Asia. Neither has corruption subsided in the government despite Digong firing many officials, including some of his own friends whom he had appointed. The rot had spread too deep into the system and bureaucracy. It could not be eradicated overnight.
Those retired military officers like Ano in DILG and Cimatu in DENR whom Digong had appointed were able to clean up, notably places like Boracay. It needed more officers to clean up Customs. Digong found, despite criticisms from the Opposition about the militarization of government, that the military was the only institution which produced fast results, whether in the retaking of Marawi from ISIS-Maute terrorists, or in the reduction of the NPA strength, or in the running of government. Hardly surprising because military officers were trained at the PMA to put duty, honor, and country above self. They were highly disciplined, well versed in organisational methods, and trained to command. This is why I repeatedly said the military was the only institution I trusted to carry out a mission order promptly and efficiently.
Despite Digong’s many achievements, the problems of the nation continue to mount, some outside his control like potential water shortages due to more hot spells and unpredictable changing weather patterns around the world and a potential US-China conflict in the Spratlys area. Other problems like a global economic and financial meltdown due to soaring debts and increasing ferocity and frequency of earthquakes, cyclones, typhoons, more floods, droughts and famine around the world, loom over the horizon. All these are bound to affect us since we are part of a global village and do not live in isolation. They can lead to geopolitical changes around the world due to economic and social turbulence. As I said before, the problems of humanity will increase and not decrease in the years ahead, and, as they increase, more and more countries will have to resort to authoritarian rule, as we are seeing now, to contain the disorder that will follow.
Digong is halfway through his presidential term. His successor will need to continue the work of change he began and Inday Sara best personifies the continuity needed. She is still short on experience. Digong knows the magnitude of the problems he inherited. If he is unable to do a major turnaround in his remaining three years in office by bringing meaningful change, it will be Inday who will inherit those problems. On top of other problems Inday is likely to face when she assumes the presidency in 2022, it may be too enormous for any person to shoulder. The best legacy Digong can leave to his successor and to the country is to reduce those problems while still in office by resorting to extra-constitutional means, or, to put it bluntly, a revolutionary or government of national salvation.
Digong may have some qualms about adopting this solution because of his training as a lawyer about the Constitution. Again, he may not by force of circumstances. Did Cory have such qualms when she abrogated the 1973 Marcos Constitution? Did her liberal followers have the same qualms? Did JPE, FVR, Honasan et al have the same qualms when they revolted at Edsa? No, they accepted it. Did the idealistic officers in RAM and YOU have the same qualms about the 1987 Constitution when they staged their coupe against Cory? Did Trillanes et al have the same qualms about the Cory Constitution when they revolted against GMA? Neither did the people who elected Honasan and Trillanes to the Senate. Mar Roxas got it right when he referred to the Constitution as “a mere piece of paper.” When the national interest dictates the need for meaningful change that will redound to the benefit of the majority of Filipinos and a Constitution is an obstacle to bringing that meaningful change, I also maintain the Constitution is a mere piece of paper that no longer serves its purpose.
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