If someone offers to double your money in three months’ time
or increase it by 200 percent in six months, would you hand him your years of
saving to take advantage of the rare opportunity? You are unlikely to do it if
you are a sensible person with a critical mind. The offer is too good to be
true. No economic or business venture has ever accomplished that feat.
Otherwise, banks would not have existed because no one will put their money
there. The claim is experientially and
legally impossible to happen. The investment scheme is definitely fraudulent.
But not very long ago many in Mindanao and in some other
parts of the country had succumbed to this quick money scam and lost almost everything they had.
Government employees lost their big loaned money. Pensioners, their lump sum
pensions, farmers their farm lots or farm animals, because they uncritically
took the bait. And who would not when the stratagem is so convincing and tempting. Some distinguished personalities in the
community, no less than the chief of police or the mayor who accordingly
belonged to the first batch of investors, materialized and testified in the
gathering waving their checks, the
returns of their investment, after a period of 3 months , and who are now
enthusiastic to reinvest the capital and interest in full. To cap it all they and
the new converts were handed outright postdated checks equivalent to the value
of their money plus the returns cashable after 90 days. Huge returns-of-investment
were advanced to the investors in that manner. Everyone was jubilant but at the
end of the day all was holding an empty bag.
Many families were destroyed. As a consequence, many children had to
stop their schooling. The pensioners
start begging for food and medicines from their relations or neighbors. Some
had died of heart attack or were reported to have committed suicide, unable to
bear the devastating weight of the tragedy
Now, how is the quick money scheme different from the claim of a presidential
aspirant that he could stop corruption,the drug menace end criminality in 3-6 month’s time in this country of 110
mjllion people dispersed across a porous archipelago of 1700 islands ?Hardly. Both are empty promises
used as a lure to advance some covert selfish interest. The latter, of course
is a scam of graver magnitude currently surging forward and may yet engulf the
country like an unstoppable tsunami wrecking in its wake everything on its path-
faith in God or in something noble, trust, friendship, respect for one another,
guiding ideals and values we have held
dear since childhood, and the blessings we are enjoying from our fledgling
democracy. The demolition is
accelerating thanks to the messianic ambition
of a despotic provincial warlord
feeding on the grievances, impatience and desperation of the people over a democratic culture that is flawed and
a government t accused to be wanting in delivery.
Our flirtation with democracy is only half a century old.
And we seem to forget that democracy is an organic institution that grows in
consideration of the history, culture and tradition of a nation. It is not something transplanted from one clime to
another and immediately grows and bears fruits in the new location nor
something shipped like a pre-fab
structure whose components can readily be assembled upon arrival on site and
may become functional at once. In operation, democracy is a participatory work in progress. The US
version of democracy which serves as our rough model has been in existence for
over three centuries. Yet the Americans continue to struggle to this day
streamlining and correcting its
conceptual flaws and operational
glitzes. The entire system is far from complete. At our end, we are apparently
becoming a nation of instant coffee. We
just cannot wait and in the process sacrifice quality in favor of something
cheap, actually disgusting but in tempting attractive package.
Now comes the foul-mouthed change-maker from Davao City.
.
The Mayor has never been less transparent about his ambition
and intention to change the country according to his own mold through a bloody revolution
with himself at the helm. Even before he
officially proclaimed his bid for the presidency he already threw mouthful of
hints along the way of what would be expected of him in time to come.
If one looks deeper into it, his participation in the current
electoral exercise under a system he vehemently condemns as rotten and
unreliable is part of the grand strategy to gain more supporters and
followers. If he won the presidential
race and got himself installed as president, he would declare Martial Law and
establish a revolutionary government to
make true to his promises. That would be revolution from within the system
using the resources of the government with some air of legitimacy at that to
accomplish his aims. If he lost his bid he would make it appear that he was
cheated of victory by his opponents or by the government itself and tap the grievances of his followers to wage the revolution from
the outside. To prepare for this his
camp has been saying he could never lose this election unless cheated by the
COMELEC. In this context, his followers would feel they are on moral ground to
rise against the Republic. His armed elements are ready for a bloody takeover
of government. On line for support are the communists or the NPAs who he
allowed a modus vivendi in Davao, tolerating, in fact encouraging them to collect “revolutionary taxes” from
businessmen and of which he promised of late key positions in his government,
and the Moro secessionists, an attractive local governance package via
federalism of which he assured he could easily deliver to them by abolishing Congress and the Supreme Court
and thus preclude delaying legal obstruction..
But, of course, the Armed Forces and the people who still love democracy
will not allow this happening sitting down. Hence, there would be civil war - Filipinos
killing Filipinos. Thus, not just 1000
or 100,000 but maybe millions will perish in the establishment of the Duterte
regime of peace and security.
All around the country, the pied piper of Hamelin is playing
his instrument to the hilt where droves and waves of enchanted victims are responding
to his sound like rats driven to the precipice.
