Search the site...

EnduranceWriter
  • Blog
  • Cowachunga - Ch. 1
  • Cowachunga - Ch. 2
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Cowachunga - Ch. 1
  • Cowachunga - Ch. 2
  • About
  • Contact

ENDURANCEWRITER

AKA Damon Arvid. Under-the-radar writer, musician. Let's keep it that way. The cloud novels and other highlights are being collected at DamonArvid.com. To access all the music and Avocado Sun, click the big black box below.

Fabric - Summon These Days (Music)

Echoes of Martial Law...

4/28/2016

0 Comments

 
This Al Jazeera profile of Duterte sent chills down my spine. The implication is that rule of law and due process may go by the wayside. Now values of transparency and are fairly weak in much of the Philippines and stories of police abuse manifold, but I do not know that they extend to "death squads," which bring back memories of the dark days of martial law.

I am not going to get on a high horse and suggest that you can effect change in a country as corrupt and inefficient as the Philippines easily. But to clean up corruption in the government in 3-6 months? That would take a declaration of martial law, because nearly everyone is implicated. I can easily see things spiraling out of control into grudge matches, with those aspects of the government system that work the inevitable collateral.

Maybe the democratic institutions of the Philippines are enough to keep a strong man contained and working to productively eliminate corruption. God knows that on time EMT response and quality medical care is a worthy aim. Zoom-in security cameras everywhere.? As any reader of Arisugawa Park can tell you, not my thing.

The issue of the rebels in Mindanao and Duterte's concept of quasi-autonomous federal states is one I wholeheartedly endorse. What is going on in Mindanao is all about resources, mining, and exploitation––not the strictly religious Muslim/Catholic schism, as it  is understood by many. It is no accident that the Canadian recently taken from a beach resort and beheaded was a mining company executive. 

My most recent fb comment: 

"Someone asked me why Poe instead of Duterte in the upcoming Philippine national election.

Because Grace Poe seems like she has practical aims that are not based on too much bias and hyperbole. And this is critical in rebalancing the system––which, if actually accomplished, will hurt a lot of butts used to living large. 

Duterte, there is no question he has been a very effective law enforcer. But this is completely different from assuring that money that belongs to the citizens is being used in the most productive, fair, and equitable way. 
By setting as an example someone who uses blunt force to get things done, you are setting the stage for authority abuse that could result in non-democratic tendencies coming to the fore. Especially at local levels, as leaders are influenced by the message from the top.

Democracy may be messy, but it is better than the alternative. I don't really think that someone who says he would have his son shot for using drugs, rather than speaking about rehabilitation and providing hope to youth through job creation programs is moving on the most positive track. 

Wikipedia says of Poe that her major aims are: "labor legislative agenda - more opportunities, skill development and growth for Filipino workers, employment security for the disabled and handicapped, and protection of workers in the informal sector. Specific policies she advocated in the course of her campaign include reviving the national elementary school lunch program."
​
I would rather have this type of practical agenda at the fore, than hyperbolic stories of cleaning up the gutter."
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Damon Arvid

    Author of Arisugawa Park. Fabric. Life.

    Picture

    Archives

    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    October 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
Proudly powered by Weebly