Who have been declared “communist-terrorists” by state security forces and the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict? Practically all sectoral organizations advocating for reforms and genuine change. They did not spread terror or cause panic among the public but called on the government to act on legitimate demands of ordinary citizens.
With billions of pesos at its disposal, from the nation’s coffers and from loans incurred in our name, this government still failed to institute even the minimum standards for COVID-19 response. Of the P380-billion COVID-19 budget under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, it has spent P12.32 billion for health or merely 3.2 percent of the total COVID-19 allocation.
While it is true that ordinary citizens are expected to maintain civility, speaking out should not be criminalized. We are being punished for demanding from government what it should have been doing in the midst of a health crisis.
The Duterte administration should focus its energy on containing the virus instead of containing the growing discontent.
Instead of a moratorium on debt payments, the Duterte administration wants the country to sink deeper in debt. It is shamelessly taking advantage of the pandemic to push for the interest of his foreign masters.
All these actions aim to create chilling effect, to force us into silence amid the Duterte administration’s glaring failure to address the COVID-19 crisis.
After all the deliberations, the public demands more concrete answers. Immediate actions to combat COVID-19 do not require emergency powers. The problem is that from day 1, the Duterte administration does not have a comprehensive plan to deal with the crisis.
The only certainty we now have is that we have been left to fend for ourselves. This administration absolves itself of any responsibility to mind the ordinary people’s survival.
Let us demand what our communities need the most – public health education, free testing, water supply, sanitation, subsidy.
Our legislators, meanwhile, think it is best to put a tag price on our basic and essential public services and allow foreign corporations to profit immensely. In the first place, government should be providing these basic services to the Filipino people.
The VFA and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) have not modernized the armed forces. Military training between the troops ensured allegiance to US interests and adoption of counterinsurgency strategies, which have been brutal to the core.