Rule of law or of men

Grassroots & Governance
Teresa S. Abesamis

Following the EDSA Revolution, when we overthrew the authoritarian Marcos regime, President Corazon Aquino quickly set about the task of restoring the democratic structures which had been rendered ineffective by the “strong man” rule of Ferdinand Marcos. She pushed for a New “People’s” Constitution, which provides safeguards against abuses of power and one-man rule. Soon after, although she was governing under a revolutionary government and could issue decrees, she pushed for the restoration of the Senate and the House of Representatives as provided in the newly ratified 1987 Constitution. And before her six-year term had ended, she signed the Local Government Code of 1991, transferring more political and budget authority to local governments from the national government. Clearly, President Corazon Aquino was for strengthening our democracy by broadening citizen and grassroots participation in the shaping of government policy and allocation of resources.

Although Marcos, a brilliant lawyer, took pains to project legality of his decisions (including the legalistic declaration of martial law in 1972) it was clear to the citizenry that it was one-man rule where a select group of military officers, cronies, and relatives were given privileges over others. Yet it was only after he declared martial law that Marcos fully asserted his authoritarianism. He even took pains to rewrite the Constitution and restructure the government to a parliamentary system to ensure the legal framework for the extension of his power beyond what was allowed under the 1935 Constitution.

Meanwhile, early enough in his term, President Rodrigo Duterte has made it clear that he can ignore the laws and due process because he can, he says, as president. It is only too obvious that his toady Justice secretary carries out his declared wishes. Duterte’s fierce critic on human rights abuses Senator Leila de Lima is detained based on testimonies alleging her cultivation of illegal drug business in the Bilibid prisons as provided by 19 long-term Bilibid hard core convicts. Are their testimonies allowable under the laws of the land? Police Superintendent Marvin Marcos, who supervised the killing of detained Mayor Reynaldo Espinosa of Albuera, Leyte has been released on bail following the incredible downgrading of his case from murder to homicide. Marcos has been quickly returned to active duty in Mindanao carrying the same rank and level post he held before the obviously premeditated assassination of the unarmed mayor. The notorious Parojinogs of Ozamis City were shot dead at the crack of dawn in their homes, allegedly because they fired at the arresting police. Why weren’t they arrested, taken into custody and charged? In civilized democracies, even criminals are entitled to due process, under the rule of law.

Duterte has five more years to go under the present 1987 Constitution. This early, he has already demonstrated by word and deed, his tendency to take short cuts, and his sense of entitlement to such powers as the elected president of our country. Incredibly, he is getting high satisfaction and trust ratings from our citizenry. I suppose his high ratings embolden him and his minions to continue and alas, even exacerbate their sense of entitlement to take short cuts and ignore the laws and due process. This culture of macho arrogance of power is manifested as well by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who has openly threatened impeachment against several critics of the President, especially the women.

Where is this all leading to? If there is no countervailing force against these arrogant tendencies to take short cuts, and to exact revenge against perceived enemies of the President, over time, are we going the way of Venezuela whose economy is in shambles, and where people are literally starving from uncontrolled super-high inflation? President Benigno S. C. Aquino III enhanced the country’s international credit ratings because of a healthy banking system, and a credible system of a level playing field for business investors. Cronyism was not in the culture of the Aquino III regime. The enhanced credit ratings have thus given the Duterte government a good head start for a consistent economic growth trend, thanks as well to the healthy OFW remittances and BPO businesses that have enhanced purchasing power that has bolstered our consumption-led economic growth.

It is dangerous to just shrug our shoulders and say that well, these short cuts are what the people want.

Responsible leaders of civil society and the media have a duty to support our brave government officials such as the Ombudsman, the Commission on Human Rights, and independent members of the Senate who dare to contradict the in-your-face against the law pronouncements of the current President who has the temerity to call our armed forces “my soldiers,” the Filipino citizenry “my people” and the Philippines “my country.”

Without critical thinking and assertiveness of these sectors, given the trends, the Philippines could revert back into one-man rule. History tells us loud and clear, that this does not work for us.

When Marcos was elected president in 1965, the NPA was a ragtag group, the MNLF had not yet been organized, and our economy was second only to Japan in prosperity among Asian countries. When we finally deposed the dictator, we had become the economic basket case of Asia; and the NPA and the MNLF had become serious problems in our country. President Duterte promised to wipe out the drug menace in three months, then extended his self-imposed deadline to six months, and lately to the end of his term. If Duterte truly is a student of history as he claims, he should appreciate that strong arm tactics and short cuts are not the most effective solutions to our problems.

Over the long term, we need a rule of law not of men to guide the behavior of our soldiers, police, politicians, bureaucrats, and the rest of the citizenry. We are a long way from the UK’s and its Commonwealth nations’ admirable systems, but as Chairman Mao once said, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. We have already taken many steps forward. Are we willing to continue walking backward?

Teresa S. Abesamis is a former professor at the Asian Institute of Management and an independent development management consultant.

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