September 11, 2018
“Destabilization” is an old, trite excuse of abusive leaders trying to skirt accountability.
It is typical of the Duterte regime to see destabilization behind the Filipino people’s cry for political, economic and social justice. The regime cannot bear cries for justice because the hallmark of its governance is injustice.
This government is afraid of ghosts and it should be. Families representing the thousands of poor people it has murdered have shred the blanket of fear and have filed suit in the International Criminal Court.
Aside from the killings, the Duterte government has illegally arrested hundreds. Many more have been persecuted as the government, buoyed by the capture of the judiciary and institutions of accountability, whips up obscene interpretations of the law.
The mailed fist serves as protection for the regime’s corrupt officials and allies. It is whipped out when scandals arise or when evidence of growing hunger, poverty and joblessness remind the nation of the bankruptcy of the President’s campaign pledges.
The fantasy of destabilization comes as the President’s trust ratings slide, and amid resistance to its bungling, brutal efforts to attack an elected senator, the second attempt in two years.
The baseless claim seeks to mask its plan to hurl a nation that ousted the Marcos dictatorship into a new dark age, whether by the murder of our Constitution or the establishment of a “revolutionary government” or the expansion of martial law.
Resisting tyranny is not destabilization. Upholding human rights is not destabilization. Calling for economic relief is not destabilization.
There is no “massive destabilization” on September 21. There is only a united stand against dictatorship, then and now.
