Democracy is a figure of speech

DEMOCRACY in the much-touted liberal democratic regime, President Pinoy style, is nothing but a figure of speech. It is like saying yes our Constitution says we have it but majority of us don’t really enjoy it. Only a few does.

Since 2010, Pinoy has embarked on a political journey towards re-establishing de facto authoritarian and fascist rule with liberal democratic façade following neo liberal policies and programs.

It is obvious that the main class base of Pinoy regime are the big landlords, the big business and banking sectors, the petroleoum sector, the multinational corporations, the upper echelon of the public sector and the military and police generals a number of whom have are protégés of past regimes, and the US imperialist regime.

But to give it a liberal character, it accommodates reformist party leaders, NGO and environmentalist figures, ex-rebels though assigned to administrating only Pinoy’s palliative anti poverty programs like Conditional Cash Transfer, 4Ps (Public Private Partnership Program), among others financed by the loans of World Bank, multinational corporations and the donations from the big business and bankers.

In short, the Pinoy regime is fueled by the money and policy directives of the big landlord and business and the US, all of whom always demand from the regime order and peace in their industries and the political environment.

To do so, his policies and programs have to be enforced by the state security forces acting on direct orders from the Malacanang occupants, their courts and at times in cahoots with House ball players. The ever-dissenting marginalized workers, teachers unions, student leagues, urban poor, and the deeply resistant peasants, farmworkers, indigenous communities are thus always in direct collisions with the state leaders, their media apologists and armed security forces.

Pinoy regime’s liberal ideas and democracy simply become figures of speech.

In reality, he reinforced the authoritarian and fascist rule of GMA regime with some innovations of his own like everybody is free to speak out against the government, but the riot police forces are always there to exercise maximum tolerance. Or everyone is free to complain but also free to get hungry.

Free expression, judicial fairness, dissent, whistleblowing, and other constitutional rights and freedoms are but figures of speech. In the end, Pinoy and his stamping pad House, courts, military, police, secret units, decide on the fate of every citizen.

Behind his often pensive face and occasional short smiles, lie treachery and contempt for the civil, political and economic rights of the citizens.

Extrajudicial thus becomes rampant and de facto legal. By executive orders and secret manipulations, he authorized indefinite detention of anyone opposing his regime or his cohorts, associates and shooting buddies without or with trumped up charges.

He promised to eliminate political prisoners, but he keeps on expanding jail camps and security safe houses. He instituted anti-torture and anti forced disappearances measures but the rampage against progressive activists and other state critics continue unabated.

Under Pinoy, extrajudicial killings become legal. Rule of law principles are spurned. Transparency and openness are gone. Accountability no longer applies.

State enemies, whether centrist, left of center, radicals, revolutionaries armed or unarmed, are vulnerable. No one’s safe anywhere. There’s no place to hide. Rule of law protections don’t apply. His state becomes the judge, jury and executioner.

Indeed, democracy is just a figure of speech. Extrajudicial executive authority is usurped. Courts make calculated moves not to get the ire of Pinoy and his team in Malacanang and Supreme Court. Nor does Congress.

Twisted logic claims judicially enforcing orders would require the court to supervise inherently predictive judgments by Pinoy and his national security advisers as to when and how to use force against enemy forces.

This is simply not accurate. ‘Due process’ and ‘judicial process’ are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security. The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process.

Even on matters of national sovereignty, Pinoy is twisting the laws and manipulating the legislators by kowtowing to the arrogance of US officials and Pacific Command generals, and defending US warfleets and aggression troops in our Philippine territory.

In other words, the UN Charter, Geneva Conventions, other inviolable international laws, constitutional rights, and US statute laws obviously don’t apply or are not deliberately applied. Everyone is a fair target in what they often call fair game. They can be targeted and killed extrajudicially.

Twisted logic defines Pinoy policy. It includes a menu of lawless practices. He competes with his bosses George Bush and now Obama.

These are all profoundly disturbing. They are so dangerous even in a so called liberal democratic regime with supposed system of checks and balances. This is chilling. It summarizes in cold legal terms a stunning overreach of executive authority acting as authoritarian and fascist. He manipulates legal standards. He justifies the unjustifiable.

Pinoy style is a perflexing mixture of self-defense and law of war concepts and doesn’t clearly explain whether there is a different standard for killing an armed terrorist or a dissenting labor leader.
To paraphrase US law professor Jonathan Turley, If Pinoy can take away our freedom or your life on his own authority, then all our rights become little more than a discretionary grant subject to executive will.

Well-meaning in the House and Senate must wake up and stop this callousness and madness of Pinoy regime because at stake are the fundamental issues. They include balance of power, rule of law principles, democracy and sovereignty.

If they don’t, then somebody we may not like would do it for us. Meanwhile, democracy remains a figure of speech.