THERE are rumors that there is a plot to oust President Rodrigo Duterte by February 25, the 31st anniversary of the Edsa Revolution.
While there is no way that this can be confirmed not unless we have a mole among the alleged plotters, all we can say is that from observation, yes, there is a perceived synchronized attack on the President by stalwart anti-Duterte propagandists, Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Leila de Lima.
Listening to them, we are led to believe that we have a devil for a president. Sad to say, some believe this as true.
But for the toiling masses, who had to make deals with the real devil all throughout the administrations that chose to disregard their voices and partake of the government coffers like it was all theirs, the idea of having a devil for a President no longer scares them. They have faced hunger and neglect and untold sufferings, especially those who have been victims of major disasters like typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas, such that the quick action of government these days are like heaven-sent.
But human as we are, the quick action can just as quickly be disregarded and demands for quicker bigger actions follow suit. There will never be a satisfaction level that can be achieved as we would prefer to look at what's being done wrong rather than seeing what's being done right as compared to what has been before. Humans as we are as well, we forget how inept the past had been and how spurious the actions of the two senators have been.
But, no, those who want to destabilize government will not want us to think that way, and so they manipulate and play with our awareness, so that we forget the horrors of the past and make us instead believe that horrors they are conjuring for us to perceive.
The fact remains, Trillanes tried to stage coups by parking armored personnel carrier in the lobby of a posh hotel in Makati and holed himself in a multi-storey serviced apartment cum suites. It's a fact that under de Lima as Justice Secretary, drug lords lorded it over in the National Bilibid Prison. Those remain as facts. Will we allow them to rule over our minds knowing these facts? Not.
And so we live on, prosper on, and do our part in nation-building, strong in the belief that for this very short period, the people do matter, the masses do have the voice, and public service is really for the public.
Let us not allow those who have selfish interests to rein in our consciousness and march in step with their self-centered plots. That is the true spirit of People Power.