September 1 - 15, 2016
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
Are we dealing with Dayspring
Humans or Zombies?;
More favor Marcos burial
at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani
By Ed Malay
One of the most highly-rated TV
shows today is “The Walking Dead.” For
what reason should the viewers salivate on
a group of survivors who remain free of the
infection fight their way out by shooting,
hacking, stabbing, clubbing the so-called
Zombies behooves me. Enjoying it means
that we enjoy these types of violence regardless as to whom such is directed.
On the other hand, it could also
be that the viewers look at the Zombies as
a representation of their own struggles in
life that they need to fight with whatever
they’ve got, be it sickness, financial difficulties,
poverty,
unemp l o y ment,
strained
family
relationships, or
simply
frustration, melancholy
and alike.
And now comes the ongoing
campaign of Philippine President Rodrigo
Roa Duterte to finally end the spate of
criminality in the country especially the
unabated proliferation of illegal drugs and
only recently acts of terrorism. When confronted with the growing number of killed,
the President said that drug lords, drug
pushers, and even heavy drug users who
can no longer be rehabilitated are not humans.
While such a statement elicited
a plethora of violent comments and reactions, the President appears to have
gained an ally in Russian President Vladimir Putin who shared the view of the fiery
former Mayor of Davao City that those engaged in illegal drugs and terrorism and
that human rights are for humans but not
for animals as both leaders referred to
drug lords, drug pushers and terrorists as
animals.
So this is where we now stand and
the question lingers on – is the strategy of
Duterte to finally rid the Philippines of the
scourge that is illegal drugs the right way
and the only way? Is it also right to meet
the terroristic force of the Abu Sayyaf
Group with equal or superior force?
While human rights activists and
even the Human Rights Watch deplore the
spare of killings in the Philippines, a Pulso
ng Pilipino survey conducted by the Issues
and Advocacy Center from August 29 to
September 4, 2016 which covers the period when the Roxas night market in Davao
City was bombed that resulted in the
deaths of
14
pers o n s ,
President
Duterte
continues
to enjoy
a
very
high trust
rating of
+92%, the
net total of
96% of the
1,200 respondents who said they still trusted the Philippine President as against only
04% who said they don’t trust Duterte.
The high rating registered by
Duterte is by far the highest ever recorded
by a newly-elected President. Not even
then Benigno Simeon Aquino III who also
won by a landslide in 2010 scored this
high during his presidency. In fact, Noynoy
Aquino, just like US President Barack
Obama, left the presidency with as much
hate on his back than accolades stemming from the public outrage at Aquino’s
insensitivity over the deaths of 44 Special
Action Forces in Mindanao, graft and corruption and the never-ending traffic problem in major thoroughfares in Manila.
Duterte’s rating could have also
been the result of the perceptions of the
respondents as to what they see and feel
as the most pressing problems prevailing
in the Philippines and the image of Duterte
looms large as the only leader in whom
they pin their hopes for a better life.
CONT ON B14
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FAITH AND RELIGION
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