Gazing into the Abyss of Political Decay
By Prof. Menelito Mansueto (MSU-IIT)
There's a circus in town but we need to know who the real clowns are. The desecration of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is a manifestation of the way power politics operates in this country. The recent attacks on VP Sara Duterte is not very different from the old style of character assassinations. But it is KOJC Pastor Apollo Quiboloy who has become the proxy in the war between the House of Marcos and the House of Duterte. Now is the season of politics.
The storyline goes to show that once again Philippine democracy is the loser. Instead of spending on infrastructure such as the Mindanao railway or the Cebu - Bohol Bridge, billions of funds in the form of ayuda are used for politicking. We are wasting public resources on bad political habits and practices. The government is functioning like an organized crime syndicate where stealing public money has become rampant. But the story extends further.
What is appalling is that those who question the human rights violations of Marcos, Sr. seem to have rejoiced to witness the harassment in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compounds. And those who formerly questioned the presidency of Marcos, Jr. seem to applaud the administration in the forceful police entry of known Quiboloy properties and assets. Is our human rights principle applicable only to a select group of people? Would this mean that those who had been Marcos’ critics for a long time have suddenly become Marcos's supporters?
How could I not laugh at those cheap tricks? Where are our dearly treasured human values, principles, and their consistency? They apply selectively and according to our political biases and affiliations. In voicing out against those folk whose belief systems and ideologies were against ours, had we not been aware of being used or having given the favor to the opposite camps? What do you say now that whenever Duterte’s camp is being attacked, such actions will indirectly result in lending the Marcos camp a big favor? Let Senator Risa Hontiveros be aware. Of course, she is. She certainly knows of “political butterflies” who are doing opportunists a big favor of media publicity.
Viola, our (radical) ideological leftist and purist friends have now sided with whom they alleged as “tyrants,” they have become the very “monsters” whom they have fought against. What a pretense! Again, the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s words rang true this time with his warning, “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”
As citizens of the republic, it is our duty not to become one-sided on national issues. Our myopic and limited views only invite more division and regionalism. We all ought to understand the neglected situations of people at the peripheries. There is a need to embrace religious pluralism and ethnic diversity even with political opinions. That is the only way to understand the basic differences between communities by opening our minds to other people’s realities.
