06/05/2025
How to Hope when our Government does
Disappoint
The arrest of Former President Rodrigo Duterte undeniably is a stepping stone to achieving justice for victims of Extrajudicial Killings during his governance. But for the Duterte camp and its fanatics, this was all rooted in Marcos-Duterte or UniTeam animosity.
Although they missed the main point, we should keep in check that Marcos’s serial nemesis is the Dutertes. And with all their supporters, it would definitely degenerate his political influence and potentially affect his camp’s political career in this midterm and next presidential election. The government’s cooperation with the International Criminal Court is an insidious and subtle act in solving Marcos’s setback. As for the Duterte camp, instigating fake news and calling supporters to redress against the government are their mechanisms to divide the nation, infiltrating a mindset of binary thinking. For instance, if you speak about Duterte’s arrest as a means to achieve justice, you will be immediately labeled as Marcos’s
supporter.
Both camps are primarily motivated by self-interested actions and lay all the cards to win this game. In fact, their alliance as “marriage in heaven” is not meant to last according to Maria Ela Atienza, professor of political science at the University of the Philippines. In her interview with Inquirer News, she noted that this is something to be expected since they did not have clear goals as a party but only for the sake of winning. She even said that they simply wanted to win, and after winning, they pursued different interests and protected themselves. Now it makes sense to us that their respective propaganda is not for the pursuit of the common good but
primarily motivated by personal interest—marking the tragedy of the
commons.
The Duterte administration was known for its extrajudicial killings from which thousand lives were sacrificed with a promise to secure order and peace yet never realized. While we do not cease to believe in this devious narrative, our nation ceases not to be hell also. Furthermore, we never learned from the Marcos Sr. dictatorship and easily forget the bloodless revolution that united our nation to expel his tyranny. As such, if we do not learn from our past, we are always doomed to repeat it.
But who is truly to blame for this cycle of disappointment? It is us—the citizens—who
place these leaders in power and allow their self-serving agendas to flourish. By voting
based on money, personal interests, or blind loyalty rather than reason and principle, we perpetuate a system that prioritizes individual gain over communal good.
But who’s to blame for our apparent affliction? It is us, most likely the 31 million Filipinos-who put them up in the seat and consented to their self- interested agendas to thrive. And while we do not criticize the government because we have become fanatic, they will continue to influence our way of thinking with their power in the most subtle but deadly way. We are doomed, but not eternally doomed.
Is there a hope to redeem our nation? Definitely. If democracy is dictated by majority, then at least we ensure that these majority are us who act according to reason and freedom. That is to say voting based on facts, rather than propaganda and money. Also, holding politicians accountable for injustices and crimes committed rather than fanaticism We as democratic vote because we all aspire for a nation grounded in justice and solidarity.
And this is our hope when our government does disappoint. A hope that prioritizes communal over individual. And when we have done all that we could, and realize it is never enough, may we still persevere and place this hope on something greater than us, our faith- for those who do not believe, to our shared humanity, and for those who do, place it in God.
