Heckling Duterte won’t work

There seems to be an organized mass heckling campaign directed against President Duterte. It is being mainly played out in social media. It is obvious that it is being carried out by parties that have supported losing candidates in the last presidential elections.

We doubt if that heckling campaign would work, though; we don’t think the hecklers can stop the President from doing what he believes he must.

The heckling has been directed at two administration initiatives. The first is the all-out war against illegal drugs; the other, the decision to allow the burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The goal of the organized heckling is obvious—to create the impression that there is public disfavor against these two initiatives. We doubt if the leaders of the heckling pack believe they can stop the President’s war against illegal drugs or crush his resolve to let Marcos be buried at the Libingan.

The motive is clear: prevent Duterte from delivering on his campaign promises and to fail the expectation of the 16 million Filipinos who voted for him (20 million actually – some observers say – if there really was a mysterious “fourth server.”)

It will be recalled that Duterte had promised that, once elected president, he would be unrelenting in his campaign against illegal drugs. So, it is clear that what is happening now in this campaign has been expected all along by the majority of Filipino voters.

Duterte said it would be bloody. He said the campaign could result in dead bodies. If one had voted for Duterte, then the decisiveness and intensity of the campaign against illegal drugs is something one had looked forward to. This is Duterte delivering on a promise.

Those who voted for Duterte also knew that, once elected, he would give the green light for the burial of Marcos at the Libingan. This commitment was crystal clear. If one voted for Duterte last May, one knew and one agrees with this move.

It seems clear, therefore, that those heckling the President now based on these two initiatives were not Duterte voters.

That they would oppose such moves is a given. After all, this was not the man they chose to run the country.

We believe Duterte would be heckled by the same people if he did not take these initiatives. The hecklers would go into a chorus of “see, we told you so” if Duterte had opted to be soft on the illegal-drugs menace after being elected into office. As far as this pack is concerned, it would be “damn if you do, damn if you don’t.”

This makes it wise for Duterte to ignore the hecklers and simply do what he believes is right. He alone would be responsible and accountable for his actions.

If he allows his commitments to the people to be derailed by those who are committed to heckle him, he alone would suffer the consequences of failure.

It is also obvious that this pack of hecklers is looking for a personality who would symbolize their war against the national leadership.

They had apparently tried to make Sen. Leila de Lima that symbol. Unfortunately, De Lima has miserably failed the proverbial “Caesar’s wife” test.

Lately, there has been an attempt to pit Chief Justice Sereno against the President.

It looks like Sereno would not allow the hecklers to use her for their political motives. She has kept quiet after the President counter-attacked in the aftermath of her hint at public defiance.
This is a correct move on the part of Sereno.

It would be well for Philippine Chief Justice to junk any and all attempts at making her a figurehead of an anti-administration political cause. Such would not be good for her reputation and that of the judiciary.

After all, Sereno is identified with former President Noynoy Aquino who was roundly beaten in what he portrayed as a national referendum on his leadership.

Sereno will always be the reminder of the cruel treatment that the discarded past President has done to the late Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Meanwhile, we believe it is best for the President to ignore the hecklers and proceed with his initiatives. Time is not on his side. His political adversaries are counting the days, waiting for him to miss his deadline for his delivery on his major campaign promises.

He should simply tell himself that the gang that is now heckling him is composed of the very same people who backed the presidential bid of the candidate whose mess he now has to clean up.