Suffice to say, news that that the parents of the late Kian delos Santos, Saldy and Lorenza, met with President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacanang knocked the wind right out of the sails of an Opposition campaign to demonise the Philippine leader. A tweet fielded by a certain JR Castillo encapsulates the collective dismay of a clique of “activists” who had hoped to turn Kian into the next epicentre of their sick tradition of necropolitics…
See what the govt did today? They took the rallying point of our cause to their side.
Sorry, it seems we were a bit slow to get the memo… again. The Yellowtards own not only Twitter, but, as it turns out, also Kian delos Santos and his entire family. Indeed, no less than Philippine Senator Risa Hontiveros took this notion to heart last week when she took it upon herself to take delos Santos’s kin, which included minors, into custody. Even more shocking, Hontiveros did so in the name of her Senate office.
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With no less than a Philippine Senator seemingly violating the law to further a political agenda (Hontiveros’s stunt may expose her to charges of illegal detention and withholding evidence from the police), it is hardly surprising that some members of the Opposition — specifically those aligned with the Liberal Party (a.k.a. the Yellowtards) think the way they do. A clique of “activists” who presume to own something or someone they had all but turned into a political artefact would, of course be hopping mad.
And hopping mad they are. Within minutes of the news and photos of the meeting breaking, Yellowtards were on a rampage to smear the parents of their once holy posterboy. They presumed to judge the intentions of grieving parents who, understandably, would go to some lengths to assuage their pain. One of them quipped on Twitter: “As a parent I can’t possibly sit next [to] persons that ordered, enabled, supported [the] system that killed my son.” It seems that, to Yellowtards, the wishes of grieving parents don’t matter. Only the political ascendancy of their Yellow cult is important to them. It’s now evident that the Yellows were just using Kian’s death to bring Duterte down. They should have been happy for his parents that they had found comfort in Malacanang (or, for that matter, anywhere or any way) at their time of grief. Instead, they judged them harshly.
This PR coup should serve as a lesson to the Liberal Party and their Yellowtard minions. They should put an end to their habitual use of dead people as foundation for their tired old causes. They need to come up with real visions and policy frameworks to support these visions. Merely heckling the incumbent and plotting coup d’etats and other extrajudicial means to change leadership will not contribute to Filipinos’ efforts to build a strong nation. The outrage the Yellowtards have been expressing over Duterte’s meeting with the delos Santoses proves that, to them, it was never really about seeking justice for Kian. It was really all about seizing power.
One’s gotta ask how much longer the broader Philippine Opposition will continue to put up with the Yellowtards and their sick tradition of necropolitics. The Yellowtards are doing irreparable damage to their position and need to be ditched, pronto. They are a stinking lumbering dinosaur that is way past its use-by date and, quite simply, needs to undergo an expedited political extinction — for the sake of the country.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Mr Benigno, please make comments if the following observations is objective based on logic:
1. Whoever is responsible for smuggling the P6.4B shabu has the TEMERITY to challenge the President knowing that he is risking not only huge amount but even his own life. Which begs the following question: Will any sensible person do it without a powerful person assuring protection? And yet Duterte did not show any anger on this incident which shows inconsistency. In fact the suppliers of illegal drugs deserve more to be eliminated than pushers or users. Without the supplier the pusher has nothing to sell and user has nothing to buy. This also shows that there is still a big market for shabu even after a year of relentless and brutal campaign against illegal drugs, indicatinng it is not effective.
2. On death of Kian – Is it reasonable to conclude that if another person other than Duterte is the President, Kian will still be alive?
Now the parents are on the other side of the fence. The YellowTards /Opposition cannot use the death/murder of Kian de los Santos , as a rallying point of their tool , to ouster, Pres. Duterte.
The using of dead people for politics, is now a thing of the past; people are just tired of it. It is like a “sirang plaka”, already. It may had worked , during the Pre EDSA days, with the help of the U.S./C.I.A. Now, Pres. Trump is the U.S. President. It is unlikely, that the trick would work , for the Yellowtards, and the Aquino Cojuangco political axis. The U.S has too many problems in the world, to make the “Human Rights” cause of the Philippines, to matter to them.
I will ask the opposition, to present us, better solutions to the present problems of our country. Give us your vision for our country. By then, we may take notice !
Why not ask benign0?
Salagintong Bukid inspires that we want Duterte to have authoritarian government to get rid of opposition parties. Period.
The picture is a political photo op and used for political gain. Or just doing some damage control. If I was the father, I would never lent myself for such distasteful pic. And when the parents actively seeked for contact with Duterte then something is really wrong inside their heads.
Political gain? If you compare with the Liberal Party which is using Kian’s death to oust Duterte then they are the worse. At least Duterte is brave enough to have a talk with Kian’s parents face to face.
I see that you are still trying to paint him as a cold blooded murderer and it’s like you view him as the one who directly killed Kian while in reality he has nothing to do with it.
Has he done anything to bring the actual killers (of every drug related killing) brough to a court of justice? Nope sir Ronald, he did NOT. So how much more evidence do you want and need? I think he gets turned on and gets an orgasm of all those killings. But hey, I dont have any proof of that.
The Philippine Liberal party is NOT in power, they cant win anything. There are no national elections. And (again) only 39% voted for Duterte. So, I am not at all surprised that there is opposition. But your beloved friend still has 5 more years to go. He has everything to lose.
In case you missed the news, Duterte himself already said that he will bring those police who killed kian to justice or rot in jail if they are proven to be guilty of murder, the investigation is still on going .
You missed the point that not all those pushers are killed by war on drugs campaign, most are successfully arrested, some are voluntarily surrendered, just a small percentage of killings which somewhat sensationalized by biased media.
You know what is worse than Kian’s case? It was a killing of an innocent 13 year old boy by policemen and and for some reason got promoted, it’s not even during Duterte’s term but during Aquino’s term.
@Ronald, Who was that 13 yr old killed and who were those policemen- killers who were promoted during Aquino’s time. Name names please for the record.
Ronald,
I am not talking about this ‘one isolated’ case that hits the news today. I am talking about all other people who got killed bec they were a nuisance for your beloved friend. In my country we first bring those people to justice and then the judge will find him/her guilty (or not). Your beloved friend just picks 3rd world standards to solve a problem that cant be solved.
By the way, pls keep me updated about the arrest and the conviction of Kian’s killers. (oh in case you missed it. That previous sentence was sarcasm).
Oh and before you accuse me of being a Philippine Liberal party lover, pls forget it. No way. Never.
@Robert Haighton, You have a very strong point. I wish those fanatical pro-DU30 would argue with reason not with blinded emotion.
But for now I am still for DU30 for lack of a better leader worthy to replace him , at the least we have to be eclectic towards him. It is the pro-Aquino Opposition who are to be blamed for their opposition to the return the death penalty on heinous crimes. The death penalty would be the best deterrent to abusive cops on a killing spree, cops who are themselves involved in illegal drugs.
3 cops in fatal shooting of Makati teenager surface — dzBB
They are so enraged because they think they know better than Kian’s parents and look down on them. They think that they are so stupid and utu-uto. Even if Kian’s parents are simple people, they think more logically and have better IQs than them. They know that it is not the President’s fault that Kian died and they know from their life experience that police scalawags have been existing long before the war on drugs.
@Ronald, Are you for the return of the death penalty on heinous crimes which must include plunder, treason, rape, and illegal drug trade among others?
Do all drug related death was linked to Duterte administration? And assume that he commanded the police force to kill all drugs suspects even after they surrender. What will he will achieved if he order it? Money? Power? This guy is already at last part of his age and still want money? Come on man!
I think Robert Haighton is in state of delusion until now after watching bias media. He don’t even know that whole story and keep crying about the death of the drug suspects.
Yes, I am taking Ritalin.
I am not crying. I just dont like Duterte’s way of ‘solving a problem’. And again, he needs to straighten out his priorities. If he wants to tackle the drug scene in PH, then start with the supply and the production of the drugs. Its very low, to murder/assasinate/butcher the drug users.
Robert: he could also address the reason people sell and buy drugs in the first place, namely that there is:
a) No employment;
b) No education to produce employable adults;
c) No chance of starting a legitimate business without The State causing you a world of pain;
d) No hope of the country ever looking halfway normal.
Under those circumstances, it’s hardly a surprise people turn to dealing as a means of income, and using as an escape from reality.
Marius,
I do agree with you completely, but I want to take it one level deeper/higher. And yes I will sound like a broken record.
Why are there no jobs for everyone? Demand & supply. Too many people for less jobs. Unless a lot of multinationals will build huge factories in PH where manual labor is needed, I dont see the number of jobs increasing in PH. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the population to tone down in multiplying (for the sake of everryone who wants a job). This is not rocket science unless of course the John Do’s are screaming for the government to create jobs. The government is not a job factory.
So if I follow my own line, then the drug users are to blame for their own addiction (or else their parents, at least). But a country where everybody MUST respect their own parents, it will be hard to learn a lesson there (feelings of guilt, utang na loob). If only this cycle will be broken then we already won a battle (but not yet the war).
In short, Marius, I do agree with you but people should also look at themselves and where they put themselves into. And that could have been avoided and prevented (if only …..).
But being here with the fact of an overpopulated country, there is no need to gun down people.
I would say: cut off the supply of drugs, seize all production facilities, monitor possible imports of semi finished (drug) products/raw materials and the pipe line will get dry tomorrow.
@Jipin: my general experience of Filipinos doing evil things is that they do it for pleasure, not for personal or financial gain. A Filipino will hurt someone else not to benefit himself, but simply to laugh at the other’s misfortune.
>> people should also look at themselves and where they put themselves into.
@Robert: that sums up the tragedy of this country in a nutshell. Instead of looking at themselves, Filipinos are endlessly blaming someone else for their problems.
You’re correct that the government is not a job factory, but in the Philippines the government deliberately ensures that there cannot be any jobs:
)1 Anyone who wants to start a (legitimate) small business here cannot do so, because it exposes you to corrupt government officials. They’re corrupt because the rules are set up to ALLOW them to be corrupt. Therefore people who MIGHT start a business are discouraged from doing so.
2) Even if you do start a business, you’ll have trouble finding employees who won’t steal from you or lie to you, and aren’t idiots. There’s a reason so many Filipinos have jobs standing around doing nothing: that’s about all they’re capable of doing.
3) Assuming you’ve got your business up and running, there’s a good chance someone will take a dislike to you and decide to sabotage you, or burglars will destroy the place, or you’ll be robbed at gunpoint because you’re “rich”.
So yes, of course we need to shut down Mayors running drug operations, but who put them there in the first place? Who tacitly gives them support? Who goes to work for them as gunmen? All Filipinos. Knock down one mayor, one drug factory, one drug courier, and another one pops up to take its place. It’s like killing cockroaches: if your house is dirty, you’ll always have cockroaches however many you kill.
Even you try to eradicate all drug supply when demand is still high, drug cartel or ordinary people will always find a way to supply it exchange for big profit. Demand should be eliminated to make the business unprofitable to the cartels. And this is the way president is doing, building drug rehab centers for drug addicts.
He incite fear for those people who don’t abide the law and drug users to stay away from drugs. And it is the only way to discipline the people and abide the rule of land. I hope you have a better solution before you criticize someone.
@marius: what a lame excuse
Huh? What’s a lame excuse?
I already suggested some better solutions. Nobody is interested. As for your proposed solution, there are plenty of countries who have tried that, with far more resources than Duterte has, and failed. Yet again, Filipinos think everything’s going to turn out fine just because they’re Filipinos.
I’m expecting that this site will be the light of hope for Filipinos mentality but in turn out to be a blog for eternal damnation for Filipinos.
Please elaborate. Thanks in advance.
Jipin: it occurs to me that your solution has an EXACT precedent: Thailand.
There, drug problems are kept at a socially-acceptable level by draconian State enforcement. Unfortunately, that just leaves you with a third-world country with a slightly-less-visible drug problem.
Is that what you want? Is that the best that you think Filipinos are capable of? Personally I think it might be, but why not aim a little higher than that?
We still need the oppositions even when their advocacies are trivial, irrational or nonsense. We further need these to further prop up or maintain the Mayor’s good ratings, and of course, for democrazy-sake.
The love of justice is, in most men, nothing more than the fear of suffering injustice.