An Opposition in government STILL exists, but it is no longer Yellow in nature

Don’t believe any of the traditional “thought leaders” associated with the old (and utterly beaten) Liberal Party-led Opposition when they say that Filipinos are now subject to a rubber-stamp Congress thanks to how they voted in this year’s elections. The idea that there is “no real opposition” in Congress is a big lie that the Liberal Party (a.k.a. the Yellowtards) and its shrinking circle of snowflake minions would like everyone to believe. They INSULT the individual members of Congress when they insist that there is “no opposition” to keep the popular government of President Rodrigo Duterte in check.

Lying and insulting are things Yellowtards are experts at. Filipinos have had enough of all that. No doubt, no democracy will remain healthy, vibrant, and innovative without a strong opposition. The fact is, Filipinos still have such an opposition. The only difference is that it is no longer a Yellow one.

Good riddance, indeed.

The Yellowtards have done a lot of damage to Philippine society. They have turned generations of Filipinos into whiney, self-important, self-entitled, shrill, practioners of the victim mentality hooked on nebulous advocacies that are irrelevant to ordinary Filipinos. These elections are a turning point, demonstrating that Filipinos have now refused to be the victims the Yellowtards would like them to believe they are. Freed of this mentality, Filipinos can now look forward to the real task of nation building. The new sort of Opposition (purged of its traditional Yellow colour) can now take a more modern role as a critical partner of incumbent governments (even those beyond Duterte’s) in this important effort to build a strong nation — one that looks to the future and not remain fixated on the past preventing old wounds from healing by continuously picking on the scabs of those old wounds before they could harden and flake off.

One of the toughest tasks the newly-consolidated government of President Rodrigo Duterte faces is to unify Filipinos and dismantle the sorry legacy of almost four decades of divisive politics perpetuated by adherents of the Yellow narrative. Indeed, the recent annihilation of the traditional Opposition in this year’s mid-year elections has brought out the worst in the motley community of stragglers desperately picking through the ruins. Indeed, their true character as shills, rabblerousers, and subversives is on display as they run around in a lame effort to come to terms with what Filipino Voters have decided for their country.

But are Filipinos really that divided?

Perhaps what this election reveals is that the fragmented society that the Philippines’ has long been described as is a mere illusion perpetuated by the Old Guard. This illusion was proven to be one that was almost wholly confined within the little cliquish soirees on social media. Such was the potency of this echo chamber effect on the small minds of the members of these cliques that their failure to connect with the broader community of voters was so complete as to result in such an unprecedented catastrophic Opposition loss.

But Filipinos need to change their concept of what a real opposition is. They should let go of the obsolete notion that the Opposition is necessarily yellow, necessarily out for a Laban (“fight”), and necessarily opposed to everything that an incumbent government is pursuing. That was a perverted concept of political opposition created in the aftermath of the 1986 “EDSA revolution” when Cory, first Aquino president of the Philippines, seized power then proceeded to dismantle everything that the government of the late former President Ferdinand Marocs built. That sort of destructive opposition is not one Filipinos need to achieve their modern objectives in the 21st Century.

The old and lame Laban rhetoric should be replaced by a more forward-looking aspiration to compete. The old Laban slogan was backward and inward looking — always angling for an internal fight that Yellowtards needed to continue to re-invent and prop up using dishonest means as the need for it declined. People who aim to compete, on the other hand, wholly embrace the reality that the world is inherently unfair, that fairness is not an entitlement, and that one needs to be strong to get their fair share of the pie. More imporantly, that proverbial pie lies out there in the bigger jungle to be seized and not something that one cannibalises from the inside.

Indeed, rather than be victims, Filipinos should welcome themselves into the jungle, where only the truly competitive thrive.

Look back and take stock of the loser attitudes of the “thought leaders” of the old opposition. The Aquinos deferred to dead parents. Leni Robredo encouraged Filipinos to hang on to laylayans. Rappler CEO Maria Ressa would rather screech bloody “fake news” than compete in the social media dog-eat-dog jungle. Ironic, indeed, that these are people who use the term Laban to describe their cause when what they espouse is anything but fighting for one’s slice of the pie. These are role models that Filipinos should ditch in favour of those who are willing to get out there with real weapons and crush the enemy.

The new Opposition should be one that should keep the incumbent Duterte government (and those that succeed it) on its toes by making sure it is focused on competing and keeps a sharp edge swinging towards anything and anyone that stands in the way of Philippine progress.

There is no longer any room for an Opposition that fights a false Laban and keeps Filipinos addicted to the old victim mentality opiate.

benign0

benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.