Opposition renews brouhaha over ICC “drug killings” investigation after embarassing June 12 @1Sambayan fiasco

Opposition “thought leaders” argue “if you’ve got nothing to hide then you’ve got nothing to fear” referring to the renewed hype surrounding the International Criminal Court (ICC) inquiry into “drug war killings” it alleges Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte perpeterated. They miss the point, however. It’s not that the Philippine government has anything to hide. In fact, it makes no effort to hide anything and it’s not as if anything can really be hidden in the Philippines where Asia’s most free press is King of the Airwaves and social media.

It seems that the Opposition is back to its old tricks stirring up anti-government outrage fads after the fiasco last Saturday that saw top Opposition coalition 1Sambayan fall flat on its face after candidates snubbed its so-called “endorsement”. The ICC is nothing more than a Mickey Mouse Court that picks on Third World countries. In giving it the one-finger salute, Duterte is showing the world that Third World countries need not put up with the veiled imperialism that former colonial powers wield using so-called “international criminal courts”. The fact is, the Philippine Supreme Court is the highest court in the Philippines. It remains functional and is doing its job as the final authority on the interpretation of Philippine law.

Clearly, the Opposition have not learnt any lessons at all. The style of “opposition” encapsulated by 1Sambayan — replete with tiresome highlighting of Filipino “victimhood” backdropped by annoying breathy acoustic “protest” ballads — no longer captures the imagination of Filipinos. That Opposition “thought leaders” would look to a foreign “court” that is a mere figment of the West’s former place as arbiters of “global justice” proves their ironic beholdenness to the former colonial powers that they claim to detest (if we are to believe the messaging in their protest rallies).

What the Opposition should be focusing on, specially now as the 2022 elections loom closer, is a forward-looking altnernative narrative to the Duterte Way. They are wasting their time on an international body the charter of which simply flies way above the heads of ordinary Filipino voters. They seem to be in denial that another catastrophic loss in a crucial national election is staring them in the face yet again. Foreign intervention, whether it comes from assurances of “solidarity” from Hollywood (or Washington DC) celebrities or kangaroo foreign courts seem to be really potent opiates the Opposition would rather partake in than step up to the more important job of crafting an intelligent opposition platform.

It is evident that Filipinos have had enough of the dishonest Opposition we see today — one whose members contradict their own pretenses of “nationalism” by working with foreign interventionists instead of channeling their “cause” through their own country’s democratic institutions and processes. The numbers tell the true story — numbers that the Opposition, like an alcoholic who won’t admit her alcoholism, simply refuse to come to terms with.

benign0

benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.