A columnist’s chilling analysis about ‘end of democracy’

By Alex P. Vidal

“Democracy passes into despotism.”—Plato

ONE of the most emphatic and forceful opinions about the ABS-CBN debacle and the ongoing debate whether it was proper to deny the network’s application for renewal of franchise, was expressed recently by Ilonggo columnist Archil B. Fernandez.

In his column published in Daily Guardian entitled, “End of democracy” published on July 18, 2020, Fernandez pointed out that ABS-CBN “was deprived of a franchise on the whim of Congress.”

“This is the worst display of arrogance of power, grave abuse of authority. The closure of ABS-CBN is a naked display of raw power,” lamented the hard-hitting Fernandez.

Unlike other opinion writers in the country who are afraid to link President Digong Duterte to the network’s franchise mess, Fernandez, my esteemed former colleague in the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) in 1987, directly slammed the mercurial president: “ABS-CBN was closed because Du30 wants it silenced – his vendetta against the network.”

Fernandez, former editor of the country’s oldest campus publication, The Central Echo (founded in 1910), warned that ABS-CBN’s closure “signals the end of democracy, liberal democracy in the country.”

“Going beyond the arrogance of power, the closure of ABS-CBN is not only an assault to press freedom but signals the end of democracy, liberal democracy in the country,” Fernandez wrote.

 

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He stressed: “Congress closing down ABS-CBS is a major attack on press freedom. This is evident during the hearings. Representatives complained of the unfair portrayal of politicians in the network’s shows and alleged bias of its news. What they want is to control and dictate the contents of the news and programs of the station.”

“If journalists have no control over the contents of the news and write only what politicians want, there is no more freedom of the press. Politicians dictating news content is not just censorship but the transformation of news into a public relation job or worst becomes propaganda.”

“But the most serious implication of the closure of ABS-CBN is the death, the end of democracy in the country. What we have today is a managed democracy. The Philippines is only a democracy in form but not in substance. The institutions of democracy exist but these institutions do not function or do not function in a real democracy.”

He furthered fired: “The principle of check-and-balance is the cornerstone of democracy. The three branches of government – executive, legislative and judiciary- are independent of each other and check each other to prevent excesses and abuse of one branch. But the Philippines under Du30, the executive is in absolute control with Congress and the judiciary bending the knee if not cowed by the executive.”

“Under Du30’s authoritarian rule, the legislative and judiciary are only appendages of the executive. The denial of ABS-CBN’s legislative franchise is the latest evidence that the Philippines is a managed democracy. Despite a lack of evidence on the allegations against the network, its franchise was killed by Congress. ABS-CBN was closed because Du30 want it silenced – his vendetta against the network,” explained Fernandez.

According to the Ilonggo columnist, the “Philippines is no longer a democracy.”

“Du30 reigns supreme with a pliant Congress and judiciary bowing to his whims and caprices. By closing down ABS-CBN, Du30 is telling everyone that he gets what he wants, that he has ultimate power. Denial of ABS-CBN franchise heralds the end if not the death of democracy in the country,” he concluded.

 

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The Long wait is over. We will finally reach Phase 4 of the reopening of the New York economy on Monday, July 20, even as White House health advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, praised our state for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying we responded “correctly” to bring its outbreak under control.

Fauci told “PBS NewsHour” Friday evening, “We know that, when you do it properly, you bring down those cases. We have done it. We have done it in New York.

He continued: “New York got hit worse than any place in the world. And they did it correctly by doing the things that you’re talking about.”

New York was once the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States with more than 10,000 new cases a day during its peak outbreak in April. The state has dramatically reduced daily new infections to 776 as of Thursday.

New York is one of nine U.S. states that has the virus under control, according to the tracking project Covid Act Now. Less than 1 percent of New Yorkers tested for the virus were positive July 16, down from a high of more than 40 percent.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)