Alternate reality

hot & spicBy Artchil B. Fernandez

 

The multi-verse theory or the existence of multiple universes is a controversial theory in physics. It advances the view of the existence of numerous universes and it seems Du30 has provided evidence for this contentious theory.

This week, in his late-night show, pre-taped to avoid hilarious lapses, Du30 announced to the startled nation that the number one problem of the country at present is the communist insurgency. He issued the controversial statement while giving a report to the nation on the COVID-19 pandemic.

It appears Du30 is living in an alternate reality. In the universe Du30 inhabits, the most serious problem confronting the country is terrorism, specifically the communist insurgency. “Upakan nyo,” Du30 proudly told the nation of his order to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to crush the insurgents.

Did Du30 go back in time? Is he living in 1987, not in 2020? The communist insurgency reached its height in 1987. In that year, the communist insurgency was at its peak. At that time, the New People’s Army (NPA) has 25,500 guerrillas, 15,500 firearms, 72 Guerrilla Fronts (GFs) all over the Philippines and a mass base of 7 million, according to the 2005 Philippine Human Development Report.

From its peak in 1987, the number of NPA declined in the 1990s due several factors, among them are the new political environment after the ouster of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986, the Lambat Bitag counterinsurgency campaign of the Philippine military, and the collapse of socialism in the international scene. These were exacerbated by the splintering of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) into several factions in 1992, the 2005 PH Human Development Report noted.

However, the CPP made some recovery in 2000 and regained certain strength. “The NPA has fewer than 5,000 fighters but remains active in mountainous and neglected areas countrywide. It still has supporters and is recruiting new members, securing weapons and launching ambushes across the archipelago. There are also cells in Manila and other metropolitan centers,” David Timberman observes.

Despite the setbacks, the insurgency of the CPP-NPA-NDFP persists today. But it is incredulous for Du30 to claim it is the number one problem of the Philippines at present. He is giving the insurgents too much credit by saying their existence is the top problem of the country.

By asserting that the communist insurgency is the most serious problem facing the Philippines now, Du30 in effect is saying the current difficulties of the Filipino people are created by the rebels. Government data reveal that at present 17.7 percent of Filipinos or 7.3 million are unemployed. This is the highest number of Filipinos without job in recent history, worse than the twilight of the Marcos dictatorship. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for example reported that 3,189 firms recently closed down throwing 90,215 out of the job market. Is the communist insurgency responsible for this?

Unlike Du30 who lives in a universe where the communist insurgency is the most serious threat to the country, Filipinos today live in a world ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the recent online survey of the Social Weather Station (SWS), 43 percent of Filipinos believe they are facing a bleak future, the highest number of Filipinos who are pessimistic of their future since the survey outfit started its surveys. In the survey, only 14 percent are optimistic of their future. The gloomy outlook of Filipinos is due to the anxiety created by the pandemic.  The high level of unemployment in the country today is actually brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and not by the communist insurgency.

As usual, Du30’s spokesperson Harry Roque tried to dumb down Filipinos by saying his principal is merely pointing out the other problems facing the nation. He tried to make his creative interpretation of Du30’s statement acceptable by claiming his master made the assertion since other problems of the country are being sidelined by the pandemic. Again, there are no takers in Roque’s spin except the dwindling fanatics.

Aside from revealing that Du30 lives in a different universe and his obsession with national security issue, highlighting the insurgency problem is also an attempt to sidestep the pandemic. Du30 is trying to divert the attention of the people to other issues to cover-up is incompetence and ineptness in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite placing the country under the world’s longest lockdown, COVID-19 cases continue to rise. In the middle of the week, the Philippines has breached the 30,000 mark with 31,825 people infected with the virus. If the trend continues in the coming days, the country will have 40,000 cases of COVID-19 at the end of the month, the figure UP researchers projected. If this happen, it indicates that the approach undertaken by the Du30 administration to fight the pandemic is not effective.

With no effective plan or strategy to combat the pandemic, Du30 is forced to resort to diversion. The problem with Du30 is his militarist mindset in solving problems including the COVID-19 pandemic. UP-Diliman political science professor Clarita Ramos succinctly pointed out what is wrong with Du30’s handling of the current health crisis.  “Parang wala silang strategy. Sa ibang bansa, ang decision-maker ay virologist or epidemiologist, dito puro retired military officers. That should tell you something.”

Du30 wrongly assumed the military can solve anything and every problem. While the military is needed in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, it can only deal with the security component of the strategy. The military is not equipped or trained to manage a health crisis. Its expertise is war and conflict. It is not surprising that the only solution of the military to the pandemic is locking up people.

For the country to effectively cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, Du30 must get out from his alternate reality and re-enter the real world.