How to deal with a Trojan Horse

TO THE issue about Rappler CEO Maria Ressa’s arrest at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, I do not cry foul. I shout good riddance!

Those who say that this is an attack to press freedom could have been living in La La Land for believing this must be a heroic dissent representing Filipinos who feel harassed or oppressed by the current Duterte administration. But the pulse of the masa points otherwise. Most Filipinos—no matter how one nametags them—seem to see a heyday in the current regime.

Corruption sees a nemesis and it is significantly declining. Next weeks to come, another set of officials will be sacked. And you see how Boracay and Manila Bay are restored, among many other signs of good leadership.

People seem to have a lesser fear if they walk along dark streets; the shabu-inspired attackers see their protectors and pushers jailed or fought unluckily with the police. The data from the Philippine National Police attests this. What more can we need to validate this?

As to the necessity of dissent towards the administration’s drug war, what is its raison d’être? Do we see harassment and oppression that warrants someone to be a heroic dissenter? I do not, however, hear cries of harassment from among the good citizens who love peace and order. If there be any of such cry, your guess is as good as mine. They come from the NPA and their supporters. They come from the well-heeled whose power is, for them, stolen. They come from drug cartels and their protectors. Good riddance, too!

By the way, the drug cartels and other enemies of the state are uberously-funded that is why do not be surprised if they can get can get the support of media groups. No one can fool someone who is not born yesterday. Media? Many of them are not martyrs bravely parading with knight’s armor; rather, how about soldiers at the beck and call of the highest bidder? Criminals getting the unwavering loyalty of the human rights group? I would not be surprised; they have all the money to buy human rights organizations if that is what it takes to win their war.

We not surprised if another People Power will not take place at the arrest of Ressa who always cries “failure of democracy”. Due process has been served by taking her cases to the courts. Before, the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered the cancellation of the certificate of incorporation of Rappler and Omidyar’s Philippine Depository Receipts. Rappler is accused of violating the restrictions of ownership and control of mass media entities because it received a donation from the Omidyar Network, created by eBay founder.

Ressa’s cry of harassment and the killing of democracy, while the US government now calls for her to get off the hook, is disturbing. It means anyone can use democracy as a shield to do evil in society. It means anyone can betray the nation’s interest by allowing foreigners to control the media.

Here comes a foreign entity campaigning to make an unwarranted meddling in the Philippine affairs acceptable in the name of free speech. By the way, the columnist of The Manila Times could be right: Ressa is a US citizen?

The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines could not be serious if it calls Ressa the whipboy of Duterte. How about a manananggal to be controlled? Or a Trojan horse? A Trojan horse cannot continue to stay for long—be it drug protectors and players, the disenfranchised rich, the terrorists and whatever media organization using free speech to help weaken the fight against criminality. NUJP, please do not just save your friend Ressa and sacrifice the public interest. You know that your cause is not worth dying for and you can sense it from the grassroots.

We have enough of corrupt media.