The other day, two popular senators who are known allies of the Dutertes pleaded, lobbied or pressured the current chief of the Philippine National Police to return the 75 cops earlier withdrawn from the security forces assigned to Vice President Sara Duterte.
Senators Rolando “Bato” Dela Rosa and actor robin Padilla were the implacable duo. On the surface, you can say that, on the basis of the PNP chief’s commitment to do just that, you can be Shakesperean: all’s well that ends wel
Sen. Robin Padilla was more to the point than Sen. Dela Rosa when he asked the PNP chief if the withdrawal was politically motivated. Of course, Padilla knew beforehand what would his answer be. No, it wasn’;. it was a politically correct answer.
If he, the neophyte Padilla, understood Philippine politics better or was just simply being polite or naive, he would have said what really was in his mind. Politics, the partisan kind, was involved in that decision. Or had he watched earlier how two United States Republican senators grilled and lambasted the head of the US Secret Service in light of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, he would have asked better, more informed questions.
In the Trump case, for instance, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas asked if simple bureaucracy was to blame for the flaw or failure to completely secure Trump during a rally, suggesting even further that the highly divisive partisan problem in US was contributory . Of course, Padilla is still a babe in the wood in politics, so to speak, in comparison with the US senator.
VP Sara had called a spade a spade. It was political harassment, she said. It’s no brainer to jump to conclusion after she resigned from the Marcos Cabinet as education secretary and making herself scarce during the President’s SONA and declaring herself as the designated survivor for whatever reason.
Years ago, the late Pampanga governor Bren Z. Guiao made the bitter complaint when his police details were withdrawn shortly after he lost the gubernatorial race to now Sen. Lito Lapid. Now Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. had the same, sad experience when he lost to former Congressman Oscar Rodriguez of Pampanga’s third district years ago .
The logic of politic motivation in withdrawing police security to politicians isn’t counterintuitive. Politics is about conflict and power, and both can result in political harassment, among others, especially when virulent and venomous partisanship is the name of the game.
In one hearing at the House of Representatives recently , the PNP conceded to its vulnerability to political pressure. Translation: the PNP leadership can make its own political decision, not necessarily political harassment. in redeploying its resources as the case may be deemed warranted.
While no threat was established by the PNP when it withdrew only a small portion of the vice president’s police security, it nevertheless compromised her political security. No wonder VP Sara virtually appealed for people power and the whole support of the PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines to protect her from any harm.
Her call was vaguely reminiscent of a similar appeal by the late Cardinal Sin to the people to protect then former PC Chief Fidel Ramos and Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile from harm as they defied the Marcos dictatorship. That’s how the People Power at EDSA in 1986 grew into the monumental event that inspired the world and eventually ended the Marcos dictatorship and forced the whole family to exile.
Incidentally, the memory of such political debacle seems to haunt President Bongbong Marcos it suddenly canceled this year’s commemoration from the official schedules of Philippine holidays.
It’s a positive move,therefore, by the PNP leaderhip that it quickly decided to restore the police details for the vice president, notwithstanding its insistence that no threat exist against her. At the very least, it may have allayed the fears of millions of her supporters and should helped calm down Philippine politics beyond any inflammatory remarks. To stay away from dispensing favor or withdrawing any for political reason was a high road it took.
Right now, the air is rife with the possibility that the International Criminal Court(ICC) will pursue its probe of the crime against humanity committed during the Duterte Administration. Fear is as palpable as thin air that the Interpol may arrest those believed to be guilty of the crime as divulged by former senator Antonio Trillanes. The Marcos Administrator appears to have slackened from its earlier position that it will stand in the way of the probe. The latest pulse shows that there has been a big change of heart beat.
While the wild hunt for Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, a close ally of the Dutertes, continues, the PNP should the ensure that the Vice President security is not in anyway put to the test by political recklessness or cynicism of few.
The ardent suggestion made by Sen. Dela Rosa that policemen from Davao City should be restored in VP Sara’s security contingent is a practical one that should make her more comfy about her safety.
This is no time to foolishly fumble on peace and security when the country is enjoying a better, more attractive image in the world. PBBM is enjoying a higher rate in the latest polling and the public deserves to know that the PNP is doing its job not only for political advantage or loyalty but for the national interest.
A well-secured VP can only mean a well-secured President. It’s cannot be a mutually exclusive agenda.
