Figments of the President’s imagination.
This was how an alliance opposing President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncements for a revolutionary government (RevGov) dubbed the “threats” that Mr. Duterte sees against his administration.
For the multisectoral Kalipunan ng Kilusang Masa (Kalipunan), the biggest threat to the presidency was Mr. Duterte himself.
“The threat to our democracy is our President himself and his imagination that he is failing in his job because of supposed opposition,” said Josua Mata, secretary general of Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa.
“The only threat to his presidency is his inability to pursue his promises,” he said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
Mata questioned the moves that supposedly aim to destabilize the administration — the same reasons Mr. Duterte cited as predicate to his declaration of a revolutionary government.
Tracing the threat
“Where would the threat come from when they boast of having a supermajority in government?” Mata said. “If they talk about the ‘yellows,’ well, 90 percent of the Liberal Party had already transferred to his party.”
Kalipunan said Mr. Duterte’s pronouncements to declare a revolutionary government would pave the way for a military junta.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the President rejected the idea of martial law for having “many restrictions” and instead threatened to set up a revolutionary government to crush his foes.
Robredo welcomes Duterte’s declaration
Two days later, he nixed the idea, saying that the country would not benefit from it.
In a statement, Vice President Leni Robredo welcomed Mr. Duterte’s latest declaration that he had no plans of installing a revolutionary government, saying she hoped it would put an end to such “dangerous and alarming proposals.”
Wilson Fortaleza of Partido Manggagawa, however, cast doubt on Mr. Duterte’s latest flip-flop, saying the President toyed with the concept even before assuming office.
Kalipunan said it would march from Welcome Rotunda to Mendiola on Nov. 30, the 154th birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, to oppose Mr. Duterte’s “rising authoritarianism hiding under the cloak of federalism and Charter change.”
Mata said the mass action would be a direct response to the planned gathering of the President’s supporters in Davao City to urge him to declare a revolutionary government. —With a report from DJ Yap