Far From Neutral Notions - Philippine politics, culture and stuff

I hate the fact that Ducat used the children as an instrument of his…[insert agenda here]…but by god, I admire his cause.

I swore at Cayetano and Coseteng for taking advantage of the situation and grandstanding blah blah. Ahh, but I’m also guilty. Tumirada ako agad against the administration because of the “international embarrassment” thingy that I almost disregarded the “innocent children” part. (asar talaga yung “nakakahiya” line na yan, grrrr) But then again, I did express my disgust for what Ducat did.

Haaay. His cause was god/great/wOw; if only his means was equally or even a little close to being noble….

@Shari: Ducat is clearly unhinged, and he’s a repeat offender. As for his cause being noble — his methods pretty much put everything he says into perspective. How concerned can you be about your fellow man when you hold a gun to kids? It’s asinine. And how the hell did he even get a permit to run a day care with his record?

@Jason: Stop putting words in my mouth They used it in the same manner Enrile staged his ambush — to further their political ends. Look at how it ended: Ducat was pacified by the promises given by Bong Revilla, Lito Atienza and Chavit Singson — promises of a better future for the kids etcetera etcetera. They come out smelling like roses. But should such promises, such reforms, need to be extracted (with violence, I might add) rather than expected? It makes me sick to my stomach that it took a gun-toting lunatic to get these so-called public servants to do something that would benefit people other than themselves. It’s a slick maneuver worthy of Enrile himself — who disguised himself from being the architect of Martial Law to a scion of EDSA to a crusader against the PPA.

Of course, I find it curious that that gun-toting loony was protesting against corruption while calling for the people to unite behind gma, whose government has been rightly labeled the most corrupt in Asia.

Sir Jason: Sure, it might be an embarrassment, but shouldn’t we focus more on the issue rather than the “image”? It’s what really pulled my plugged — Ermita insisting that it’s an international embarrassment. We, the Filipinos, electing corrupt officials in public office and letting them take advantage of us? Now that’s an embarrassment!

Fafa Jorge: Point well taken. And it’s a very valid one. Something that I even thought of myself. Still, you can’t blame me (or can you?) for admiring the reason why he did it. May idadagdag pa sana ako, kaso you already said it na pala: it took a gun-toting lunatic to get these so-called public servants to do something that would benefit people other than themselves.

Hello Shari: Yup….I also agree with you on that. I was only saying that he did more harm than good. I also think that Ermita’s statement was not in the right timing and was uncalled for at that time. Regardless, he has point.

As for Ducat, I hope he is put away for good. If the parents won’t file any charges as earlier reported, I hope the government does.

@Jason: I agree absolutely, and for once I laud the people at the palace for not turning this into a greater media circus that it already is — unlike the grandstanding antics of Chavit and co. Ducat’s ill-reasoned attempt at “social justice” may be just that, ill-reasoned, but by giving in to his demands (never mind for a moment what they were), a dangerous precedent has been set.

@Shishini: Sinabi mo pa. It was handled poorly by everyone involved, Ducat included. I’m as baffled about Chavit’s involvement as you (Chavit? Seriously? LOL), though we all know what his motives are. The bottom line is that what Ducat did was an act of terrorism; the fact that some of his demands are being met sympathetically is beside the point. There’s a reason for having laws and processes. Unfortunately, the way this administration has discouraged democratic discourse — media under attack, activists, witnesses and journalists dropping like flies, political opposition being harassed — it’s not surprising some people take to the hills, or in Ducat’s case, go nuts.