Brothers and sisters, after the people heard the words of President Duterte recently, the insistence of Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque that the President was being neutral in the issue of ABS-CBN’s legislative franchise renewal unraveled.
In a recent speech in front of the soldiers in Jolo, the President admitted that he was very happy because he victoriously dismantled the oligarchy in the Philippines without declaring martial law. The name of the TV station wasn’t included in the official transcript of his speech, but an unedited audio clip, according to the news, showed that he mentioned ABS-CBN several times. Even if this wasn’t mentioned in the official audio and video clip released by the Palace, it’s easy to think that the family who owns ABS-CBN is what he was attributing to.
In the same speech, President Duterte also said that he wanted to make his “helpful friends” richer. They would, as he said, be the ones to discuss “many big-time businesses.” If cronyism—or the giving of favors to friends by people in high government positions—is your interpretation of the President’s words, you are again mistaken, according to his spokesperson. Apparently, the goal of the President is to make his friends richer because our country benefits from them. What do you think of this, brothers and sisters?
Although President Duterte keeps on expressing his disgust against the oligarchs, and his crusade is to dismantle their interests, it is difficult to think that the administration is truly serious. Four years have passed since the President assumed office and we still haven’t seen any deep changes in our economy to say that the country’s interests are prioritized and many Filipinos are truly benefitting from wealthy individuals and families. In the latest Forbes Billionaires List, it was revealed that the 14 richest Filipinos have a combined wealth amounting to $30 billion or over P1.5 trillion—25,000 times larger than the gross regional domestic product of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 2018. Some of these billionaires are known “supporters” of the President, especially during his campaign. These billionaires have control over many businesses in our country for the longest time. Can they be dismantled by our “fierce” President especially if these billionaires are “helpful”?
The Catholic social teaching recognizes the important role of businesses, trade, and private property in the economic sector. But these aren’t enough for us to achieve what the common good intends. The government must also cooperate in finding the right balance in order for the wealth that must be shared by all won’t fall into the hands of a few. But if our leaders only play around the business sector for their own interests, the people will lose. There will be no common good.
Brothers and sisters, it is not our goal to stop the freedom of the people to aim for a fruitful life, but let us not be manipulated by the people pretending to be heroes for the people and receive favors from those swimming in wealth. We are reminded in the book of Matthew 7:15, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”
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