Vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte created a firestorm with her announced agenda. If she is elected she would plead the two houses of Congress to enact a law making military service compulsory for both men and women.
Such a relief. I know within every fiber of my pacifist being that I’m getting exempted from this law. Whether through inherent physical weakness, induced mental incapacity, or evidence of sexual proclivity, I’m sure I’ll find a way to wiggle out. Worse comes to worst, I’m going to decamp and migrate to a friendlier state. Therefore, I have no need to stress about this new law.
However, as far as priorities are concerned, it seems she has hers misplaced.
There are a zillion problems facing the nation, and so many leaky faucets to plug, and here we are with a grand vision to require citizens to cloak themselves in camo fatigues so uncomfortable for this tropical climate. Then they waste precious earning hours pretending to be Rambos amidst banana plantations?
Let’s remind her (since it seems she has forgotten it so easily) about the pandemic that hasn’t ended, and perhaps, may take a couple more years to totally resolve. Perhaps, we can mention the unemployment numbers that need to be kicked out of the doldrums. Or the broken health system, that is failing our brethren in numerous heartbreaking ways?
What about the educational system, that needs to be repaired so that no more revisionist history of the Marcos Family can be propagated? Funding for teachers and computers and facilities? Prepping the kids for a tech future? How about these priorities?
And sheesh, how can we forget the rule of law, which seems to have been bent out of shape to accommodate the whims of the rulers (I’m pretending to forget that this administration is headed by her dear pater)? Perhaps enforcing our existing laws, that just need the teeniest bit of implementation, might lead to better results?
Running after law breakers, despite their political connections? Setting examples from among the monopolists and billionaires, who are bleeding this country dry? Making sure the judiciary’s bad apples are picked off?
Seriously, she can pick one of the above and make that her number one and only goal, and all would be well in la-la-land. We can all pretend that she might have the inner fortitude to eventually break the Marcos rule-and-plunder playbook. But no. She had to open her mouth and announce this. And so here we are chasing this red-muscle-herring to its logical conclusion.
So really, must this country focus on military training? Who are we training against? Is it the threat of dear China that’s impelling the candidate to think of this response? Because we need to protect the West Philippine Sea from further incursions by Chinese island-annexation machinery? The very same China that the current rulers have cozied up to (still maintaining the pretense that we don’t know that the pater is in that very same cozy bed)? Ooh, I bet China is scared.
Is it because this nation needs discipline? But wait a minute. How about trying to discipline those already in the military? And in the police? So many rogue cops are out there. And missing military hardware. Have we found all the missing guns? And here she is, trying to beef up their ranks?
By the way, notice how she has placed the onus on Congress. It’s her idea, but if Congress either passes or fails to pass the law --it’s beyond her already. The lawmakers had it in their hands and decided. Easy way out for accountability. So much for vice presidential muscle.
Count me out from the endorsers of this grand plan. Who are these endorsers, by the way? I hated ROTC and CMT then. And despite multiple sexual fantasies of uniformed personnel coloring my worldview, I still do.