‘Kadiliman vs. kasamaan’: Nobody wins, but what help does Harry Roque need?

“Hindi na po ito laban ng Duterte at Marcos. Ang laban po ngayon ay pwersa ng kadiliman laban sa pwersa ng… (This is no longer a fight between Duterte and Marcos. This is a fight between the force of darkness against the force of…),” the 2022 losing senatorial candidate Harry Roque paused, asking followers to complete that sentence he uttered in front of the camera last year.

“Kasamaan (evil)!” they answered in unison. The proven runner of the Marcos-Duterte UniTeam set things right with his eyes wide open but not wildly correcting: “Kabutihan (goodness).” And Roque’s physical listeners had to forthwith say the same, “Kabutihan.”

“This is a fight between good or evil!” Roque stressed in that viral video. Five months later, he was not just the one upping the ante but no less than BBM and Digong. Right now, these presidents are literally confusing their bona fide fan base. Natural reactions would go something like: Parehas namin kayong niluklok, heto kami ngayon sa sulok. Hindi naming alam kung sino sa inyo ang bulok.

Employing dogmatic lenses, however, one may conclude that in Philippine politics, all is unwell that ends extremely unwell.

It was Roque, UniTeam supporters’ own heavy knight in shining armor who loudly, cheerfully, echoed the unity platform. Pa-dance dance para sumigla, ramp model hanggang umaga. Result: Marcos Jr. got the highest office, while Digong’s daughter won the second highest.

When the 2022 poll smoke cleared, Roque and 30 million people were proud of the outcome, never minding his loss (again). BBM-Sara was a “love team.” Theirs was a “dream team” for many others. The rest is history where they cannot rest, nor can they clear which side of it is good. It became clearer in less than a year in office that it was just a party of convenience, and that there was no need to keep campaign promises. Budol pa more! And yes, from both sides.

Kaya, si Roque ang meron talagang malaking idea—hindi ko sinabing nanggaling sa puso—nang magviral siya/sila sa Team Kadiliman vs Team Kasamaan.

That big idea tells us, sort of a godly reminder, that while we need to cling to what is good rather than what is bad, we also need to pay no heed to our oversimplistic tendencies. Ginawa ka na ngang pulibi ng pinaniwalaan mo, sa kanya ka pa rin ba makikinig kapag sinabi niyang meron na siyang bagong idea? Gaya ng nangyari sa viral video, hindi malinaw ang mensahe dahil hindi naman nakikinig nang mabuti ang receiver ng mensahe. Makinig man siya nang maigi at masabi ang tamang sagot sa tanong, alam niya sa sarili niyang hindi madaling gawin ito. Ang nangyari tuloy, nadulas sa pagsasabi ng kadiliman laban sa kasamaan.

Binabanggit ang kabutihan mula sa puso. Nakapaloob ang wisdom doon na sa bawat kabutihan, may nakaambang panganib, panlilinlang, at marapat lamang magpakatatag na piliin ang kabutihan sa salita at sa gawa, sa kabila ng lahat. Maraming babagsak sa pamantayang ito, bagamat basic.

Hindi na kasi panahon ng pamunuan ng mga magagaling. Mga nagmamagaling, oo. Hindi na kasi panahon ng tapat na paglilingkod sa publiko. Tapatan ng baho, oo. Hindi na kasi panahon ng wastong pamimili kung sino ang dapat at hindi dapat iboto. Botong ipinamimili o binebenta at siyempre kasama konsensya, oo. Kung nakakahiya dati ang mali, ngayon naman ay pinapalakpakan pa ito. Sa bawat pagtatama ng kasinungalan, may kakalat na namang apat na kasinungalingan na mabilis ding napaniniwalaan.

Meron mang kahihiyan dati sa pangungurakot ng libo-libong piso, ngayon naman ay paramihan ng pangungulimbat, hindi milyon kundi bilyon. Mas takot ang tao sa kapwa tao, kaysa sa Diyos.

Panahon na para huwag papormahin ang mga bulaang propeta, lider-lideran, tau-tauhan. May panahon talaga para makinig sa tamang mensahe at tamang tao. Ibubudol ka pa lang, bundulin mo na.

Walang puwang sa masamang ehemplo sa kabataang mag-aaral. Hinahayaan natin silang mag-aral, hindi natin sila pwedeng hayaang mabudol din ng mga magagaling pumorma pero salat sa paliwanag, walang track record ng pamumuno. Delikado rin ang pumanig sa mga matulungin, kung ang tulong na iyon ay pangunahin (basic). Gawin natin itong panahon ng pagkontra sa katiwalian. Paglaban sa magandang kinabukasan ng mga kabataan nang walang pinapayagang pambobola. Pagtatama sa mali kahit mahirap, sapagkat mas magiging mahirap kung dambuhalang buwaya na ang binibigyan ng pagkakataong magkamali.

Si Roque man din, hindi makakaiwas sa leksyon ng buhay. Mula noong propesor ng batas at tagapagtanggol ng karapatang pantao hanggang sa magpasailalim sa mamamatay-tao, nakita niya ang sariling unti-unting iniiwan sa ere ng kaguruan, kasosyong abogado, at ang dumarami sa paligid ay alam niyang wala ring tibay na maaasahan, nakatago ang tapang at talino, at ilalabas lamang kung may mapapalang benepisyong pansarali sa halip na benepisyong pangkalahatan.

Confused? Decide not

Three months before the midterm elections, some 30 percent of voters already have senatorial aspirants in mind who will most likely get their votes. Getting the right message across may be an exercise in futility for this type of voters, but academics and civil society need to help, help, help them make the final decision anyway. It really depends upon their discretion as they merely exercise their right of suffrage, but their children and grandchildren’s future are at the heart of the matter, whose decision they are not truly ready to take. We are almost always wrong in that decision, so we better strategize our overall communications work for high-quality voter education.

For example, “Sino ang mga hindi dapat iboto?” may become better and more caring than posing the question “Sino ang mga dapat iboto?” Social media and tri-media campaign season messages are most of the time no match to dis/misinformation and deepfakes. Troll armies are lorded over by the political elites. Since they are bayaran (paid hacks or assured of future favors), they are well organized and “disciplined” in terms of following the script of making their lords appear nice-looking at all costs and discrediting and backstabbing their political opponents.

Personalities in the mass media have also been prompted in the international scene to take a stand as they have a lot to offer so that voters may make the right choice for our future generation. One of them may ask Imee Marcos questions like, “If you get elected as senator again, how would you help your president-brother keep his election campaign promise of P20 a kilo of rice?” And (other?) pro-Duterte senators need to be asked questions about national unity and reconciliation, demanding no less than concrete answers.

The operative word is concrete. We hear a lot of Roques in our midst make the right sermons of right and wrong, minus concrete action. And even if these Roques are action men and women, they do it all without prudence most of the time. Lustay (squandering)? But that is confidential. It hurts them not. What matters is they have the monopoly of kabutihan.