As far as calming down Filipinos alarmed over the nationwide crackdown of tambays (loafers or loiterers) as a prelude to martial law is concerned, newly minted Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III is not the most qualified nor credible source or authority to deliver such assurance.
One can only view his political career as proof. During the first impeachment case against a sitting president, then president Joseph Estrada, Sotto voted along with 11 others in keeping the contents of the second envelope supposedly containing Estrada’s “Jose Velarde account” closed.
In yet another impeachment case, Senator Sotto was seen as favoring the late Supreme Court justice Renato Corona’s acquittal and only folded or reconsidered after seeing a growing majority of senators vote for Corona’s removal from office.
And we’re not even going into that whole “plagiarism” controversy of him translating famous historical quotes from famous historical figures in speeches that Sotto delivered and failed to give credit to and to which he glibly denied responsibility for.
Being aligned with the Duterte administration it’s not hard to see him roll over again and acquiesce to a declaration of martial law which makes his ascension to the Senate presidency all the more disconcerting.
His predecessor, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, was the son of former Senate president and martial law detainee Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and he may have offered some resistance to any plans for the declaration of martial law as well as being a more credible source than Sotto.
As it is, the only thing Sotto is right about the remote possibility of the country being placed under martial law is public vigilance shored up by a vigilant media community and social media.
But whether the good Senate president is aware of this or not, the incumbent administration had weaponized social media to the point that it can blur and distract public perspective enough to condition the Filipinos into easily accepting and even entertaining the possibility of martial law declaration.
Regardless of what Sotto says or not by virtue of his post, his soundbytes and statements carry with it the full weight of the Senate.
It’s the implementation on the ground that matters and it takes only one incident similar to the Kian delos Santos murder which marks its first anniversary next month,
Aug. 16, in order to cast doubts and stir public outrage on the Duterte administration’s anti-tambay campaign.
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