FROM THE Justice
Department to the Senate.
“…I
think it's time you and I bring this journey to the next level, to a higher
level, to the next higher level like from point J to point S.” So declared
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima of her 2016 political plans last Thursday, on
her 56th birthday.
As
she promised, as we expected.
Utterly unforeseen though
is De Lima finding the shortest distance between point J and point S in the
INC.
Hordes of the Iglesia ni
Cristo faithful started camping by the very gates of the DOJ on Padre Faura St.
in Manila as De Lima’s birthday party was ongoing, not to wish her many happy
returns of the day but to alternately heckle and denounce her for what they
charged as violation of the Constitutionally mandated separation of church and
state.
This, as a result of De
Lima’s action on the complaint of expelled INC minister Isaias Samson Jr. and
his family against eight members of the church’s Sanggunian for serious illegal
detention. An “internal affair” within the ambit of religious freedom and
therefore should have been left to their leadership to resolve, the INC
maintained.
Something which the greater
number of lawyers, exclusive of the INC’s Ferdinand Topacio, Vice President
Jejomar Binay and Sen. Chiz Escudero, considered well within the duty of the
state to uphold the rights of its citizens, regardless of creed, gender and
politics. Not to mention the seriousness of Samson’s case.
De Lima, succinctly: “…(L)ike in many other things I do, I’m just doing
my job here and my motive always is fealty to my sworn duty. I don’t have any
other motive.”
Instantly winning enthusiastic support from the INC’s nemesis, Eli
Soriano’s Ang Dating Daan, and
generating favour from the public at large whose Facebook uploads and tweets
veritably broke the Internet these past few days.
“Trending like a pop star
on cyberspace.” So reported the Philippine
Daily Inquirer of De Lima, enthusing: “It’s
De Lima by a landslide for the past 72 hours with the hashtag
#DeLimaBringtheTruth, leaving the hashtags #IglesianiCristo and #EDSA on the
wayside.
As of Saturday night, the hashtag
#DeLimaBringtheTruth, which was pushed by netizens who want the justice
secretary to stay put at her post, had 138,000 tweets.
The hashtag #Edsa has 54,600 tweets and
#IglesianiCristo, 19,600.”
The INC’s continued post-birthday bashing of De Lima taken to EDSA on
Friday and lasting over the weekend gained only the ire of motorists and
commuters as it added worse misery to the already miserable traffic gridlock in
Metro Manila’s primary road which one netizen tagged as “highway to hell.” What
with the “demons” suddenly descending there.
“Pasensya na po sa mga nata-trapik. Konting pang-unawa at
tiyaga. Matatapos din ito.” That subsequent apology by INC spokesman Edwil Zagala did not help
any in appeasing the anger that exploded anew in the Internet with tweets that could
have risen only out of deep-seated bigotry towards the INC, such as:
“In protest to the rally
that’s been happening in edsa; iwill eat DINUGUAN! #WITHPUTO #DEARINC,” said
fitz, obviously referencing to the INC taboo of eating food with blood from
animals.
“Faith vs blind obedience.
Wake up, people. Wake up. #ISupportSecDelima #DeLimaBringTheTruth,” posted
netizen @imnotbeybi.
And those are but the tamer ones.
Virtual reality now: For every disdain the INC sows upon De Lima, she
seems to harvest only the goodwill of the Internet nation. Her publicly
perceived principled stand – on the side of law and order – a stark contrast to
the obsequious pandering of Binay, Senators Grace Poe, Bongbong Marcos and
Escudero to the INC. Especially Poe, disgraced in the web by her “protect the
rights of the INC” call in the face of the public’s trampled right to EDSA.
So not a single one of the bruited-about 1.5 million INC votes will go
to De Lima, as some INC members cockily crowed. The heck, as one netizen put
it, she has already the votes of the over 2 million EDSA commuters smarting
from the troubles created by the INC rally. Plus the hundreds of thousands
journeying the Dating Daan of Bro.
Eli who have found their champion in De Lima.
Auguring well for De Lima too is the mobilization by some groups to
“reverse bloc voting.” Meaning, they shall campaign against presidential,
vice-presidential and senatorial candidates endorsed by the INC, and support
those who stand up to INC “bullying.”
Yes, the aggressive, rather than affirmative, action taken by the INC on
De Lima has made her not simply a viable but a most winnable senatoriable.
Backlash, it is called.
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