Before the Presidential election last May 2022, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte made a speech about a candidate who is lazy, a spoiled brat, and who is into drugs.
Even as he did not name the person he was referring to, all conscious Filipino voters were aware who it was. However, nobody believed Duterte, despite his being then a high profile leader with a very high approval rating.
As proof that nobody believed him, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. won via landslide against his opponents. Add to that, his runningmate with whom he formed the “Uniteam” was Sara Duterte-Carpio, the former president’s daughter.
Now, the issue about the current President being into drugs is being resurrected by some unscrupulous vloggers who are apparently disgruntled with the way he is running things in this country.
They claim that there is an actual video of him snorting cocaine and are constantly mentioning this in their vlogs to question his credibility and competency in continuing to rule this nation. They constantly advance teasers by making their followers say that it is true and that in their next vlogs, they will surely show the video which they dubbed “pulvoron” after the powdery food that is both creamy and sweet.
Yet, it had been more than three months from thence and to this day, there is no video being circulated in the Internet or anywhere else proving that what their claim is true. In all probability, there is none. What is there are mere allegations designed to increase the saleability of their vlogs.
If truly there is such a video showing the President in the actual act of inhaling drugs, why is it taking them so long to post it on the Internet? Surely, if it will be posted, it will go viral and will be an all-time best-seller in the Internet. But there is none. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that the “pulvoron” video is pure and plain hearsay. Still, they expect the Filipinos to believe it?
Without tangible proof, there is no reason to believe that the President is into drugs. In the eyes of the people, he remains clean, able and competent with only a number of people deceiving themselves as to its veracity. To repeat, there is no truth to it.
Hence, it is only right that the Facebook accounts of these people should be stricken down and removed from the Internet. It is only right that those who clattered the news with this irresponsible reporting would be charged in court. Clearly, this kind of disinformation constitutes inciting to sedition.
The Revised Penal Code of the Philippines includes in the definition of sedition “any act to inflict hate or revenge upon the person of a public officer.” The only explainable reason of the vloggers who insist on the “pulvoron” fiasco involving the President is to cast hatred upon his person. They failed, for even after all that they have said and done, the approval rating of President Marcos remains constantly high.
May 4, 2024
