IN lieu of my column, I am posting here the 'letter of concern' of some residents of the city of Tuguegarao.Statement of concern of some city folk of TuguegaraoWe are city folk of Tuguegarao who, at different times in our lives and in the history both of our locality and of the nation, have taken active positions with respect to issues affecting our lives and our futures. We do so again now.First, we are alarmed at the attempts of some disgruntled elements of Philippine society to frustrate the will of the people, so clearly expressed by the results of the last national elections, and to wrest power once more for themselves. We take issue, particularly with various statements of Vice President Inday Sara Duterte that not only blatantly exhibit contempt for President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. but even his late father. We, too, protested against the excesses of the martial law regime; we took to the streets when the EDSA Revolution toppled him from power. But it can never be right to threaten — even only hyperbolically — to desecrate the remains of the departed and to include them in one's political vendetta.Second, we laud the members of Congress — both the Senate and the House of Representatives, particularly the quad committee — for bringing to the attention of the nation the excesses of the past administration. We take umbrage in what has now become clear as a conspiracy among different government agencies, obviously with the consent and tolerance of the national leadership, to allow nationals of the People's Republic of China, toward which former president Rodrigo R. Duterte exhibited particular fondness, to acquire Filipino nationality surreptitiously. We are proud Filipinos, and citizenship is not for sale — and still less is it to be given freely away to nationals of the very state that is minded on depriving us of what is rightly ours by law in the West Philippine Sea.Third, we stand firm in our position against political dynasties because the Constitution clearly directs the State to prohibit them. The fact that Congress has not enacted a law defining what political dynasties are prohibited does not cancel the fact that the fundamental law of the land makes clear that they go against the principles and policies of our Republican state that offers the opportunity for public service to as many as possible. We will do our best, in our locality, to dissuade voters from voting, particularly into national office, political dynasties.Finally, we call on the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman, most respectfully, to cause the prosecution of those who may have been liable for the licensing of POGOs that did not comply with the requirements of law or, worse, that engaged in human trafficking as well as torture, all who were engaged in the extrajudicial killings and disappearances in the ruthless war on drugs of the previous administration, all who assisted Guo Hua Ping, aka Alice Guo, and others to elude arrest and apprehension and to bring to justice those who induced, rewarded and abetted the dreadful murders and assassinations that, only now, come to light.May God bless our resolve and keep our hearts firm as we stand by and champion our advocacies.rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.phrannie_aquino@csu.edu.phrannie_aquino@outlook.com
