Two premises: first, this country has three major problems: mass poverty which affects almost half of the population, corruption and illegal drugs; Second, the Marcos and Duterte families belong to the ruling oligarchy whose past and present actions reasonably infer that wealth and power are the primary drivers of their political agenda. Between the two, the Marcos family is known for killing more and stealing more.

A fundamental question that arises from these premises is: Why do we not form an interdisciplinary task force to seek solutions to the nation’s major problems, particularly the central problem of mass poverty? We spend so much time and money on endless investigations of many other problems except the main problem. The problem clearly requires fundamental structural changes to resolve, but why are our leaders content to grant ayuda to poor Filipinos, a program that serves to perpetuate poverty rather than solve it.

Next question: Are we closer to solving the drug problem when we present former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (FPRRD) as a crude extrajudicial killer of criminals? Certainly, extrajudicial execution is not the solution. More than illegal, it is immoral. Therefore, justice must be done to the victims and anyone found guilty must be punished to the maximum. So why not order the relevant agencies to gather evidence and give the FPRRD and its cronies a chance? Why spend valuable time and money on endless extrajudicial investigations and not on organizing a determined and serious search for a viable solution to the problem?

Corollary question: why have we done nothing so far regarding the extrajudicial killings of the Marcos family and why are we not conducting hearings to verify the veracity of the rumor of President Bong-Bong Marcos’ drug use ? It is right and just to prosecute Duterte because he is not above the law. But neither did the Marcoses. Or are they?

What are endless probes actually used for? What legislation has so far been the result of a Senate or Congressional investigation? It’s more like surveys are conducted to gain public attention and improve name recall for re-election purposes, but not really to help people meet their needs. The probes don’t solve anything.

So what is really going on? Like online, nothing is what it seems offline. Fake news litters social media while mainstream media doesn’t dig deep enough into the issues. Nothing is happening to help people solve their problems. Everything that is happening allows the oligarchs to rig our political and economic systems in their favor and against the people.

Worse still, nothing is happening with the leaders of popular organizations either. They do not galvanize their members into a strong movement for legal and peaceful reforms of our unjust social structures. They seem reluctant to abandon their favorite ideological nuances and therefore fail to unite under a common vision and united action.

What is really happening is that this nation is in limbo.