Path to Ochlocractic Dictatorship: Promotion of State Atheism through the War on Religion

The incumbent leadership’s war on everything has taken a new twist. In defense of the proposed reimposition of the death penalty, the leadership has invoked (a strawman argument) through the metaphysical debate on the existence of God.

From GMA

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday questioned God Himself on why heinous crimes are committed in the Philippines and other parts of the world.

Duterte made the remarks while defending his preference for the reimposition of the death penalty and his willingness to be investigated on account of his human rights record but only under the jurisdiction of the Philippine government.

"Hindi tumalab yung death penalty nooon kasi hindi in-impose. One, because of the Catholic church. Second, the bleeding hearts, because only God can kill. Ang problema niyan, I ask you, what if there is no God?" Duterte said in a speech before media professionals in Malacañang.

"So where is now God when a one year old baby, 18-months-old baby is taken from the mother's arms brought under a jeep and raped and killed. So where is God?" he added.

Curiously, Mr. Duterte didn’t apply the same logic to the slaughter of the countless number of innocents by his police/military forces and by vigilantes (whom seem to either function as government mercenaries or have been condoned by the administration). Or, Mr. Duterte didn’t apply the same logic to the substitution of a society plagued by drugs with a society that promotes murder.

Most people think that such radical propositions constitute as impulsive or instinctive remarks. They aren’t. Instead, such appear to represent a stage in a process or a means to an end. The objective appears designed to indoctrinate or brainwash the public to reach his implicit desired end—an ochlocractic (Maoist) dictatorship

If you haven’t noticed, the leadership has been impugning on the established beliefs or the culture of the domestic denizens.

First, through the geopolitics of ad hominem and blackmail, the political leadership has effectively challenged Filipinos’ affinity with Americans through the incitement of rancorous relations with the US counterparts

According to Pew Research, in 2015, “America’s image is mostly positive among the Asian nations polled. Particularly large majorities see the U.S. favorably in the Philippines (92%), South Korea (84%) and Vietnam (77%).”

The Philippines have the highest favorability rating for Americans in the world. And as the table above shows, that Filipinos positive reception to Americans has been entrenched (since 2002 and possibly even earlier).

While the Philippine senate did boot out the US bases in 1991, it was a verdict reached by a slim majority (12-11) [New York Times September 16, 1991] or this was hardly about popular sentiment.

And while it is true that the US government does not signify America, the Philippine leadership has used the war on drugs as a fulcrum to pivot against US government thereby putting in jeopardy bilateral political and economic relations.

And as proof to increasing strains, “The Philippines stands to lose the $6.7-million law enforcement assistance from the United States if the two governments fail to agree on how the funds would be used.” (GMA September 27, 2016)

The leadership appears to put emphasis on the importance of a radical shift in foreign policy--the swing towards China.

And going against popular belief has more than just been about bilateral relationships.

Through raising a strawman argument, the leadership has now assaulted on Filipinos’ penchant for religion.

The Christian faith accounts for about 92% of the population with Catholics taking the largest share 81%, according to Wikipedia.

The leadership has taken issue with the Catholic church because of the latter’s vehement opposition to his pet programs. As examples, not only has the leadership cursed on the Pope (during the latter’s visit here), he has openly mocked Catholic bishops for going against him during the last elections.

Since there was no such thing as a Catholic vote, Mr. Duterte seems to believe that he can sway the public’s embrace of religion towards blind devotion on him.

This has political bearing that has not been recognized by the public

I have repeatedly raised the point that the political leadership is not only been a self avowed socialist, but one who espouses Mao leanings or a neo-Maoist.

Practically, the proposals which he publicly promotes (e.g. 3 child policy of family controls, the death penalty, economic zones and etc…) have been imported or copied from communist China. His indulgence and generous accommodations of the rebel communist group, the maoist NPA has only reinforced such ideological preference.

Understand that communist China is a militant atheist government or a government which practices state atheism.

That’s because as a political philosophy, communism sees religion as a contravention to their interests.  Marxists views religion as “an opium of the people”, China’s state atheism has partly been assimilated from the Marxist.

China’s state atheism as described by Wikipedia (bold mine)

After the 1949 Chinese Revolution, China began a period of rule by the Communist Party of China. For much of its early history, that government maintained under Marxist thought that religion would ultimately disappear, and characterized it as emblematic of feudalism and foreign colonialism.

During the Cultural Revolution, student vigilantes known as Red Guards converted religious buildings for secular use or destroyed them. This attitude, however, relaxed considerably in the late 1970s, with the reform and opening up period. The 1978 Constitution of the People's Republic of China guaranteed freedom of religion with a number of restrictions. Since then, there has been a massive program to rebuild Buddhist and Taoist temples that were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.

The Communist Party has said that religious belief and membership are incompatible. However, the state is not allowed to force ordinary citizens to become atheists. China's five officially sanctioned religious organizations are the Buddhist Association of China, Chinese Taoist Association, Islamic Association of China, Three-Self Patriotic Movement and Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. These groups are afforded a degree protection, but are subject to restrictions and controls under the State Administration for Religious Affairs. Unregistered religious groups face varying degrees of harassment. The constitution permits what is called "normal religious activities," so long as they do not involve the use of religion to "engage in activities that disrupt social order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious organizations and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign dominance

The ‘war on everything’ has been initially aimed at the besmearing institutions through character assassination of personalities behind them who are opposed to the leadership.

Now this has expanded to cover entrenched ethics and beliefs.

The point here is that war on everything, which now includes the war on religion, has been aimed at solidifying the faith of his followers by charging against traditions and established dogmas. The war on religion may expand to include eventual harassments and restrictions on religious institutions.

Antonio Gramsci, the Italian Marxist theoretician, politician and a major influence on the progressive movement once talked about how to ensnare the public towards socialism

Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity. … In the new order,Socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, universities, churches and the media by transforming the consciousness of society.

"Transforming the consciousness of society"…to a tee!

Peso Breakdown Myths: Neither the US Federal Reserve Nor the Stock Market Has Been Responsible

The breakdown of the peso has landed on the headlines of a major broadsheet. The USD php soared by .5% to Php 48.25 yesterday, and yes, to a seven -year high. (History is in the making!)

Except for the price levels and historical comparison, the Inquirer article has been laden with inaccuracies and myths. The article was limned to shift the blame on the peso’s woes to external events.

I have shown you yesterday how the peso was last week’s sore thumb. It was the sole loser in the region.

A better picture would be the year to date performance.

As one would note, even prior to yesterday’s breakdown, the USD advanced mainly against the yuan and the peso; with the USD rupee also moderately higher. The region’s currencies have mostly strengthened against the USD.

The point here is that there has been LITTLE, or even NO truth, that US rates have had a significant influence on the USD php.

Though the USD peso has been in an uptrend over the long term, it began its interim surge in mid-August.  

Again the emphasis here is to establish the fact that while foreign money has sold Philippine stocks over the past few weeks, net foreign selling was just part of the story.

That’s the BSP’s data on net foreign portfolio. As of end August, foreign portfolio was net positive to the tune of $427 million. In fact, net foreign flows accounted for US$2.08 billion year to date.

In short, the peso has already been weakening even when portfolio flows had been net positive in terms of BSP data.

On the other hand, in the context of the PSE, net foreign selling has occurred in six consecutive weeks through the end of September 23. Net foreign sales ballooned to about Php 7.5 billion in two consecutive weeks (September 2 and 6). But from here, net foreign selling has substantially eased.

In fact, yesterday’s 1.18% loss in the PSEi posted only Php 16.9 million of net foreign selling. This means locals were responsible for the decline. Hence the diminished marking the close!

And the thing here has been that while net foreign selling has ebbed, the peso crumbled at a much fasterrate!

Curiously, the PSE even rushed to explain the role of foreigners yesterday.

"We have been experiencing net foreign selling in the market in the past weeks but numbers show that this has slowed down following the recent meeting of the US Federal Reserve. Perhaps it is also an indication of fund managers locking in gains, as the PSEi has delivered double digit returns since the start of the year. Our economic fundamentals remain strong and this should continue to help corporate performance moving forward," said PSE President and CEO Hans B. Sicat.

Mr. Sicat explained, "Investors tend to put more value on macroeconomic developments and corporate fundamentals in assessing their investment positions and portfolios over the medium- and longer term. Developments on the local political front may be getting a lot of attention recently but we believe the story of the Philippine economy will remain to be the compelling driver for attracting investments

The PSE and the newspaper article seem to suggest that it has been inappropriate (or politically incorrect) for money managers to sell the most expensive stock market in Asia! For them, valuations don’t matter at all! The Philippines have attained nirvana thereby has been immaculate to imbalances and imperfections.

The bottom line: For now, the pesos’ predicament has neither been mainly about the foreign selling in the stock market nor about anticipated actions of the US federal reserve.

While macro conditions will play a role (particularly liquidity), the USD peso exchange rate will ultimately hinge on changes in the balance sheet, income and cash flows of the Philippine political economy. And a spendthrift leftist government heralds to a weak currency [Phisix 7,150: Prospects of a Strong Man Rule Sends Peso Tumbling, Why A Shift to the Political Left Will Mean A Weaker Peso May 1 2016]

Oh, do expect the BSP to intervene substantially. But when they sell USD to prop the peso, this entails of a tightening of the domestic liquidity. And this would adversely affect credit flows. So damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Perhaps media will shift the blame to currency speculator George Soros (who was accused by the Malaysian government of being responsible for the Asian crisis)