“THE DOGS bark but the caravan moves on,” is an old Arabic proverb that was, for a while, used in reference to the unstoppable caravan-like campaign that steamrolled through the political landscape of the country in 2016 when Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte won as Philippine president.
The frantic opposition then, had thrown everything but the proverbial kitchen sink in his path to prevent him from winning. This only held them true to be fittingly suited and be like barking street dogs as his party rolled on.
As could be expected, even during his whole term as president, the dogged machinery of those who were against him had, without pause and at every turn, conspired and plotted behind his back for his downfall.
Some of the opposition’s personalities have even gone on clandestine trips abroad to speak no end against his administration and his policies, hoping to win support and pave the way for their return to power. Many are still there, awaiting their return, hoping to appear as conquering heroes when the time comes.
Meanwhile on the local front, the opposition has continually forged alliances with other parties, regardless of their places in the spectrum, just as long as all were one in bringing him down. And so, such was the political landscape then, complete with your modern-day version of the Trojan Horse.
Guess what, the dogs have now finally gotten their day. I recall that at one time, the former president had said, their time to be at the top will surely come. This was the realist in him, expecting an eventual reversal of roles as just natural with life.
And if one only cared to note, at the final moments when the dogs were finally at his heels, there was not a trace of surrender in his face, only a calm acceptance of the cards that were now dealt him. All this in stark contrast to the gloating and victorious barks heard from all around.
However, there is no season finale to be watched out for in this story. We all know the nation’s history is a continuing epic tale. It could even be told with the roles in reverse; with his opponents representing the caravan, and him and his followers, taking the role of the dogs.
In the end, it doesn’t matter.
The more important thing to look out for is this, for whom does either one’s victory matter the most, or who shall benefit, the mass of ordinary Filipinos struggling in the everyday, or the looting political elites and their class who wield political, state and police power to keep others away from their spoils and denude the country of its tomorrow?
