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Rodrigo Duterte. Harry Roque. Franco Mabanta People in power often talk as if they will never be held accountable for their words or actions. But, sooner or later, they face the consequences of the kind of world they helped create.
The things we initiate always return quietly, whether in words or actions, whether they are from cruelty or kindness. As the Filipino saying goes, the world is round. Those who are on top today may find themselves humbled tomorrow, while those who are silenced may finally be heard.
Some call it karma, which is often thought of as punishment. For others, it’s just the results that show up over time. It does not come out of anger or revenge. It only brings what the people themselves have released into the world. The insults, humiliation and violence that we give do not disappear completely. They linger, and sometimes come back at an unexpected time.
Kahlil Gibran wrote about this in Prophet through the image of children building sand towers by the sea. The towers stand for a moment, proud and imposing, before being washed away. Meanwhile, the sea remains, undisturbed by infinity, continuing its song long after the towers have disappeared:
You enjoy laying down the rules,
However, you enjoy breaking them even more.
Like children playing by the sea who build sand towers for stability and then destroy them with laughter.
That passage is not just about hypocrisy. It is also about impermanence. Power has a way of making people believe they are untouchable, that their voices will not tremble, their influence will not fade, their names will not be questioned. But history has a tendency to remind people otherwise.
At the height of his power, former president Rodrigo Duterte mocked almost everyone he didn’t like – out. God who called him “fool”; for Pope, who cursed him; to the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC), who he threatened to slap her; to political opponents, whom he exposed threatened with death. Many laughed because the power seemed to last.
Some of his allies took a similar tone. Harry Roque once told Senator Leila de Lima, “I pray you rot in jail.”
In 2019, Franco beltssocial media strategist and founder of Peanut Gallery Media Network, comedian Jover Laurioasking in his post: “Should we go around the street shouting ‘shame, shame, shame’…while he’s being escorted to jail in handcuffs? I mean besides (Maria) Ressa, if ANYONE in politics deserves this, isn’t it her?”
For many in their circles, the mockery became part of political theater, rewarded by supporters and promoted on social media.
But power rarely lasts forever.
Today, Duterte is being held in Scheveningen prison in The Hague. During his first appearance before the ICC, his voice shook when he was asked to introduce himself; lost was the swagger that once dominated his appearance.
Roque is now a fugitive in Europe. He is accused of human trafficking with reputation which is punishable by life imprisonment if convicted.
On May 6, Franco Mabanta was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation for extortion and sent to prison in handcuffs.
None of this should be cause for celebration. Unfortunately, even when it is deserved, it should not be a spectacle. The issue is not revenge. The thing is humility.
People in power often talk as if their influence is permanent, as if they will never be held accountable for their words or actions, never given the same harsh conditions they cast others off. But public life is changing fast. The wheel turns. And, sooner or later, people will face the consequences of the kind of world they helped create.
Continues Gibran:
But when you build your sand towers, the sea brings a lot of sand to the beach,
And when you destroy them the sea laughs with you.
Indeed the sea always laughs with the innocent.
Indeed, the sea does not hate a tower of sand. It’s just his outlast. – Rappler.com
