Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV said that the opposition has “consolidated and united its ranks” in an online “ask me anything” discussion on the popular forum site Reddit a few days before President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his State of the Nation Address.
One user named “merdionesmondragon” lamented that the current situation of the country seems unsalvagable ever since Duterte took office in 2016. The user wrote:
“During that time, around 23,000 na ang namatay, nagka-TRAIN law na, araw-araw pa rin ‘yung gaguhan, with matching laban-bawi ng statements. All throughout all these, marami ang nakukulangan sa ginagagawa ng opposition.”
“The admin is making it harder to make ends meet, while also actively killing citizens… What do you think are the things that the opposition could do to make people see ‘yung hindi magandang nangyayari, because a majority of us now are blind,” the user added.
Trillanes replied that he shared the user’s sentiments and admitted that the opposition has “met serious challenges in delivering its message to the people.”
“I totally agree with your assessment that the opposition has met serious challenges in delivering its message to the people,” he said.
“Duterte came in as one of the most popular presidents in history hence, early on the message of the opposition has been met with doubt and resistance by his popular base,” Trillanes added.
According to the senator, Duterte has managed to create a very effective “propaganda machine” that could be attributed to the rise of his numerous supporters who have dominated the social media sphere.
“Culturally, the Filipino people are very patient and resilient that’s why they don’t tend to complain and rather just grin and bear it.”
“But having said this, after two years, the political landscape has change drastically and I can honestly say that the majority of the Filipino people have seen the light,” Trillanes said.
Consolidated and united
Trillanes said that the opposition has already “consolidated and united its ranks” for the past few months.
“Unknown to the public, the opposition has consolidated and united its ranks (for) the past few months. This new united opposition is led by Vice President Leni Robredo,” he shared.
Robredo has previously declared that she is willing to unite opposition coalition groups and take the mantle to become their leader.
Some of the potential members include Francis Pangilinan, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Gary Alejano, Barry Gutierrez, Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada and Jose Manuel Diokno.
Trillanes has also expressed his support of Senators Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros and Leila De Lima, calling them some of his most trusted allies.
According to him, they are “consistent” and “aligned” with his principles and beliefs as a public servant.
The senator added that the opposition is “busy preparing for contingency scenarios like the declaration of nationwide martial law and railroading of the charter change for federalism.”
