IN THE LINE OF FIRE FROM WITHIN

 

“That was a beautiful day. The sun was out, been raining all morning, the air was… first shot, sounding like a firecracker. I looked over, I saw him, I could tell he was hit. I don’t know why I didn’t react. I should have reacted. I should have been running flat out. I just couldn’t believe it. If only I’d reacted, I could have taken that shot. And that would have been alright with me.”

The above scene was from the movie “In the Line of Fire” where Frank Horrigan (played by Clint Eastwood) was explaining to fellow agent Lilly Raines (played by Rene Russo) what happened when John F. Kennedy was shot. Horrigan was a Secret Service agent detailed to guard Kennedy when he was assassinated. This is no spoiler alert since many, for sure, could have already watched the 1993 thriller, action, and drama movie. While working out this article at the same time surfing the internet, the movie flashed into my mind upon reading the following PDInquirer headline:

GUARDING SARA

“Guarding Sara: Why Next VP Is Getting Own Security Team.”

As reported: “The Armed Forces of the Philippines has ‘activated’ a new unit tasked with ensuring the security of Vice President-elect Sara Duterte and her family. A day after the launching of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) on Friday, [Sara Duterte] issued a statement acknowledging that a ‘request’ has been made for the formation of that group, in anticipation of FUTURE ELECTIONS and the possibility of STRAINED RELATIONS under that scenario between the PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT.” (Underscoring mine)

The much-publicized quote of Imelda Marcos in a documentary, The Kingmaker pops up: “Perception is real.” I can’t help myself from figuring out a handful of telltale signs derived from the above eyebrow-raising muscle-flexing unraveling:

BIG TIME. “The VPSPG will now have around 300 personnel,” the source said. It is larger than Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Protection Squad consisting of 185 officers, the Pope’s Pontifical Swiss Guard with 125 soldiers, Turkey President Erdogan’s 60 bodyguards, and Boris Johnson’s 20 security personnel.

FOREBODING. “Future election” means the 2028 presidential election; “strained relations,” political power play; “President,” Marcos Jr.; “Vice-President,” Sara Duterte. I won’t need rocket science to figure out the implication of such VP build-up. Otherwise, it would be like saying to my neighbor (after I put up a military barbed wire on top of the wall between us): “This is not meant for you, but the next occupant/buyer of your house.” A double-edged sword put down: “You’re bad and stupid.”

SENSE OF URGENCY. Father knows best. Like father, like daughter. If there’s a will, with a little time left, there’s a way. What are they in power for?

UNPRECEDENTED. Never did this sort of special privilege come down in the history of our country providing for the Vice President and her family such high-power protection. Even the U.S. Secret Service was created in 1865 as a bureau only of the Treasury Department to battle widespread money counterfeiting. At the end of the Civil War, nearly a third of all currency in circulation was fake.

Nothing like the “In the Line of Fire” scene – dark sunglasses, the clandestine earpiece, and black suit – rather, the Secret Service was created to stabilize the financial system by ridding it of counterfeiters.  Only until 1901, after the assassination of President William McKinley, did the Secret Service enter into the picture of political bigwig protection.

PRO-PBBM REACTIONS

Pro-PBBM social media reactions have been quick on the trigger as sampled and edited for brevity below:

“It looks like PBBM has silent enemies in sheep’s clothing. The president must be wise as a serpent but harmless as a dove.”

“Sana hindI maging sakim ang mga tao. May tamang panahon din para kay Sara bata pa naman sya.”

“I find it offensive. I just hope that it’s not foreboding that something would go wrong between her and PBBM.”

“I think the main purpose of that group is to secure digz in his way out by using sara’s name in order to secure [him] legally”

“Sa body language at movement ng family ni madam VP inday “Truth Hurts” but magbantay lng po tau at higit natin protektahan si BBM at family niya dahil sadyang malalim ang hugot ng mga kalaban.”

“It’s already planned from the very beginning.”

“Everyone witnessed how [BBM] was bashed, trashed, and ruined by many at every direction including the sitting President.”

“It’s in preparation for “Run Sara Run”!

“Una pa lang may nakikita na akong masamang pangitain between president and vp.”

“Inday Sara needs a little bit of ‘polishing’ before being ready for the President.”

“Ang labo! Sabi na nga ba eh. Nakikita na natin ang future.”

The above sample comments speak volumes. Like dots of a handful of stars in the sky at night, we could simply connect them to come up with a clear picture of what lies ahead for our country.

CONFUSION

“And labo!” says it all. Indeed, what a confusion!

Excerpted below, the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:4-8) is a Bible story befitting in wrapping up this article.

“’Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’

“But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.

“The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and CONFUSE their language so they will not understand each other.’

“So the Lord SCATTERED them from there over all the earth and they stopped building the city.” (Underscoring mine)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

1. God rejects the worldly kind of “unity.”

2. In Christendom, the Tower of Babel was an act of rebellion against God. He opposes God-is-stupid arrogance. (James 4:6)

3. He who does not gather with me scatters. (Matthew 12:30)

POINTS TO PONDER

This ominous pro-PBBM comment fits like a glove around this article’s title “In the Line of Fire from Within.”

“Sa umpisa pa ay balak ni Inday hawakan ang military. At gusto niyang siya ang Secretary of National Defense. Malaking advantage niya kung under sa kanya ang military dahil pwede niyang traidorin si BBM.”

Frank Horrigan’s words fit in such a sinking feeling:

Frank: I normally prefer not to get to know the people I’m protecting.

Lilly: Why’s that?

Frank: You never know. You might decide they’re not worth taking a bullet for.”

Head still photo courtesy of Pixabay at pexelsdotcom