Editorial Cartoon by Mimo
Written by RJ Ledesma

In a now-viral video, Police Major General Debold Sinas leads a 4-minute exercise routine while sitting down. Police officers in the NCPRO follow suit, awkwardly raising their legs to the beat of the Japanese anime Voltes V’s theme song.

The absurdity of the scene stoked the internet. People made fun of the seeming ineffectiveness of the routine, pointing at Sinas’ bulging stomach as proof. People were also quick to point back at a prior controversy involving him breaching quarantine protocols to hold the now-infamous mañanita. Until now, that incident was brushed off by this regime as a minor thing. Duterte even still called him a good and honest officer.

On the internet, Sinas has become a caricature of this government’s culture of impunity. That picture of party-hatted Sinas blowing a Voltes V cake on his birthday has become viral meme fodder. His childish obsession with the Japanese anime even led him to announce that he will be playing the theme song before official meetings to instill the spirit of unity among his ranks.

But this caricature of a quarantine-violating man-child is just the tip of the iceberg. He is a calculated, cold-blooded murderer. This childish image is in deep contrast to the staggering violence that was waged in his command. This very violence earned him a stamp of approval from this blood-thirsty regime as a useful murder-machine. Recently, he was appointed as the new PNP Chief.

His track record shows why he was the perfect candidate. His stint as Central Visayas Chief of Police in 2019 paved the way for numerous killings and arrests in the name of counterinsurgency. Oplan Sauron– named after a Lord of the Rings villain– claimed the lives of 21 peasants in Negros, and numerous others were illegally arrested. He was also the mind behind Operation Bran Stark which led to the deaths of 37 farmers and local personalities, including a lawyer and an educator. The operation’s name is in reference to a character in the hit TV show Game of Thrones.

It’s a sinister joke to have named such murderous programs from his favorite movies and shows. But it only proves how unapologetically evil Sinas is. Not only is he clinging to such childish preoccupations with pop culture, but his mind is also like that of an impressionable and obedient little boy. He salivates and nods at every command from Duterte. His imperialist masters from Washington– through Operation Pacific Eagle– arms Sinas and his ilk with weaponry for their bloody games. And when the dictator says to murder, he murders without let down.

But like a kid, he has no sense of history. For one, he is seemingly unaware that his favorite show Voltes V has become a symbol of resistance during Martial Law.Just an episode away from its finale, Voltes V was shut down by the late dictator Marcos for supposed “excessive violence.” But some argued that the true reason for its cancellation was the show’s revolutionary message. The show, after all, depicts how resistance leads to the eventual overthrow of a tyrannical rule.

Fascists’ lack of historical reckoning ultimately lead to their downfall. Fascists, like Duterte and Sinas, forget that throughout history men like them will eventually be toppled down by the masses’ resistance. Even in Sinas’ favorite shows, the villains always lose as more and more people rise up.

The masses are the engines of history. The sharpening contradictions within this regime only strengthens the mass movement. And one thing that history assures us is triumph will come. Eventually, the masses will win.