WHY ONLY NOW?: President Noynoy Aquino is suddenly challenging all sectors “to forge unity in the face of differences.” He made a pitch for national unity as the nation marked last Sunday the 116th anniversary of the martyrdom of Jose Rizal.

It is quite late in the day for the President to appeal for unity – after his Yellow Army’s merciless and relentless hounding of political foes and perceived obstacles to his “Daang Matuwid” from the time of the bruising 2010 election campaign to the present.

During the campaign, the President’s propagandists used the psychology of contrast to make him shine with virtuous brilliance by caricaturing key opposition figures as the epitome of corruption and maladministration.

In fact, although then President Gloria Arroyo was not running for reelection, the Liberal Party zeroed in on her, on the theory that she was vulnerable and a convenient hate-object for making Mr. Aquino’s aura of purity reflected from her mother shine all the more brilliant.

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DOGS OF WAR: As Philippine politics go, that ruthless strategy could have been understandable since the only item on an election campaign agenda is victory.

But after winning the presidency with a convincing margin, and the objective thus achieved, the momentum of the slash-and-burn Yellow campaign continued.

President Aquino forgot to rein in the dogs of war. And the hate-and-terminate campaign was allowed to rage on – even stepped up.

The victorious presidential candidate forgot that the war was over, that he was no longer a candidate but the president – not of his exultant followers but of all Filipinos regardless of political color.

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MISSED THE CUE: Victory was the perfect moment for the winner, President Aquino, to have opened his arms in magnanimity and asked for national unity. He missed that historic cue, and is now appealing for unity because he needs it.

Meanwhile his hit squad in the Palace and the LP partisans in the field are busy pursuing their search-and-destroy operations for remnants of the opposition and would-be opposition.

But that is all right, because their targets are corrupt? Under our system of laws, guilt or innocence is for the courts to determine.

It cannot be that the Aquino regime and its political arm the Liberal Party file the charges, decide the case and move on to mete out the penalty calibrated to inflict the maximum damage.

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SOMOS O NO SOMOS: As it has turned out, some of the information or charges against elected and appointed high-profile officials of the previous administration have been dropped for insufficient evidence.

But charges continue to be lined-up for filing in serial to keep the accused perpetually detained – despite the presumption of innocence – and besmirched before the public.

The ruling LP is out to capture vote-rich provinces under the influence of the opposition in preparation for next year’s midterm elections. (By opposition is meant non-LP in the “somos o no somos” black-or-white approach of the ruling regime.)

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BUBBLE BURSTS?: The President’s belated appeal to the opposition for unity may still work if certain conditions exist.

One is if the opposition and those who still do not believe in the capacity of Mr. Aquino to rule with competence have been sufficiently intimidated to just surrender. A fatally wounded opposition has no choice but to capitulate.

Another condition is if the President is appealing for unity from a position of strength – if he holds the moral and political high ground.

This condition was present when Mr. Aquino was still riding the crest of an emotional wave of support, right after the 2010 election, of a population hoping for change for the better. Filipinos, caught in difficult times, are the ultimate optimists.

But that bubble appears to have burst. The latest survey – if one were to believe it – shows President Aquino’s net satisfaction rating having dropped by a hefty 12 points (from 67 to 55 percent), compared to his 62 rating in 2010.

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GUT ECONOMICS: One notable footnote to this survey of the Social Weather Stations is that Mr. Aquino’s  scores fell in all areas, all socio-economic classes and for both genders.

To appeal now for national unity in the face of a plunging popularity –assuming the survey had basis in fact – may be a bit forced. The President has to show some semblance of strength to be throwing challenges for unity.

For some time for some people, media hype and paper statistics may carry an initially popular president, but not for all people all the time.

Sooner or later, the huddled millions waiting for an end to their having to miss meals, their joblessness, the rising prices versus declining purchasing power of the few pesos on hand, will see through the empty propaganda.

The masses cannot live on IMF words of encouragement, the global Shylocks’ improved credit ratings to induce this country to borrow some more, or the endless probes and prosecution of political targets.

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GO TO SOURCE: It looks crazy for the police to be running after stores and peddlers selling outsized firecrackers and deadly explosives detonated in welcoming the New Year.

Why don’t the police go straight to where these banned explosives are being made? It cannot be that they do not know where these are manufactured, for that would be a bigger tragedy than merrymaking injuries.

Customers are presumed not to know what is allowed and what is not, since they buy on the assumption that these had been checked by the regulators.

This approach is much like controlling smoke-belching of buses that are accosted while plying their routes, to the inconvenience of passengers. The authorities should go to the bus garage, test the vehicles and ground those found in violation of pollution rules.