By Melchor Vergara

Ah, the physician-turned-blogger’s lesson on “subtlety”—it’s like getting dietary advice from someone who lives off fast food. 

She claims the current government is engaging in covert harassment, a far cry from the glory days of her idol, the former president. You know, the guy who skipped subtlety altogether and went straight for overt, no-nonsense “management” of critics, dissenters and violators of his hard-line policies. Ah, those were the days! No need to read between the lines—he’d just tell you outright that he’d love to throw you in jail (or worse). Unfortunately, there was collateral damage, nay, innocent victims.

EJK, Kian de los Santos, the Parojinogs come to mind.

Now, we’re stuck with this sneaky oppression that’s *gasp*…hard to prove! Maybe she misses the simplicity of a time when being a critic meant wearing a metaphorical (or actual) target on your back. The new subtlety clearly lacks the in-your-face flair of, say, a televised threat. It’s almost like democracy’s trying to act polite. How inconvenient for those craving a little old-school, strongman charm!