ANYONE with a relatively good grasp of current events can tell you who said this: “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.”
Or this: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
The first one was John F. Kennedy’s classic statement during his inauguration as president of the United States. The second was by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his inaugural address at the height of the Great Depression in America.
What about this? “My loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to my country begins.”
That was President Manuel Luis Quezon, making the patriotic statement that Philippine politicians have since slightly adjusted to: “My loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to the newly-installed president begins.”
We usually remember prominent personalities by the classic quips they make. President Ramon Magsaysay will always be remembered for declaring, “Those who have less in life should have more in law.”
And Senate President Jose Avelino of Samar’s candid quip will forever be part of Philippine political lore: “What are we in power for?”
President Joseph “Erap” Estrada’s solemn inaugural vow—“Walang kama-kamag-anak, walang kai-kaibigan”—will always stand out as the epitome of political untruthfulness, compared to the stark naked truthfulness of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s admission, “I lied!”
This was her response when asked why she did not make good on her threat to jump off a plane over the Luneta, in connection with her stout defense of Erap.
But all of these quotable quotes now pale compared to this one: “Putang inang Santo Papa.”
That, of course, is vintage Rodrigo Roa Duterte, president of the Republic of the Philippines.
Hopefully—and I am sincerely one of those with this hope—Duterte will be remembered in Philippine history as the president who instituted genuine positive change in the country, curbed criminality, particularly the drug menace, minimized corruption in government, untangled the infernal Metro Manila traffic, built adequate infrastructure to meet the needs not only of businesses and urban folk but also those in the rural areas, and finally enabled the poor to share in the benefits of economic prosperity.
Unfortunately, whatever good Duterte might notch will likely trigger a corresponding snicker over his classic foot-in-the-mouth gaffes. And that is the sad part. I am tempted to paraphrase Mark Antony’s eulogy for Julius Caesar: “The mistakes that Presidents commit live after them. The achievements are oft interred with their bones.”
Frankly, I am beginning to believe that Duterte sincerely wants to leave a proud legacy as president of our country. And considering that a six-year term is really not enough to institute lasting changes, I can also understand his tendency to take short cuts, including extra-judicial ones.
As an account management person in an ad agency servicing an unforgiving client, I was known to tell my assistants: “If you face a blank wall, go around it, go over it or go under it. If none of that works, break down the goddamn wall.”
Apparently Duterte has the same attitude.
Unfortunately, if you were to go by his public statements—which he, at one time, characterized as preposterous—you would feel like the passenger of a sports car negotiating a zigzag mountain road at top speed. You have the hairy feeling that the vehicle could jump off the cliff at the next turn.
The latest Duterte-ism is his threat to withdraw the Philippines from membership in the United Nations (UN), over his pique at the UN’s disapproval of his murderous methods in his war against the drug menace.
Wrote CNN: “Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte insulted and threatened to leave the United Nations in response to criticism of his approach to drug crime since taking office….’Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations,’ he said in English during the address. ‘If you are that insulting, son of a b*tch, we should just leave,’ he said then in Tagalog, according to a translation by CNN affiliate CNN Philippines. ‘Take us out of your organization. You have done nothing anyway.’”
Duterte appears to have conveniently forgotten the humanitarian aid for the Philippines organized by the United Nations and its agencies in the wake of super typhoon Yolanda and how our country depends on international support in our dispute with China over the Spratlys.
But this is vintage foot-in-mouth, shoot-from-the-lip Duterte. His allies in Congress have been stumbling all over themselves to rush to his defense, pointing out that he should not be taken seriously. Here’s how the dailies reported on it:
“At least two senators think so, saying President Duterte’s threat to withdraw the Philippines from the United Nations should not be taken too seriously.
“‘I don’t take it seriously. We are one of [the United Nations’] founding members,’ Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto said on Sunday.
”Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said he believed Mr. Duterte knew that leaving the United Nations would be detrimental to the Philippines.
“‘He is a very intelligent man. Leaving the UN will throw our nation back to the Stone Age. He knows very well that being an isolationist country is not in the best interest of the Filipino people,’ he said on Sunday.”
Did Recto and Gatchalian realize that they were, in effect, being patronizing towards the president of the country and insulting his intelligence?
But this is not the first time that Duterte’s people have, in effect, dismissed their bosses’ statements as virtual hot air.
About Duterte’s vow to curb criminality and solve the problem of illegal drugs in three to six months, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Ronald de la Rosa clarified: “Hindi namin makuha yan talaga yan 100 percent. Siguro kung mabagsak man kami maabot kami ng 60 percent lang o 70 percent (We cannot achieve 100 percent. Maybe we can reach 60 percent or 70 percent).”
My own reaction to Duterte’s over-reaching claim was to say that the country should be happy enough if he actually succeeded in reducing criminality, particularly illegal drug trafficking.
In fact, Duterte himself has been self-deprecating and has cautioned the media against taking all his public statements “seriously.”
When human rights activists accused him during the presidential campaign of being behind the killings of 700 suspected criminals in Davao, Duterte corrected that and claimed, “1,700.”
He subsequently told the media in Davao City, shortly before assuming the presidency: “If it is a preposterous, ridiculous or out of the blue statement, kalabitin mo yung taga-Davao. Sabihin mo lang, ‘anong sinasabi ng loko-lokong ito?’ (Ask the folks in Davao, what is this crazy fellow saying?)”
When asked how would people know if he was serious or just joking, Duterte replied,”If it’s ridiculous, ano ba ‘tong gago? (Am I stupid?)”
Anyone interested in trivia could compile the fast-enlarging list of Duterte-isms and write a book. And to that book, if it is ever published, I would like to contribute a fictitious situation where Duterte points a gun at a suspect and warns, “Patyon ta ka! (I will kill you).”
After Duterte pulls the trigger and the victim collapses, the dying man mutters: “Akala ko hindi serious! (I thought he was not serious!)” ([email protected])
