For better or for worse?

By Jose C. Sison (The Philippine Star), Dec 23, 2016

Change has indeed come to our country this year 2016. Since we became a Democratic Republic, this is the first time for us to have a President like Rodrigo Roa Duterte. And the change here is not only because he is the first President who comes from Mindanao but more importantly because of his personality and style of governance. Never before indeed do we have a President who can be considered as belonging to and identified with the social class comprising the majority of our population particularly the poor, the lower and upper middle sector. Definitely, he cannot be identified with the ruling oligarchs who held the reins of power for quite a long time.

The only other President perhaps who closely resembles him is Ramon Magsaysay, a simple mechanic who belonged to the “masang Pilipino.” Like Magsaysay, Duterte is also loved by the mass of our people. Like Magsaysay, he is a regular guy we can easily mix and identify with. But their similarities end there. There are huge differences in their personalities.

Most noticeable among them is on how they handle power and perform their job as President. There was less talk and more action on the part of Magsaysay. He did not announce his moves with so much fanfare and just went about quietly doing what he believed was for the good of the country and of our countrymen. To him, action speaks louder than words so even without talking so much, people come to know, feel and see what he was doing and what he and his administration had achieved.

Duterte on the other hand is very fond of talking. He announces before-hand what is in his mind and what he will do. He speaks off the cuff and often times discard his prepared address. Hence, he usually rambles on and on, using dirty and offensive language apparently to attract more attention and applause from his audience. He seems to relish the acclaim he receives from his adoring admirers instead of thinking about the implications of what he is saying. Apparently, he does not mean what he says or say what he means so that he usually ends up incriminating himself or completely backtracking from his previous pronouncements. Most often, his other officials in the Cabinet have to explain what he said, and in the process, they even contradict his statements.

One of his recent incriminating statements is his boast that he was a killer of suspected criminals like drug users while he was Mayor of Davao City. He said this allegedly for the purpose of proving to his policemen that if he “can do it why can’t they.” This statement came just hours after he emphatically denied being a “killer” as he confirmed the Senate findings that his administration is not behind those Extrajudicial Killings (EJKs) perpetrated by policemen in on-going war against dangerous drugs. His spur of the moment remarks on these killings even triggered international reactions particularly from the UN Human Rights Commissioner who asked the investigation of Duterte for these “murders” he admitted. Then James Taylor a renowned singer also cancelled his show in February 2017 apparently because of these human rights violations.

And while he continues to pledge as a lawyer to uphold the rule of law, he likewise continues to promise that he will protect policemen who kill suspected drug pushers and addicts and will ensure that they will not go to jail for doing so. More shocking and alarming in this regard is his recent statement about the Albuera policemen who carried out the killing of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa inside the jail. Even if there is already a finding that it was a murder and a premeditated rubout, he promised to stand by and support the actions of the police even if it is not true. This statement clearly sends a wrong message that he is ready to support wrongdoings. At this stage people are getting so confused and completely at a loss on what our President stands for.

Even our international relations are getting murkier. After assuming office in June he started mending relations with China and became hostile against America. Then later on he seemed to become friendly again with the US especially after Donald Trump was elected as the next US President to succeed Obama. But recently when the US stopped its multi million dollar aid under the Millennium Challenge project, Duterte once more became belligerent and slammed America in front of its Ambassador. He threatened to drive out the Americans who are conducting military exercises under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). He demanded payment for their continued stay in our shores. And he repeated this threat after the Obama administration denounced once more his government’s deadly crackdown on prohibited drugs.

On the other hand he started warming up to China once again. He even said that he would “set aside” the UN Arbitral Ruling that invalidated China’s claim to most of the China Sea particularly the Scarborough Shoals where China has apparently installed anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons on artificial islands it has built. Such statement is clearly a declaration against the interest of our country that prompted his Foreign Affairs Secretary to declare that “we want to make sure only that there will be no further actions that will heighten the tensions between the two countries particularly in the Scarborough Shoal.” Yasay told reporters in Singapore which Duterte visited last week that “there is nothing we can do about that now”…We cannot stop China at this point and say ‘Do not put that up.” But his remarks are apparently different from Defense Secretary Lorenzana who said that “it is a big concern for us and the international community who uses the South China Sea lanes for trade. It would mean that the Chinese are militarizing the area which is not good.”

And so as we approach the end of 2016, our future remains uncertain. We are in a ship of state sailing in the high seas without any clear idea as to where we are going because our man at the helm apparently does not clearly know the way to the port of peace, progress and prosperity.

Email: attyjosesison@gmail.com