The commemoration of the 3rd anniversary of the landfall of supertyphoon Yolanda in Tacloban, led by President Duterte, and Vice President Leni Robredo, covered live on television, was fitting, somber, and contemplative, if not for the usual “Dutertespeak”.
Addressing Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Martin Dino, President Duterte said: “If in two months you will not complete the housing projects, pusilon tika! (I will shoot you!)
Giving the President a snappy salute, Dino replied: “Yes, Sir!”, much to the delight of the audience as they laughed at the President’s joke.
The rest of the world will probably think, “Filipinos are a weird, crazy lot; they laugh when their President tells them they will be shot!”
And as if that was not enough, the President proceeded to tell the audience about the attractive legs of Vice President Leni, causing her to blush, smile inspite of her obvious unease, and eventually covered her face in embarrassment.
Well by now, Filipinos seem to be getting used to the fact that their President is an overgrown, headstrong, “out of the box” character.
Political analyst and strategist Malou Tiquia, founder of Publicus Asia, knows better than be shocked by President Duterte’s bold, if not outrageous, obnoxious, shocking statements on live TV.
To understand Duterte, she advised the public to “leave the Manila-centric, urban-defined lens”.
The President’s extemporaneous remarks could be dizzying — jumping from giving one commentary to an anecdote in a heartbeat — laden with invectives but are not no-nsense.
In so doing, this is what Tiquia has found: Duterte has started redefining power relations by priming and framing every hit on various centers of power with the oft-repeated phrase: “I don’t care if I lose the Presidency, if it causes my life, or destroys my reputation.”
For the political analyst, the President-elect’s message is clear: “The leader will do it for the people fooled for so long — a reminder to all that they are not with the power centers but with him.”
For people who continue to have a great deal of difficulty understanding Duterte’s statements, Tiquia offered this advice: “Listen, pause, and dive in with your cup of knowledge, experience, institutional memory to fully grasp a wily and cunning mind laced with an acerbic tongue, raised and nurtured in Davao, Mindanao, Bisaya, and very local.”
Duterte did not win because of his political savy or star power, but for an adroit strategy. For a person from Mindanao to win the presidency, Duterte’s skill, cleverness, or resourcefulness in handling situations successfully, forging alliances with power bases in Luzon, and getting it from the Solid North of the Marcos loyalists, the Pampanga base of the Arroyo group, and the vote-rich Manila of former President Erap Estrada.
Otherwise, a person from Visayas or Mindanao would not have been able to pull through with winning the presidency.
And for these alliances, there were promises to be kept; and being a man of his word, President Duterte has fulfilled most of these promises to his allies: former President Gloria Arroyo was acquitted; the Supreme Court upheld his Executive Order on legal grounds; the Marcoses got their wish to bury Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Most victims of Martial Law have been quick to retort, vow to press on, but all along, lawyer Digong was fully-aware of the possible backlash.
But come to think of it, wherever Marcos may be buried, MARCOS IS NOT A HERO!
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