The opening statement by Rigoberto Tiglao caught my attention: “To be honest, my admiration for President Duterte went up a few notches with his principled stand on the Recto Bank incident, despite the hysterical screams of the Yellows and even of people you would have thought were sober, for him to bash China for the Reed Bank incident.” (Manila Times, June 19) Since June 9, the media has given us varied accounts of the incident at the Reed Bank (or Recto Bank) where 22 fishermen, whose boat collided with a Chinese vessel, were left to fend for themselves. They were later rescued by Vietnamese fishers who happened to pass by.
Varied versions of the incident included an accident, a hit-and-run incident, a maritime incident, ramming and sinking of a Filipino fishing boat (Gem-Ver-1).
In the midst of all these, President Duterte remained silent. Some made not-so-nice remarks about his silence. Finally on June 17, he broke his silence: The sinking of a Filipino boat by a Chinese vessel at the Reed Bank was a little maritime accident.
The Manila Times made this report regarding the June 9 incident: “Despite relative calm in recent years, the June 9 incident in the Recto Bank highlighted the continuing perils for fishers in the West Philippine Sea and how this affects relations between competing claimant states. Four important takeaways can be drawn from the incident: need for sobriety, due process, calibrated response and regional cooperation.” The report further said: “Territorial and maritime disputed are always difficult to resolve. This is especially so if there are more than two parties involved as is the case for the six-way South China Sea row. Hence, for longstanding flashpoints, it is not unusual for parties to settle for the less-ideal but nonetheless feasible and practical dispute management and functional tracks. This includes: 1) setting up mechanisms for communication and dialogue to address incidents should they surface; 2) regular confidence-building measures and joint exercises to build trust among frontline maritime actors and 3) concerted efforts in conserving regional maritime commons. In the South China Sea, progress, though much incipient, has been made on the first two, but much work remains to be done on the third.”
In the case of President Duterte, he used silence while everyone was talking about the June 9 incident. How would you regard his choice to keep silent?
There is a saying: “Speech is silver. Silence is golden.” Plato said: “Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.”
Words are like bullets; they could hit hard. They can cause pain and hurt to the listener that may be irreversible. Words of love and compassion soothe and comfort a person. Here are seven reasons why silence is golden: 1) Words are sacred; 2) You become wise. “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” Proverbs 10:19. 3) Silence frees us from people’s words; 4) Spiritual things are of an unspoken nature; 5) Silence brings us reflection; 6) You can’t help those who don’t want to listen; and 7) You listen and understand more. “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” Epictetus.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
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