I thought that after the May 2016 elections I was done writing about Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the presumptive president. I thought my contributions, if they were any contribution at all, was just to help people see what to me is a natural characteristic of a candidate that the people may, or may not, want to vote into the highest office of the land. I don’t work for him or any of his friends.
However, stories about “Digong Duterte” continue to swirl everywhere and it is beginning to sound like a “never ending story...”
My recent posts were about less crowded places visitors in this country may want to see, but my recent conversations were about the man who will be sworn into office as the next president of the republic - and the tone of these conversations were rather stressful.
I mean, stressful on the part of the people I had conversations with because they still cannot see the “normal” president in “President Digong Duterte.”
Improprieties
One of these conversations was with a head of a department of a media organization who thinks that President-elect Duterte “is not acting like a normal president should.” Another conversation was with a priest who voted for one of Duterte’s rivals because he see’s Duterte as someone who is too reckless and too brutal to be president.
These conversations happened separately, but within days of each other. To be more specific, they happened after Duterte’s “whistling” incident with GMA-7 TV Reporter Mariz Umali.
Quickly, and for the record, I didn’t see that catcalling or “whistling” incident as something offensive. I can understand why others were scandalized by it, specially those who are in the upper reaches of society. There are norms to observe and to follow and one has to abide by them - if one belong to that society, that is.
However, “Digong Duterte,” while he may have often walked with the people in that society, doesn’t seem to belong to that society. As regularly observed, “Digong” apparently walks more in a stratum that was embraced and loved by the people who catapulted him to the Presidency.
That layer of society that does not require “proper” decorums.
The priest, who was a colleague in a news organization in another lifetime, and the department head of a media organization who had these separate “tete a tete” with me were both looking for traces of a polite society in “Digong” - those traits they consider as regular or normal in a man who will occupy the zenith of the country’s “bureaucratic totem pole” - and neither of them could see any of it in him.
That, to them, is improper if not outright shocking. Both of my friends believe that, really, if “one goes to Rome, one must act as Romans do.” I agree with them, as far as that adage go, but the question is, who is where at this point in time in this country?
Disclosures, disclosures
Okay, this is that point again wherein I have to make disclosures and clarifications. First, let me say that I am not an expert on sociology and anything related to that discipline. Second, I am just expressing an opinion. Everyone is allowed to stick to their own opinions. This is just, loosely, an academic discussion no matter how crudely academic it sounds. Nobody is forced to agree with anyone. We live in a free country, and I hope, we continue to remain so.
Back to the “Never Ending Digong Story...”
What is normal?
A quick search on Wikipedia says: “Sociologists describe norms as informal understandings that govern individuals’ behavior in society.
“The norms,” in my own understanding, is an accepted way of doing things in a society.
(If your definition or opinion of norm has to do with Euclidean space or Vector space, you’re in a wrong blog, buddy!) :-D
Now, if a norm is “informal understandings” or “accepted” ways of doing things in a society, what happens when the majority of the people in that society think the “norms,” as they knew them, do not work and rejected the people who represented those “norms?”
See, we have “Digong” as president because the majority of the people got tired of those leaders who are prim and proper, leaders who talk nicely and NEVER offensively. Leaders who continue to sound respectful even when they are already subverting the will of the people. Leaders who act with such finesse even when they are already stealing and squandering the resources of the government. Leaders who continue to look good even when their biggest goal was just to keep looking good while enriching themselves and paying off or eliminating anyone who notices.
Those leaders whose image need to remain lovable, clean and proper and unassailable so they can continue to fool the people. Those who say something and does another.
Really, a good image is all they have and they are using it to the hilt.
Digong’s landslide victory mean change.
People are talking about “change.” That was what the people were expecting from Duterte. Change. That could mean a lot in ways things are done by the incoming administration. This is evident in the preparations for the inauguration of the elected president. Some are already raising questions on why symbolic traditions have to be broken as well, like the separate inauguration of the president and the vice president.
It is not hard to see why many wants the old ways of doing things to be preserved. They represent normality, thus the word “norms.” But the incoming administration does not want the normal ways of doing things to be preserved. In fact, those are the ones they have come to eradicate. They, along with the people who has given them the mandate, want to change the old ways.
An overdose, a mismatch
This is what my former colleague who is now a priest was afraid of. He is worried that Duterte might go overboard. That he might be too tough than what is needed to straighten out this country and that he might prove to be a bigger problem than the much needed solution. Images of a dictator -who is a butcher- kept playing in his mind.
My other friend who heads a department of a media organization was concerned of something else. He was afraid that because of his non-conformist attitude, Digong might alienate himself from the majority of the people who sees the need to keep the norms and traditions and end up becoming a problem in that way.
Both seem to be saying that for one leader to be able to do something good, he must first look good.
That however, is not “Digong’s norm.” If I am getting it right, in Digong’s world, outward appearances are merely cosmetic. In his world, public officials have to back up their fantastic public images with sincere actions. Not just words. Not just promises.
Is he for real?
Why do I think that Duterte will do as he says? What makes me so sure that he will not turn out to be another predator in disguise?
To answer that question is also to answer why I didn’t think Duterte’s “whistling” on Mariz Umali was offensive. But to better answer that question, it is best to ask a few more questions: Is he wearing a disguise? In what circumstances can you do a “catcall” when it will not be considered a catcall? Maybe many of you would say “never.” My answer: When the person you are doing it to does not think you are being offensive. And when does that happen, if it ever happens?
Actually, it happens all the time. It happens in a family when, for example, a mother who can comfortably joke around with her kids, dresses nicely and one of her children a girl or a boy whistles in the same tone as Digong did on TV (supposedly addressed to Mariz). It happens among friends who do not find malice in each other’s company. In the same vein a daughter can “whistle” on her father who suddenly wore a smart get up, and so on, and so forth.
Just like “beauty” which they say is in the eyes of the beholder, malice is in the eyes of the beholder. My guess was, at that moment, Digong felt that he was among familiar people who were friendly enough that he could act as freely as a friend would among friends.
His mistake was that he thought he was among friends. Was he for real? Yes, as real as real can be. But he may have forgotten that no matter how friendly they may have shown themselves to him, those media people were just out there enjoying their proximity to the next leader of this country, but they remain as reporters. Not friendly friends.
How about the media?
But are those media people doing their jobs well? Are they being the purveyors of truth that they ought to be?
Did you hear what Duterte said in an interview he had with Mocha Uson which was ended with a statement about the Philippine Press? This is more or less how he said it. “The media wants you to be courteous with them all the time… without them being courteous with you…” This was, of course, followed by the usual expletives. Expletives that were the marks of a real “Digong.” Those were not “mura” or expletives per se. Those were the signs that he really means what he says - that he is not into pretenses.
The interview is in this link: http://www.mb.com.ph/watch-mocha-uson-interviews-president-elect-duterte/
It may be true that media people and government officials are in opposite sides of a fence, but do they really have to be at odds with one another all the time? I mean, like, when a government official say something, does it have to be interpreted the wrong way? Is it really the job of the media to take everything a government official say out of context?
Can the reporters interpret the news? If they cannot, why are they interpreting Digong’s statements? Why don’t they just report whatever he says the way he said them? If the media can interpret the news, why are their interpretations always negative?
A 20 year glimpse
Duterte is not a saint, but I do believe that he has already given us a glimpse of his personality and his kind of leadership. Just look at Davao City.
Are you still saying that Davao is just a City and not a Country? If Digong is a country bumpkin who can only do a city, shouldn't we also be talking about what the bigwigs have done for this country?
Are you still saying that Davao is just a City and not a Country? If Digong is a country bumpkin who can only do a city, shouldn't we also be talking about what the bigwigs have done for this country?
What if Duterte turns out to be something else as a president?
Well, then, I suppose we will just have to deal with it when that time comes.
One of my friends said that it may already be too late at that time. Then, he must be conceding that Duterte is not someone who can just do a Davao City. If that is so, then logic has it that Duterte can turn the country into a bigger "Davao City."
It may not be a very bad idea.
One of my friends said that it may already be too late at that time. Then, he must be conceding that Duterte is not someone who can just do a Davao City. If that is so, then logic has it that Duterte can turn the country into a bigger "Davao City."
It may not be a very bad idea.
No comments :
Post a Comment