PILLORIED by a hailstorm of criticism and ridicule after backing out of his own debate challenge against Justice Antonio Carpio, President Rodrigo Duterte once again sang a familiar and tired refrain: joke only.
He said, “Yong bravado ko, pure campaign joke. At kung naniniwala kayo sa kabila, pati na siguro si Carpio at pati si…I would say that you are really stupid. Maghanap ka ng tao dito magpunta ng jet ski hindi man mag-abot ng ilang oras I would conk out in the middle of the sea.”
Duterte continued, “At sabi nila, and waves, ano bang waves sa Tagalog, yong alon pala diyan sa South China Sea kasing laki ng dagat. Ah sabi ko, mahirap ito. Sabihin ko na lang balang araw sa Pilipino na inabot talaga ako ng takot. Wala ako magawa, takot ako mamatay.”
Duterte’s campaign promise of riding a jet ski and planting the Philippine flag on the islands seized by China was met with thunderous applause during the 2016 presidential debate in Pangasinan. It was the cutesiest response to a very serious question, and was said to have finally convinced 16 million Filipinos to stake their future with the charismatic candidate from Mindanao.
In fairness to the President, it must be said that most of his voters had already made up their minds prior to the Pangasinan round of debates.
In his campaign sorties, Duterte announced his uncompromising stand against crime and corruption. He vowed to suppress the spread of drugs within three to six months of assumption to office. He promised to pass a stronger anti-dummy law and lift the Bank Secrecy Law for public officials.
He also promised the calling of a constitutional convention within the first year of his term in order to shift to a federal form of government. The intention was to spread economic growth throughout the country and decongest Metro Manila.
There was scant if not zero mention of the West Philippine Sea in Dueterte’s campaign sorties. It was as if this important question was being evaded by the Duterte camp.
When the question could no longer be avoided, the maverick candidate delivered a joke that resonated among fishermen earning their living in the maritime structures abutting the coasts of Palawan, Zambales, Pangasinan, and others. That sealed the deal for them.
To recall, while couched as a joke, Duterte actually made an unstinting, highly patriotic stand for Philippine claims in the West Philippine Sea. He even offered his life in stressing this point. He said during the debate, “I will ask the Navy to bring me to the nearest boundary dyan sa Spratlys, sa Scarborough. Bababa ako, sasakay ako ng jet ski, dala-dala ko yung flag ng Pilipino, at pupunta ako dun sa airport nila, tapos itanim ko. Then I would say this is ours and do what you want with me.”
Thus, contrarily, it was a fool who would have believed otherwise, i.e., that candidate Duterte failed to make a definite stand in support of the Philippine position at the Hague. In fact, he hailed the ruling as a victory shortly after it was released by the arbitral tribunal.
The whole point of Duterte’s latest somersault on the WPS issue appears to be that Carpio, et al. are fools for missing the big picture – the joke was delivered in order to amass votes and win the elections. What happens after is totally not a function of campaign promises.
Non-politicians like Carpio and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario are laughable tyros in the business of making people laugh and winning their trust.
Unfortunately, as with all those other campaign pledges, like the swift eradication of crime and corruption, the joke is on the voter./PN
