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BY RHICK LARS VLADIMER ALBAY
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Decoding Duterte by ‘creative imagination’
ON WEDNESDAY, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella urged journalists and Filipino citizens alike to “try [and] use our creative imagination” when trying to interpret the tirades of our feisty president — the line between satire and reality in the Philippines has officially been blurred.
Let’s try to heed his advice, shall we? In just 100 days in office, Duterte has managed to tag a US ambassador “bakla,” call the UN secretary general “tarantado,” compare his drug crusade to the holocaust and himself to Hitler, tell off Barack Obama to “go to hell,” and drop numerous international “p***** i**.”
A “creative interpretation” of that would be that we have a president so devoted and fervent to his cause that it swells and overflows from him in the form of curse words and endless tirades, another “creative interpretation” would be we’ve elected an unhinged megalomaniac into office.
I, for one, see where Duterte is coming from, averse to the meddling and colonialist influence of the west, our commander-in-chief is simply expressing how Filipino’s are the only people who should have sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Philippines — no one but us should be controlling the affairs of our country.
As a mayor in Davao, Duterte had refused to let American troops enter his city and set up bases for drone strikes, seeing their intervention as just fanning the flames of the armed clash in Mindanao. He echoes the same concerns now, but with the entire Philippines as his home turf.
What bothers me are not the rants of our boisterous president, always testing the limits of being “politically correct,” what’s problematic is the disconnect between Duterte’s sentiments and his constantly scrambling press team.
These explainers, clarifiers and apologists (more popularly known as spokespersons and press secretaries) of his seem to be at times almost embarrassed by the red-blooded outbursts of the leader they represent. Instead of embracing and supporting Duterte’s “colorful” tirades against US imperialism and foreign meddling, they deflect and drop statements as groundless and meaningless as “use your creative imagination,” “wag tayo masyadong literal,” “it’s still open to interpretation.”
Duterte should seriously reconsider the lineup of his press relations team.
Politics is in the business of sound bites and quotable quotes. Career politicians aim to churn out carefully crafted privilege speeches, soft-wash and easy on the ears, but compelling enough to be picked up by the mainstream media, all without offending anyone.
In the recent US presidential debate, Obama heir-apparent Hillary Clinton dropped the following zinger against her foe, Donald Trump: “I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate. And yes, I did. And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president.”
As snappy, witty and spontaneous as that may sound, you know she’s rehearsed that line with her press team a hundred times. Hillary has most likely tested the line in a mock debate and had a staffer of hers nail the wording so that it remains concise yet cutting and critical. You know she was waiting for just the right moment to drop that knockout punch of hers, which has now been plastered on front pages all across America.
But the unapologetic Duterte doesn’t subscribe to that. He values pragmatic honesty and tactfulness, and sees diplomacy as an afterthought. He has engaged crowds and spurred them with unscripted diatribes like no other president in recent history. Duterte does his best to be as honest as possible and speak in a language that can be understood by Filipinos of all walks of life and maybe even rattle the upper echelons of society.
Change is coming and it’s coming red-blooded, in-your-face and unscripted./PN
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