Last Tuesday, this column suggested that many ought to expect the unexpected when Rodrigo Duterte assumes office as president of the Philippines.
Weeks ago, Duterte expressed his displeasure at certain members of the diplomatic corps for their meddling in the internal concerns of the country, in manifest violation of International Law.
During the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, many foreign dignitaries assigned to the Philippines indiscriminately gave statements to the local news media about what the Aquino administration should do about the internal affairs and concerns of the Philippines. Sadly, President Aquino tolerated their breach of international law.
Their undue interference in Philippine affairs was quite obvious last year when the Aquino regime tried its best to promote the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law, which was drafted by Aquino hirelings, and which was awaiting the approval by Congress. The BBL was a clandestine attempt on the part of Malacañang and its treasonous allies to dismember the Republic of the Philippines and create a Bangsamoro sub-state in the heart of Mindanao. Fortunately, Senator Bongbong Marcos stopped it in the Senate.
It was bad enough that the BBL divided the Filipino people. What aggravated the situation was that several ambassadors publicly expressed their support for the BBL, and said that it was good for the Philippines.
No wonder Duterte is pissed with many foreign dignitaries stationed in the Philippines.
Even the United Nations was not spared Duterte’s wrath. After the UN criticized Duterte for his unorthodox views on human rights, Duterte hit back by citing the UN’s failure to maintain peace in Syria and Iraq, and to attend to the refugee problem confronting Eastern Europe.
Truth to tell, what has the UN done, anyway? Aside from its miserable failure in Syria, Iraq, and Eastern Europe, the UN was unable to contain the North Korean threat to world peace, or to help the Dalai Lama regain freedom for Tibet, or to eradicate the tribalism that continues to divide and impoverish many African countries. Despite the endless expensive international conferences held by UN agencies like the World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organization, poverty, hunger, disease, and violence continue to stalk the world. In addition, almost all UN officials travel the world in luxurious comfort and convenience.
Expensive Unicef cards are sold all over the world, usually in November, ostensibly to help feed starving children in developing countries and in areas devastated by war. Despite those international sales, many children remain starving in different places in the world.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was organized to promote literacy all over the world. Under the Florence Agreement sponsored by the Unesco and signed by many countries including the Philippines, no customs duties may be imposed on any newspaper, magazine, periodical, book or similar reading material imported into the Philippines even in commercial quantity. That treaty is completely ignored by the Bureau of Customs in the Philippines today. Ask anybody who buys foreign publications by mail.
Try complaining about that to the Unesco. The procedure is bureaucratic. At best, one can get a refund on customs duties, but he will have to sue the Bureau of Customs in court. Good grief!
Duterte also said he would allow the late President Ferdinand Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. For Duterte, it’s time to let go of the past and to move on. While the Marcos family welcomes this development, outgoing President Aquino opposes it, saying that the late strongman does not deserve burial in the hallowed grounds of the said cemetery.
Although Aquino has the right to express his opinion about the late strongman, Aquino should not impose his opinion on Duterte. At any rate, Aquino’s personal opinion is effectively diluted by the millions of votes Bongbong Marcos obtained in the recent vice presidential election, which got him first place by a margin of more than a million votes on the first day of the canvassing.
Instead of publicly expressing his displeasure for the elder Marcos, President Aquino should focus his attention on getting hard evidence on who was really behind the assassination of his father, the late Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Closure, not Aquino’s vindictiveness, is what the people want. Since Aquino will be unemployed soon, he will have enough free time to embark on this quest.
Come to think of it, how come no serious effort was made during his term to ascertain the identity of the person behind his father’s assassination? As his father’s son, he should be very interested in ascertaining the truth.
Accusing the elder Marcos of Ninoy’s assassination is one thing. Proving it is another. If Marcos’ alleged role in Ninoy’s death could not be proved under two Aquino presidencies, then the constitutional mandate that every person is presumed innocent until the contrary is proved, should undoubtedly apply.
Finally, there is the animosity between Duterte and the media, triggered by Duterte’s remark that some corrupt journalists may find themselves summarily executed much in the same way as drug lords and other henious criminals.
What Duterte said appears to be an opinion at least and an aspiration at most. Being so, there is no reason why he should not be allowed to exercise his constitutional freedom to express himself.
That there are corrupt journalists in the Philippines is something that cannot be denied. Many personalities in the media maintain a lifestyle that is not commensurate to their salaries and legitimate income. They live in plush villages in houses registered in the names of their relatives. Like many of the politicians they criticize, these media personalities ride in late-model, high-end luxury vehicles. They sport expensive jewelry, and they celebrate birthdays and special occasions at expensive places. Their children are enrolled in very expensive schools either here and abroad. Some of them are even able to run for public office after a few years of working in the media.