A dismayed(?) Filipino nation, as if awe struck, somewhat went speechless on SONA day.
Most of them belonged to the antis, the Yellow opposition party, the Left and a few of the Right, the religious and irreligious, the priests and pastors, the clergy and the secular, even the poor and the not-so-poor, the educated and the illiterate – including this deadline beater – because they (we) did not hear ONE single cuss word from the Chief Executive.
You might ask – wonder of wonders – what did Pres. Duterte have for lunch that he suddenly became transformed like a well-behaved boy, like a saintly acolyte serving in the mass being presided by the parish priest?
Napakabait niya. Yeah, all throughout the 48-minutes that the nation listened to his “monologue.”
Well, he followed the script – every word of it – reading it straight from the tele-prompter like he was scared the diminutive film director Joyce Bernal might give him a dressing down if he did not.
Duterte said everything straight from the horse’s mouth.
While his critics are very evidently for the protection of basic human rights causes, the former Davao City mayor taught them a neat lesson, clarifying the basic difference between “fighting for human rights” and “fighting for human life’s sake”.
That PRRD values human life is established in the government’s unwavering pursuit against the illegal drugs trade whose menacing tentacles do not discriminate who they catch as prey for as long as they are able to peddle their dirty commodity and amass riches illegally gained.
Not incidentally, I came upon a lady professor teaching at the Bulacan State University whose identity I will not reveal. (Mind you, the BSU is rated one of the country’s top ten state universities.)
She said not until Pres. Digong launched his massive nation-wide campaign against illegal drugs did she realize how grave and grievous the situation was.
“Pres. Aquino (Noynoy) did not lift a finger against shabu for six years. In our place where I live (Malolos City), I see pushers selling the illegal drug even in the open,” she exclaimed, speaking in Tagalog, with disgust.
The BSU associate professor said shabu was openly sold in the city’s plaza and she could not believe why the police and the drug enforcement agency are not collaring these criminals and put them in jail.
“It was very apparent there was no order from higher ups to pursue drug lords and their minions because there were police authorities whose palms were being greased by drug money.”
She said she is very supportive of Duterte’s war against drugs and that the President should continue until the last of them (drug lords) is either jailed or killed.
She added that as the youths are the hope of the next generation, Pres. Duterte’s principle to protect the young people of this country and “kill the drug lords” is justified.
She also wondered why the religious sector is not supporting the administration’s clean-up drive when it is the protection of human life which is far more the important issue where both they and the government can collaborate on.
So there.
Faultfinders – petty as they are – will continue to pounce on the Chief Executive whatever he does, though.
The CBCP should cease critiquing Duterte because its backyard is not as clean as they portray it to be.
There are so many skeletons in its closet and these, their brethren know but tolerate.
Duterte spoke like the statesman he was expected to be in his SONA.
He threw no diatribes against people whose faces he did not like.
Even if the salivating public wanted to hear his trademark curses and expletives, Digong was unmistakably “very, very presidential” in his decorum.
Change has come? (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) James 3:16: “For when you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
