Batas Mauricio
WHEN I was younger and the only way to travel to Manila from my hometown was by bus, I often read, from the back of the seats of the buses I rode, the words “less talk, more precaution.”
I had asked my father, the late Melanio P. Mauricio Sr., what those words meant, and he patiently explained them to me then. Now, I am wondering if President Duterte never had a chance to read the same admonition in the buses of Davao City, and to ask his own father what they meant when he was also younger.
Otherwise, if he did, I am sure he would have realized the importance of the words “less talk, more precaution”--which meant, of course, that if one talked less, he would have lesser mistakes. This would have enabled him to avoid the many embarrassment he is suffering from right now, from the clearly inappropriate words he had been uttering on very important local and international issues.
Indeed, many of the President’s words appeared inappropriate. Take the case of his statement that US soldiers had to move out of Mindanao because they are “high value targets of terrorists.” No sooner had the ink dried on the news reports about what Duterte said when his own defense secretary, Delfin Lorenzana, refuted him, in the presence yet of lawmakers from the House of Representatives.
Defending the 2017 P178.2 billion budget of the Department of National Defense on Wednesday, Lorenzana said the fears of Duterte about US servicemen being subjected to reprisals from Muslims--on account of supposed atrocities of US troops in the 1900s yet--is not in the realm of probabilities.
Lorenzana pointed out that US forces in Mindanao are fully equipped to protect themselves from bandit groups. The secretary did not say it but the clear import of his statements was that, there was no basis for Duterte’s claims. The question of course is, where did Duterte base his fears about US soldiers being targets of terrorists if his own defense chief is saying there are no such threats? From his dreams?
Indeed, it might be wise for the President to go easy on his pronouncements and on his outbursts from now on. It is better to be circumspect at all times because words, after they are uttered, can no longer be taken back nor retracted. What is worse is that the fate of Jephthah may yet befall him if he continues to be reckless with his words.
Who is Jephthah? He was a warrior, the illegitimate son of an old Israelite who was thrown out by the legitimate children of his father. When Israel was being attacked, the elders sought Jephthah and made him the commander of their army. Before he faced the attackers, he publicly vowed that, if God would allow him to defeat the enemies, he would burn anything--or anyone--who will come out of his house while he was returning from battle.
Jephthah won the battle for his country. Yet, he lost just the same because, as he was returning, his only daughter--an only child of his, in fact--was the one who got out first from his house. He wailed and cried, for he loved his daughter very much. The daughter however understood his vow, and agreed to be burned by him. Indeed, “less talk, more precaution.”
E-mail:batasmauricio@yahoo.com
