They should get used to us

Herbie Gomez /

IT’S wrong to say that the Filipino people should get used to President Duterte. We have been hearing cabinet members, senators, congressmen, Duterte apologists and propagandists say that every now and then.

Lately, in one of his news conferences, presidential spokesman Harry Roque told reporters: “I think people should get used to the President by now, and they must be used to the President after almost a year and a half.” He said this after he was asked if it was really necessary for the President to cuss the European Union out everytime its members express their alarm over the way his government has been carrying out the so-called war on drugs.

Of course, Filipinos are getting used to Duterte’s foul mouth. In fact, I and many others have gotten used to his tantrums and babblings that, most often, we just ignore him and let it pass. Roque however should drop the “should” and “must” because if we have gotten used to Duterte, we did it on our own terms and not because we were commanded to do so by anyone.

Whenever Roque and Co. say, “Masanay na kayo sa Presidente,” they actually acknowledge the serious flaw in Duterte’s character, and that there is nothing anyone can do about the President’s mouth that opens and closes a hundred times at the speed of light before his brain could even start working. I think everyone knows that by now.

What is wrong with “Masanay na kayo sa Presidente” is that it presupposes that Duterte is a monarch and that we, the citizens, are all his subjects who have no choice but to get used and put up with him, not to mention that it is a command.

That is not right.

It should be the other way around. It is the President and people like Roque who should get used and adjust to the Filipino people because they are the public servants, and not us. The Filipino people have been denouncing bad governance, ranting and making their government answer for its actions and inaction long before this administration came into being. What makes the Duterte government think that it deserves special treatment? And why should it be exempted?

And who do you think you are, Harry Roque, that you seem to have convinced yourself that you are in the position to tell EU members that they, too, should get used to your overlord?

Like terrorism and environmental destruction, human rights issues know no boundary or sovereignty or citizenship or skin color. It is about humanity. And so, it is not misplaced for other states or world leaders to express alarm over what looks like the slaughter of the citizens of another country by their own government. As members of the human race, they have a moral right and obligation to sound alarm bells and confront the Duterte administration about it.

History is replete with stories of genocide and other crimes against humanity that happened because many opted to remain as bystanders and look the other way.

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There is nothing we can do anymore about Kian delos Santos and the thousands who were sacrificed in altar of Duterte’s war on the drug trade apparatus (only), including impoverished peddlers with dirty fingernails (but not the producers, suppliers, the conniving Customs officials, the notorious Davao group, etc.). Thousands didn’t get a chance to have their day in court, and we just swallowed the narrative that those who got killed were all into drugs because the government said so. We just bought the story. No questions asked.

But if it’s any consolation, I see a flicker of light at the end of the dark tunnel. In the past few weeks, from where I am sitting, I have been seeing arrests being made and less vigilante-style killings in the continuing “war on drugs.” I see it as a welcome development — that the government is changing its approach, finally. I hope I am not mistaken.

Duterte’s allergic reaction to the mere mention of the words “human rights” could be indicative of a man who is conscience-smitten. When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked him about the human rights situation in the country, Duterte said he took that as a “personal” and “official” insult. Some people just don’t want others to position the mirror in front of them. Reminding them over and over again about what they did drives them crazy. That could be a good sign because it could mean that he still has a soft spot in him or that Fentanyl has not yet completely numbed his conscience. There are times when shame or guilt or a guilty conscience is a good sign. In this case, it could prevent more Filipinos from being added to the already long list of EJK victims.

The sovereignty defense just doesn’t figure. It is clearly a copout. It is a defense mechanism. Come to think of it, nothing can really justify the slaughter of the thousands of mostly poor Filipinos, none of whom were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a competent court of law. Pastilan.