Joke and Dagger

Title: Fell For It Again

Believe it or not, it is a regular struggle for me to write weekly opinion pieces. In large part, it is
because there are very few things about what is happening in the Philippines today that has not
already been said, either by me or by someone else with far better writing skills.

Maybe this is what Duterte feels like whenever he is asked to deliver another speech?

Except that I imagine he blanks out at the sound of “Sir, magsasalita kayo -”after which some switch
flips on in Duterte’s mind and the following words replay in his head:

- drugs
- I fired somebody
- stop destroying my country
- drugs
- my life, my honor, my presidency
- P@#%*&?ng Simbahan
- drugs
- wala tayong magagawa sa West Philippine Sea
- I love Xi Jinping
- drugs
- my ghad

In no particular order. And unlike me, Duterte apparently has no problem saying the same things over
and over and over.

But every so often, something different registers. For example, recently Duterte claimed that he
smoked marijuana “to wake up.” Ironic, considering the number of times it’s been reported that he is
literally sleeping on the job.

Granted, in an unusual display of honesty he would later on say it was a joke and that people would
be stupid to believe him. Which of course is true, as people would be stupid to believe Duterte, joke
or not. But then so many thoughts come to mind whenever I hear of Duterte muttering something
ghastly incoherent.

Chief among them being, what could Duterte be trying to distract us from this time?

- More shabu being green-laned through Customs?

- Our economy continuing to slow down to the detriment of all Filipinos?
- Some crony bagging another government contract or government franchise?
- Another staunch government critic being arrested or threatened with arrest, based on the flimsiest
of cases?
- More daily killings perpetrated in the name of Duterte’s “war on drugs?”
- More plunderers roaming free courtesy of this regime?

I have a longer list, but sadly I have a word count limit to observe.

Another thought is, just how much longer are we planning to put up with Duterte’s gaslighting?

Gaslighting is, at its core, abusive behavior. And I would be wary of anyone who dismisses it offhand
or says that he or she “is used to it.” What kind of decent, self-respecting person deems gaslighting as
acceptable behavior?

More to point, gaslighting has no place in public discourse, let alone in official speeches and
statements of the country’s Chief Executive. The salary of the President - our hard-earned taxpayer
money - deserves far more dignity and respect than for Duterte to act like a cheap clown. (A really
creepy, really abusive cheap clown.)

Perhaps the saddest thought to cross my mind whenever Duterte’s brain fart lights up the internet is
this:

Just how many more times are we all going to fall for it?