By Estanislao Albanao, Jr.
Notes: These are posts from my Facebook account trying to make light of the grave news stories on President Rodrigo Duterte.
CONDITION FOR THE SIX MONTH EXTENSION
President Duterte has asked for a six month extension on his self-imposed target to rid the country of drugs and criminality. He asked this sometime back after it has become very clear that he cannot meet his self-imposed target by a mile. He had vowed during the campaign that if he could not deliver within six months, we could kill him and if we don’t, he will resign.
Personally, I have nothing against the six month extension because of the magnitude of the problem. However, this time, he should put his vow in writing. If he could not cope again, he will resign or if he does not want to resign and since not all people in this country are killers, he volunteers to kill himself anyway whether it is us or him who commits the act, the result is the same. I am suggesting this condition because sadly, there had been several instances already that he turned his back on things he has uttered that at the end of an extension, he could just ask for another six months and so on.
In reaction to Duterte’s statement that although the National Bureau of Investigation have concluded that the killing of Mayor Rolando Espinosa inside the Baybay City Jail was premeditated, he will not allow the raiding team to go to jail:
NBI MOTTO CHANGE IN THE OFFING?
Will the motto of the NBI which is “Nobility Bravery Integrity” be changed to “No Balls Itis” under the Duterte administration? Let’s wait how things play out.
MALACANANG SHOULD COME UP WITH WAYS TO MAKE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND PRESIDENT DUTERTE INSTANTLY
In the face of the common occurrence when the President’s meaning is hard to understand such as in the case of his declaring the other day that even if the NBI concluded that the killing of Mayor Espinosa was murder, he would not allow Supt. Marcos and company to go to jail, there’s a need for Malacanang to come up with ways for the public to know what the President means when he says this or that instantly to avoid having to wait for 24 hours for Malacanang to issue a clarification. Speculations as to the real meaning of a presidential pronouncement could be prevented that way.
On the Espinosa killing, the Inquirer reported just now:
“The President’s statement that he will not allow the killers of Espinosa go to jail was just a “hyperbole,” Aguirre said yesterday.
“We all know that the President is fond of using hyperbole. I see nothing wrong (with what he said),” the justice secretary said in a press conference.
So it was just a simple hyperbole but because there was no way to tell that from the start, for 24 hours, people were left to their own devices in divining his meaning so much so that there were even quarters who went as far as say his pronouncement was proof that he ordered the murder of Espinosa himself!
I have some ideas on how Malacanang could help the public to instantly know the meaning of the President and thereby spare the nation from confusion and likewise from attempts of the dilawan to exploit the situation:
First, Malacanang should make an expert on Dutertespeak a permanent part of his entourage. His job is to make instant interpretations of the words that come out of the mouth of the President to the media and the public in general during or after the speeches and statements. Something like what they do in the Miss Universe for contestants who could not understand and speak in English and the sign language for the deaf and dumb during certain occasions.
Second, Malacanang could prepare a volume of tips or guides on how to understand the President and then distribute to the public to help them instantly catch the import of what the highest official is saying in his remarks and speeches. The volume should contain the real meaning if the President said this or that just like if he said he will kill people, he was just doing it to emphasize a point or is already frustrated, something like that. Or if he said something vulgar and unacceptable to civilized society, he was just in his jocose mood and means no harm..
If Malacanang decides to come up with the volume, they could leave out the putang ina and other Filipino expletives because in so short a time, the President has all by his lonesome made them so popular here and abroad that by now everybody including the pope and President Obama understand the meaning of the words without anybody having to explain to them.
IS THIS A CASE OF THE “FISH CAUGHT BY ITS MOUTH”?
Malacanang, did the President mean what he said here or was he just engaging in hyperbole or something again? Please come up with an explanation right away because listening to the President’s words, the public might be led to believe what many already believe that the man has bloody hands, has no respect for the rule of law and for human rights despite his claims to the contrary. Imagine executing suspects and by himself too. Just the other day, he said he was not a killer.
Supporters of Duterte, please help the Malacanang spokesmen make sense of this newest remarks of the President. Methinks they need all the help because to admit that one is a murderer is not trivial.
DUE PROCESS
Regarding the issue of adherence to due process, President Duterte only knows and adheres to the Dueterte process.
AGUIRRE NEEDS AN INTERPRETER, TOO.
Somebody in Malacanang or the DOJ should make some sense of the statement of Justice Secretary Aquirre dismissing the statement of Duterte that he personally shot to death drug suspects. First he called it hyperbole then in the next breath, he said that it does not necessarily mean that when you shot a suspect, you have violated the law.
Now there is something bothering me about all these pronouncements of Duterter intending to kill people or having actually killed people. The official justification is that so that it will scare criminals into behaving. But how could that be achieved now if each time he utters those terrifying words an official would come out with a statement that he was just engaging in hyperbole and it was just to put across a message emphatically but that the President is really harmless?
WORD MEANINGS
What’s the difference between hyperbole and hyperbola?
DIGONG
President Duterte does not admit he is the mastermind of the bloodletting that commenced when he assumed as president but his nickname is giving him away. It is a command to dig more graves – DIG ON. Hyperbole lang. Wala sanang magagalit.
SAME BANANAS
The P50M given by Jack Lam to the Bureau of Immigration officials and the reinstatement of Supt. Marvin Marcos have the same purpose – in aid of investigation.**
