We now rarely, if at all, listen to President Duterte whenever he appears on TV with either a live or prerecorded message. After all these years, we have heard enough of the malarkey and obscenity coming out of his mouth. Just reading news reports about his utterances the next day is our defense mechanism against more unnecessary stress on top of our long, drawn-out anxieties over the pandemic.
His State of the Nation Address on July 26 was one spectacle we had no problem skipping. We watched Netflix movies instead. We were right. The next day, we got more of his tirades from a news item (“Duterte taunts ICC in last SONA, orders more ‘kills’,” News, 7/27/21): “Those who destroy my country, I will kill you. And those who destroy the young people of our country, I will kill you. I will destroy you because I love my country.”
Para talagang bukambibig na ni Mr. Duterte ang pumatay ng tao! Here’s one talkative lawyer who is making a mockery of “the rule of law.” The public admission is there. Res ipsa loquitur. Shouldn’t the Supreme Court have him disbarred already? And killing Filipinos for love of country? That’s really rich. Why can’t he order his minions to “shoot to kill” Chinese poachers in the West Philippine Sea who are destroying the livelihood of Filipino fishermen and their families, and laughing at his protestations of “love” for his own country? Too much BS!
Scarlet S. Sytangco, sssytangco@gmail.com