Duterte and the principle of ‘wabi-sabi’

The Japanese notion of “wabi-sabi” may be interpreted as the imperfect quality of any object, due to inevitable limitations in design and construction/manufacture.

This is the reality of the Duterte administration. The structural design that was imperfect, weak, and hideously wrong is now slowly unfolding before our eyes. The Pharmally scandal has shown this quite poignantly.

Those who voted for Rodrigo Duterte as president with high hopes are now realizing that the tough-talking leader who once called our God stupid is, well, one too. Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect — that is “wabi-sabi.”

In the end, we saw this administration’s imperfections. Thankfully it will not last, and the International Criminal Court will surely catch up with it. If not, Divine Justice will.

ALDO MARCO
aldomarco2021@gmail.com