The reason Duterte won the presidency by a landslide

With around 10,500 shares as of this writing, Annalee Lauder’s letter (“Missing in action: ‘delicadeza’ among Philippines’ traditional politicians,” Opinion, 5/25/16) must have struck a familiar chord among thousands of Inquirer readers. Its pithy narrative was about a sitting Supreme Court justice who had brazened it out to build his own “political dynasty” in spite of the fact that the Constitution unmistakably frowns upon such insidious political culture that has spawned too much corruption in public office.

And the worst part is, the Supreme Court miserably failed to rise above its “old-boys club” mentality and chose to look the other way even when “one of its own” was making a mockery of the fundamental law of the land. Some quarters cannot help thinking that perhaps there is just so much “wheeling and dealing” going on even in those “hallowed halls” of justice! “Back-scratching” among the justices could be the name of the game there, never mind what is morally right or wrong.

Indeed, instead of being the epitome of moral uprightness—a model “above suspicion” and “beyond reproach”—there, this justice seemed to have flaunted his influence and ensured that his wife and children got their own piece of the action in that notorious arena where corruption thrives like nobody cares! Kudos to Lauder for bringing this matter to the fore! It’s really amazing how the legal community, foremost of which being the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, prefers to have this travesty of justice swept under the rug.

This is no doubt the reason Davao City Mayor Rodrigo  Duterte—with his tough talk (telling it like it is, complete with “pi’s” and “bs”) and, more importantly, his election promise to have crooks and scalawags in public service eviscerated though the heavens fall—won the presidency by a landslide even in Metro Manila!

Too much “political correctness” on the part of previous chief executives —always careful not to offend the “honorable” scoundrels in the other coequal branches of government—has led this country nowhere.  Yes, indeed, it’s time for CHANGE—from top to bottom!

—CARMELA N. NOBLEJAS, [email protected]