A Gall Meter

Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte sharply rebuffed the idea that presidential candidates should disclose their medical condition: “I won’t reveal my medical records. Ano ako, tanga (Am I stupid)?”

Whatever malady Duterte may be suffering from, it is unlikely to be hoof-in-mouth disease.  His comments, however provocative, do not appear to come from slip of tongue or mind; they seem intentionally spoken for effect.

Duterte’s response implied that voters were tanga  to expect him to reveal any infirmity. But he has discovered that such comments do not invite censure; they attract amusement, media coverage, and free advertising. His approach is not likely to change. Behavior that is rewarded tends to be repeated.

Duterte is not alone in scattering sound bites that insult the electorate. With weeks of campaigning to endure, we can expect more outrageous comments directly from candidates or exposed by their critics. I propose a Gall Meter to rate which candidates produce the most galling statements that provoke among the public the sharpest spike in blood pressure or acid reflux pain.

The commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Edsa I gave ample opportunity to score on the Gall Meter. Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. did not disappoint. Responding to P-Noy’s remarks on Edsa I, Bongbong said: “Let the people judge who did something for the people, things that we still enjoy up to now …”

The statement reverts to Bongbong’s repeated claim that the reign of Ferdinand Marcos marked a golden age for the Philippines, which was lately challenged by the Ateneo de Manila faculty. The statement would actually be accurate if, by “people” and “we,” Bongbong meant the Marcos family. The conservative estimate of the wealth plundered by Ferdinand Marcos ran to at least $10 billion, less than half of which has been recovered.

In his memoir, Gen. Jose Almonte narrated how Bongbong, using public phones to guard against wiretaps, gave instructions to the Swiss bank where the plunder had been deposited. At the launch last week of “Never Again,” Raissa Robles’ book on martial law, former senator Rene Saguisag reminded the audience that Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos opened their Swiss bank accounts under the names of William Saunders and Jane Ryan in 1968, when Marcos had not yet completed his first presidential term—proof of proactive planning for plunder.

Raissa Robles also alluded to instructions from Marcos for his wealth to pass on to his children in equal portions. Sen. Alan Cayetano could thus challenge Bongbong to skip any apology to the victims of martial law—just return the money.

Especially when juxtaposed with his recent statement that “wala naman kaming sinasabi na hindi totoo (we have not lied),” an earlier Bongbong comment, retrieved by Robles, merits a perfect Gall Meter 10: “Some of the people who are claiming to be human rights victims have never been victims except [of] their own greed.” Aside from repeating his assertion of zero human rights violations during the Marcos regime, in “blaming the victim,” Bongbong also adds insult to injury.

Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan contributes a quote that arguably deserves an equal score: “When I worked as a soldier and comparing their first six years, Marcos [vs. Cory Aquino] was the better president.” A 1971 Philippine Military Academy graduate, Honasan must be comparing the first six years of martial law, after Marcos had already served as president for eight years, with Cory Aquino’s term from 1986 to 1992. Honasan excluded from his review the latter years of the Marcos regime, which he reportedly recognized as “a time marred by deaths, torture, disappearances, cronyism and the loss of civil liberties.”

This careful distinction projects Honasan’s observation as the clinical, academic judgment of a governance expert—except that Honasan was a player, and not a detached, neutral observer, in the period he analyzes. He was a faithful soldier of Marcos in the early years of martial law and the leader of violent coup attempts against the Cory administration. And he has the gall to critique Cory for being, tsk, tsk, less effective than Marcos?

At one of the rallies leading to Edsa II, I remember a RAM (Reform the Armed Forces Movement) leader admitting that the attempt to overthrow the Cory administration was wrong. For his involvement in the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, in which Honasan was also implicated, Sen. Antonio Trillanes served over seven years in jail. I do not recall Honasan even expressing regret at how his failed but bloody coup attempts derailed the country’s development trajectory.

We cannot prevent politicians and pundits from making brazen statements outrageous in their cynicism. But we can at least record their utterances and judge who has the lowest opinion of, and the highest contempt for, the Filipino voter.

Send in your nominations!

Edilberto C. de Jesus (edcdejesus@gmail.com) is professor emeritus at the Asian Institute of Management. Prof. Rofel Brion’s Tagalog translation of this column and others earlier published, together with other commentaries, are in https://secondthoughts.ph