“He has taken back his accusation of ‘bangag’ against the President, disingenuously clarifying ‘drugs’ to mean anything, including antibiotics, ha ha ha”
Last week showed political commentators going ga-ga over FPRRD’s speech in the Cebu City rally followed by a press conference in his hometown Davao.For all intents and purposes, his statements were a complete volte face from his angry speech in his Davao City rally a month back.He now supports the lifting of economic restrictions in the 1987 Constitution, the only condition being a flat “no” to term extension of incumbent officials.He has gone back on his threat of a Mindanao secession, stating he will not support the dismemberment of the Republic.And he has taken back his accusation of “bangag” against the President, disingenuously clarifying “drugs” to mean anything, including antibiotics, ha ha ha. So what about the “confidential” PDEA list he claimed to have been shown?Predictably, political bloggers went to town on the flip-flop.My friend Ronald Llamas, the current “darling” of political commentators on social media, was (or seemed to be) mad, claiming FPRRD was “insulting the intelligence” of the people.The DDS were eerily quiet, befuddled and bewildered after they quickly upped the ante on their attacks against the present order after the Jan. 28 Davao City rally.I was just laughing all along, and in our regular Thursday Group lunch meeting, which coincided on the leap year 29th of February, where we celebrated the birthdays of two members, Isabela Gov. Rodito Albano and businessman Buboy Virata, I chided Llamas about his “frothing” in mock anger over Ian Esguerra’s Facts First.Recall how I described FPRRD’s secession threat in my column last Feb. 8, titled “Divide we fall”, thus: “…in the end, he will quip “istorya ra kana, ‘ni tuo diay kamo?” In Tagalog, “kumagat naman kayo?”Even his former cabinet members, now retained by PFRM Jr., mouthed their own denunciations of their former boss, as well as Mindanao legislators who vehemently disagreed with FPRRD’s threat.So the flip-flop was all in character for the playful, mischievous former president.“Sutil” is the Tagalog description for the former president’s statements, which you need not take too seriously, just as his 2016 vow to take a jet-ski and plant the Philippine flag in the artificial islands put up by China, his and his alone, without any coaching from Vince Dizon or myself.Besides, those who claim that FPRRD’s credibility has been irreparably damaged forget two things: One, that he is not running for any national office in the future anyway to worry about his popularity; and, more importantly, the more ‘intelligent’ masa never took his threats seriously, unlike the ‘political analysts’ who denounced his flip-flopping.Still, there was another flip-flop, more difficult to fathom, this time on the part of Vice President Inday Sara Duterte.There was absolutely nothing wrong about the trite motherhood statement her office released in commemoration of the EDSA ‘people power’ that returned formal democracy debased of real substance that happened 38 years ago.So why the recall of her statements the following day?If it was a case of a statement released without prior clearance, that showed an incompetent staff and internal system, but since the statement was perfectly in order and quite politically harmless, why the flip-flop?In her case though, credibility always matters, because she is the second highest elected official of the land, and a likely contender for the highest position come 2028.Of course, like most events these days, shelf life of newsworthy events is short, given that Filipinos have short memories, except for the ‘political analysts’ who always need to prove their relevance in the life of this benighted nation.Why, even the ‘historic’ state visit of PFRM Jr. to Australia, evidenced by his address to the Australian Parliament, was upended by hideous happenings, no longer strange nor unusual, at the NAIA complex.Discombobulated by bugs and a huge rat. “Surot” at “daga,” in what will continue to be among the world’s worst air gateways until Ramon Ang delivers on his bid to upgrade the same to First World standards.Of course, the speech of our president was eloquently delivered, in King’s English better pronounced than his hosts could muster, though one wonders if the historically-researched speech was ghost-written by the same guys who crafted PM Anthony Albanese’s and opposition leader Peter Dutton’s.Same theme, same motherhood sentences.Somehow though, it made us proud that we have a leader who can speak English so very well.But apart from getting boxed-in with the Western allies who are China’s worst enemies these days, how I wish the visit will increase our exports to the country-continent down under, which now suffers from a massive four-to-one imbalance of trade.Oh well, another week in the life of the benighted land.