Former heads of state deserve deference in their life after service. They took on one of the toughest jobs one can imagine. The decisions they made during their days in office, the myriad of issues they had to attend to, the crises over which they presided, dilemmas they faced, and the extraordinary demands on their time and even their health – all these are sacrifices they made regardless of their actual performance in office.
Beyond our borders, ex-presidents served as the face of our nation, representing our people to the international community. It is they who dealt with the counterparts from other countries and advanced our interests whether it is in trade or global politics.
Indeed, a former chief executive, after several years of service to the nation, is deemed a statesman and is entitled to certain privileges in their life after Malacañang.
The deference stays even if they are sometimes invited by present leaders to shed light on certain controversies they may find themselves embroiled in – even if that controversy is about a brutal campaign of violence that claimed thousands of lives.
It is thus only right that senators from the Blue Ribbon Committee acted with utmost respect toward former President Rodrigo Duterte when the latter appeared at the Senate on Monday. Mr. Duterte was asked to respond to allegations that he devised a complex financial rewards system for his nationwide war on drugs, patterned after his work in Davao, which targeted criminals including drug personalities.
Out of deference, the senators let him ramble and curse and were extra mindful of his needs – he seemed tired, or he needed water, or was agitated. He fumed and grimaced and pounded on the table. He alternated between being angry at and speaking patronizingly to Senator Risa Hontiveros, and dismissed her call for him to refrain from cursing, saying she was “sensitive.” He wagged his finger at her in a fit. He joked. He reveled in the presence of supporters in the gallery.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel III tried to end the hearing at a certain time so Duterte would not be worn out. In the end, it was the former president who insisted on staying indefinitely to finish the hearing, and kept talking into the microphone even after the session had ended. In the end, allies swarmed him, patting his back. It was a long and difficult day for everybody.
Then again, nobody expected Duterte to act otherwise – the country was used to such behavior during the late-night press conferences during the pandemic. What Duterte was not used to, however, was being grilled and questioned, his previous pronouncements coming back to haunt him. At one point, he fell into the convenient trap of citing old age for his failure to remember.
The former president warned he would get riled enough and skip succeeding hearings. Fair enough. It would be difficult to keep deferring to someone who does not show any deference to a supposedly august institution, or to the legislative process, to the public who deserves to know the truth, and especially to the kin of those who perished in his bloody war.
There is already much to unpack from Monday’s statements, made under oath. Duterte issued a challenge to file cases against him if the evidence were so strong. So take him up on this; haul him to international court that is beyond the reach of politics and of his profanity. That’s the only fitting ending to this saga.
