President-elect Rodrigo Duterte said Monday he would no longer give media interviews until the end of his six-year term.
He reportedly wants to avoid making more mistakes after earning the ire of numerous sectors in several press conferences he has called since emerging winner of the elections held last month. This week, too, two human rights advocates from the United Nations called him out for his irresponsible statements that provoked violence.
Mr. Duterte said he would instead use government channels and his designated spokesmen to bring his message to the people.
“No interviews, no criticisms. No interview, no nothing. I’ll just shut up. I don’t want [to give interviews] anymore. I’m really sorry but I’m boycotting the press until the end of my term,” the usually tough-talking president-elect said, sounding just a bit wounded at the criticism he had reaped from his statements on the media and on women.
Last week, Mr. Duterte practically justified the killing of media workers by branding them as corrupt, only to qualify his own words by classifying journalists into three and saying that only the extortionists deserved the punishment that befell them.
He also wolf-whistled at a female reporter and then later on denied that his whistling had a sexual meaning.
He cursed the UN, branded it a hypocrite, and warned everybody against messing with him.
We find Mr. Duterte’s no-interview pronouncement unrealistic. First, his office would, at some point, require him to speak directly to members of the media. Spokesmen could only do so much; no representative will clarify what goes on in Mr. Duterte’s mind, only Mr. Duterte himself will. And this goes for business-as-usual, everyday Palace events. What if there is a crisis of some sort? The people would certainly like to hear from their leader.
Second, not speaking at all is not in his nature. Mr. Duterte seems to bask in the attention of the media, and relishes the fact that they would easily pick up his controversial, clever-sounding statements. We find it difficult to believe that he could endure the next six years hearing other people speak for him. We imagine he would want to interject every now and then to lend his own color to the words.
Of course, we also expect one or another of his supporters to jump in and say that these words were “taken out of context” or that Mr. Duterte was either joking or just being figurative when he said he would not speak to the press again.
But there is a better, albeit not as obvious, way to avoid gaffes and widespread criticism every time one opens one’s mouth. It is talking as a national leader would—prudent and circumspect. It is focusing on substance instead of on sounding funny, clever and tough. It is offering concrete solutions although they may not scream, and refraining from alienating those who could provide constructive criticism.
Mr. Duterte, like his predecessor, won the elections by promising change. He can begin by not resisting the change his sacred office demands of him.