The 1987 Constitution states that the President, Vice President or the Acting President should, before they enter on the execution of their office, take the following oath: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and conscientiously fulfil my duties as President (or Vice President or Acting President) of the Philippines, preserve and defend its Constitution, execute its laws, do justice to every man, and consecrate myself to the service of the nation. So help me God.”
Did Rodrigo and Sara Duterte take this oath of office to heart?
Obviously not.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte now stands accused of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court for the wanton killing without due process of 6,400 suspected drug pushers and users according to official police records.
But local and foreign human rights groups claim the real death toll could go as high as 25,000 to 30,000 over his six-year term from 2016 to 2022.
Vice President Sara Duterte is in a similar position. She was impeached by the majority of members of the House of Representatives last December for culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust.
If the Senate acting as an impeachment court finds her guilty, she may be removed from office and disqualified from holding any public office under the Republic of the Philippines, but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to prosecution, trial and punishment according to law.
But while we leave to the pertinent government institutions what to do with errant officials, we must also stress the importance of decorum and yes, good manners and right conduct on the part of both elected and appointed officials.
It is deeply disturbing that the Duterte family has chosen to use crude expletives and gutter language when criticized for their words and actions.
The least we expect of them is that they conform to society’s expectation for them to adhere to good manners and right conduct at all times.
We expect government officials to choose their words carefully and behave properly as public servants.
We deplore the propensity of the members of the Duterte family, from the former President, the current Vice President, and the current Mayor of Davao City, as well as the patriarch Duterte’s current partner Honeylet Avanceña and daughter Veronica, to demonstrate uncouth and violent behavior as their response to Duterte’s arrest by the ICC for crimes against humanity.
We fear that if this keeps up, then we are likely to see more toxic politics in the months and even years ahead. If statesmanship is a completely alien concept for the Dutertes, somebody ought to tell them that playing the victim when their legal troubles are their solely their own doing can only exacerbate their political isolation.