In An Age Of Disquiet, The Freedom To Hate Duterte

MANILA: Suddenly, in the Philippines we are in An Age of Disquiet. This President brought us exactly that, in less than 2 months from his inauguration.

No, you don't need inspiration to hate Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the new President of the Philippines. I don't. All the time, he seems to dare you to hate him. About this once Mayor of Davao City, I have already written, "I don't hate Duterte. I hate his guts, his bad ass, his loudmouth" (see my essay, "My Dictionary Defining Duterte & Change Agriculture," 28 July 2016, Primate Change, blogspot.com); see also my "Defying Media Defining Duterte," 30 June 2016, Primate Change, blogspot.co.id). Obviously, Duterte is not finished with us; I am not finished with him. I have freedom to choose which freedom to choose.

Duterte & Our Freedom To Hate

In plain and simple language, this Philippine President is trying to redefine the Filipino in his own image and likeness. Yes. He has the power; 14 million plus voters gave him that power. I did not; I voted for Mar Roxas. But I wouldn't run away from this country even if I could. I love my country more than Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the 16th President of the republic made up of thousands of tropical islands, each one to love, more than Duterte ever did.

But Duterte is a pain in the ass, and that's putting it mildly. What do we do? We can't just sit there and wait. In the meantime, the big mouth is busy. Witness these:

Big gabble: "Duterte tells De Lima: I have witnesses against you" (Charlie Señase, 18 August 2016, Inquirer Mindanao, newsinfo.inquirer.net). Among other things this man said in public against this woman, Senator Leila De Lima, is that her driver was her lover, who was also her collector of drug protection money, she being a drug lord.

Big guts: "Duterte slams 'stupid' UN criticism of his war on drugs" (Reuters, "21 hours ago," Aljazeera, aljazeera.com). "Philippine President says many of the Filipino drug addicts are 'no longer viable as human beings.'" UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime "had earlier condemned Duterte's 'apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killings' in his fight against illegal drugs and crime."

Big gory: "Duterte: Pinabalik (ka) 5 beses? Barilin mo" – ANN (author not named, 18 August 2016, ABS-CBN News, news.abs-cbn.com). If you were made to return 5 times? Shoot. This is about the proper behavior when you are in a long line in the Land Transportation Office or are experiencing delays that Filipinos face when dealing with government offices. "Ako bahala. Totoo." I'll take care of that. Truly, the President said.

Big gas: "Philippines President Duterte accuses judges of drugs links" (07 August 2016, BBC, bbc.com). "Philippines President ... has accused dozens of current or former politicians, officials and judges of links with illegal drugs and told them to surrender to be investigated."

Big guns: "War against crime in the Philippines: A harvest of lead" (ANN, 13 August 2016, The Economist, economist.com). "Rodrigo Duterte is living up to his promise to fight crime by shooting first and asking questions later."

Big deal! "Duterte draws China into his 'shoot-to-kill' drug war with one simple question" (ANN, 18 July 2016, South China Morning Post, scmp.com). "The Philippines' crime-fighting President says he plans to ask Chinese officials why some Chinese citizens who visit his country are allegedly involved in illegal drugs."

Didn't I tell you? Hate is easy when you're talking of Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

The image I show above, which I took yesterday, Thursday, 18 August 2016 from my second monitor, a ViewSonic, because I like the split screen, just happens to capture a foreboding, as I see it now; not 2 months old, this President can explode anytime if we don't take care, if he does not.

I want us to take care, even if he does not.

When it comes to Rodrigo Roa Duterte, instead of hate, we do have the freedom to choose.

Duterte & Our Freedom To Love

Hate the sin, not the sinner.

Yesterday, Thursday, 18 August 2016, I was reading the editorial "WIRED Endorses Optimism" by Editor in Chief Scott Dadich in that day's page, where he endorsed Hillary Clinton, saying (wired.com):

In the other future, the one WIRED is rooting for, new rounds of innovation allow people to do more with less work – in a way that translates into abundance, broadly enjoyed. Governments and markets and entrepreneurs create the conditions that allow us to take effective collective action against climate change.

The war on drugs is a puny war; the wars on abundance and climate change armed with innovation are gargantuan. For all his boasting, is Rodrigo Roa Duterte afraid of being a giant killer?

So I was inspired to write this essay that I have been brainstorming about since at least 30 June 2016 when I published "Defying Media Defining Duterte" (Primate Change, blogspot.co.id). Barely 2 months old, Visayan Rodrigo Duterte is the most disconcerting President we have ever had, a far cry from Ilocano Ferdinand Edralin Marcos in all his 2 decades of dictatorial rule; if the Americans elect Donald Trump, they will have their own distressing President.

Ah! Love is impossible when you're talking or thinking of Rodrigo Roa Duterte. And that's exactly the reason why you have to love Rodrigo Roa Duterte:

Stop hating!

If you are truly Christian, you must know what I mean. You must know what St Matthew says about all this (Matthew 22:34-40, New Revised Standard Version):

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”