Peace-Making Rules Of Engagement. Man Of The Hour? Mag Of The Hour

MANILA: Man of the Hour is President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. He has, more or less, declared a War on Drugs and on all his critics, including foreign diplomats, dignitaries and heads. Is he a Master of The New Art of War?

Mag of the Hour is my Danggay, my new magazine. I must be a Master of the New Art of War with Words. The word danggay is Ilocano that means complement (verb & noun) and complementary (adjective). An act that complements another act. Since my mag is dedicated to complementing the Duterte administration in matters of science for development, and since I am the Editor in Chief, I'm inventing a new word and a new public-relations phrase: Complements of the Chief.

Now then, what do you make of the latest chaotic developments in the country under Duterte?

(1) That Duterte has declared a State of Lawlessness all over the Philippines.

To consider that more cerebrally, I am going to use what I have called Frank A Hilario's Modern Practical Pathway In Search Of Truth (in my previous essay in this same blog, "Dilemma And I, In Search Of Beauty," In Search Of Beauty, blogspot.co.id); but I'm modifying it here and shall refer to the package from now on as Frank's Peace-Making Rules of Engagement:

Rule 1: Love it. At the very least, don't hate.
Rule 2: Science it. Make sense of it.
Rule 3: Truth it. Find it to be Factual, Fair, Constructive, Beneficial, and Free or Accessible to all.

In search of beauty, since they are parts of a holistic system, you have to follow all the rules.

On Saturday, 03 September, Duterte declared a State of Lawless Violence or Lawlessness; "It was a nationwide declaration," according to ANN (author not named, 03 September 2016, rappler.com). As according to the report, according to a Duterte spokesman, as Commander in Chief, the Philippine President has 3 powers granted by the Constitution. 1st power ("mildest"): To declare a state of emergency; 2nd power ("stronger"): To suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus; 3rd power ("strongest"): To declare Martial Law. Noted, not alarmed. To be alarmed is to fear that the worst is coming; why should you be alarmed if you are on the side of making peace, not war?

(2) That Leila De Lima has been ousted as Chair of the Senate Committee on Justice & Human Rights and in fact the whole old committee has been dismembered.

Rule 1: Love it. At the very least, don't hate.
Rule 2: Science it. Make sense of it.
Rule 3: Truth it. Find it to be Factual, Fair, Constructive, Beneficial, and Free or Accessible to all.

As I wrote about it in my essay cited above, I admired Senator Leila De Lima for being a level-headed Chair of that Senate committee. But she was not following my first higher rule of engagement: "Love it. At the very least, don't hate." She called on a witness, Edgar Matobato, who declared that Duterte himself had ordered some people killed. To put it mildly, that was fighting tooth and nail. To "fight tooth and nail" is to "engage in vigorous combat or make a strenuous effort, using all one's resources" (American Heritage Dictionary). In a fight, someone loses – she did. Sorry. She was warned: "Don't fight me, you will lose." For being bullheaded, she became her own worst enemy. You become your own worst enemy when you hate.

(3) That Dick Gordon, the new Senate Chair of Justice & Human Rights, wants the President to be given the power to suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus.

Tarra Quismundo reports that Senator Gordon has said that the President "should be granted the authority to suspend the writ of habeas corpus" (08 September 2016, Inquirer, newsinfo.inquirer.net). Gordon said, "Instead of pretending that we really want to get rid of drugs, let's go straight, let's give him the chance, but with Congress in control of the situation." He thinks that is a beautiful arrangement.

At best, that is funny. Under Presidential power and Congressional Power, there is a conflict situation. If the President already has the power to suspend the writ, it is merely bravado and entirely gratuitous for Gordon to say Congress should willingly give Duterte that power. Gordon is not a master of the Art of War.

(4) That the Philippines has 1.8 million current drug users and 4.8 million Filipinos 10-69 years old have used illegal drugs at least once in their lives (Jodesz Gavilan, 19 September 2016, rappler.com). And that Maria Moynihan, daughter of a British peer, has been killed, another victim in the drug war (Oliver Holmes, 19 September 2016, theguardian.com).

Rule 1: Love it. At the very least, don't hate.
Rule 2: Science it. Make sense of it.
Rule 3: Truth it. Find it to be Factual, Fair, Constructive, Beneficial, and Free or Accessible to all.

I don't have the statistics but I have had a nephew killed in my hometown of Asingan because of illegal drugs, a year or two before Duterte came into the scene. Maria Moynihan has been linked to illegal drugs. Even in sleepy Asingan, the signs along the road tell me our municipality is drug-infested. There really must be a War on Drugs. Every man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind, as John Donne says, but we can only do so much. At the very least, we should not add to the provocation.

(5) That Duterte is looking into reviving the Philippine Constabulary to help fight terrorism (Frinston Lim, 20 September 2016, newsinfo.inquirer.net).

Love it. At the very least, don't hate.
Science it. Make sense of it.
Truth it. Find it to be Factual, Fair, Constructive, Beneficial, and Free or Accessible to all.

There is no love lost between Duterte and his American critics, including US President Barack Obama. So I find it funny too that Duterte is considering reviving the PC, which is a creation of the Second Philippine Commission, which is a creation of the American government in the Philippines on 08 August 1901 (Philippine Constabulary, Wikipedia). And yes, the PC had been merged with the Integrated National Police. The PC has disappeared in fact but not in sense.

I go on in search of beauty, I must make peace in war. I am going to make peace now with Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of the Philippines. I will leave him to his War on Drugs – it can be done. And I will leave him to his improbable Word War on Foreign Diplomats and Heads – I don't know if it can be undone.

Given all that, and more, like I said, I have decided and I am now introducing a new Manila-based national magazine I call Danggay, with me as Owner, Editor & Publisher. I was proposing the same idea to 3 separate groups to be the Publisher, and then another, and then I changed my mind. Because suddenly I remembered: As writer, editor and layout artist all rolled into one, I can manage it, but you cannot manage me! I have always been a one-man band myself.

I am "the world's most highly original, creative writer online" – a claim that remains unchallenged in the last 5 years or so. Is Duterte the world's most highly original President?

I can write the whole issue of 50 pages of my mag if I have to; and I will be the desktop publisher myself, having done desktop publishing on at least 10 books. If you leave me alone, you save yourself management trouble.

The slogan of Danggay is: "In search of beauty." That's why I began this essay in this blog in search of beauty. We should always be in search of beauty. In war and peace. Especially in war.

23 September 2016. Essay word count, excluding this line: 1316