Did VP Leni resign or was she fired?
Firing might have been too harsh for a very gentle, prim, and proper lady. It could have been an ungentlemanly act emanating from a man who is well-known to be a lover of women, one who appreciates beauty in the female species, albeit in his own unconventional and somehow unorthodox ways. That's why it was made to appear as a graceful exit, a friendly and amicable "divorce" between two individuals who, after all, were too different from each other to even think of coming together in the first place. In fairness to both of them, each one tried to make the relationship work. But too many circumstances came about that were simply out of their control. Nonetheless, even if you call firing a resignation, the name doesn't matter.
Well, their being together was just a result of unintended events. In the beginning, they came from different directions. They followed different paths. They have different values, different principles, and they never had any common vision. Perhaps the only thing that is congruent between the two is their respective love for the poor, the marginalized (VP Leni calls them "nasa laylayan ng lipunan"), the homeless, jobless, powerless, and hopeless "hoi polloi." Perhaps, the president saw that as common ground with VP Leni, enough for him to offer the HUDCC portfolio to the vice president. It was a political marriage for convenience rather than for love. Thus, it crumbled at the first gush of political wind.
At the start, there was enough reluctance in VP Leni to join a leader whom she hardly knew. But because the housing sector is very close to her heart, and there were tremendous opportunities for her to be of help to the millions of homeless Filipinos, she grabbed that chance against her better judgment. Because to her, it was not about herself, nor about the president. It was about the people who, for too long and in many difficult ways, have struggled and hoped for better days ahead. And yet, for too many times, the masses were always frustrated at the end. And so, VP Leni took a very high risk, earnestly trusting that, despite all that divide them, there was one common goal that bound them together, just one thing that united the two of them.
But both are strong individuals who stand firmly on their respective beliefs. President Duterte fights the drugs syndicate strongly and doing so uncompromisingly, and relentlessly, believing that all ends do justify all means. The vice president disagrees.
VP Leni strongly believes in human rights and condemns summary executions and extra-judicial killings. President Digong wants death penalty put again into our penal laws. VP Leni vehemently opposes it. The president wants the age of criminal liability reduced. Leni opposes it. And the last straw that broke the camel's back, so to say, was the Marcos burial. Duterte approved it. The VP is against it. And she did not keep her peace. She spoke harshly against it. It was naive then to expect President Digong to be happy. That was the "irreconciliable difference." All the rest was trivial.
Telling the vice president not to attend cabinet meetings was the most polite way to fire a gentle lady like Leni. It is like a phone call to a wife abroad asking her not to come home anymore.It is like telling a chauffeur not to touch the car again, or the lawyer to return the folder of the case, or a boyfriend to return an engagement ring. It is the gracious way of saying goodbye.To say that the president accepted her resignation with a heavy heart was the kindest cut of all. But it was a cut nevertheless. There are things that need not be said explicitly, but understood fully. The message was clear albeit not loud. For actions speak louder than words. To close the door and to say that one is not being locked out is just a face-saving double-talk, common among Asians. To the Western folks, however, it is plain hypocrisy.
The problem with diplomacy is that it an art of telling a lie even if is devoid of any earmark of truth. And so, to Andanar, Evasco, and Bong Go, who want to weave a spin out of that break-up, we say: Tell that to the marines. We were not born yesterday.
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