This darned cursed situation

Almost everybody has by now already spoken about the State of the Nation Address of President Duterte, delivered before Congress last Monday. And the verdict is almost unanimous -too many expletives, too little SONA. I know just exactly how the late Juanito Jabat would have described it had he been around to hear it: A cavalcade of profanities interrupted sometimes by a State of the Nation Address.

And believe it or not, I fully agree. There was far too much cursing than most people I know can bear two hours sitting, unable to do anything. But I am not most people. I actually loved every minute of it. Not because I love the cursing, of course. But I loved it because it put the only people who can ever get invited to SONAs in very great discomfort. How I relished the spectacle of the high and mighty getting spun in the wind roaring from the pulpit.

Nevertheless, I do believe Duterte should rein in on the profanities, if for one reason alone. As president, he mirrors the Filipino nation, and while I myself do curse from time to time, never is it proper, even for presidents, to do it in the course of a public discourse. Given his age, his character, and where he comes from, it may be hard to make him a brand new man. But he can try a little tongue-biting. After all, if you can wag it, you can do pretty much everything else with it.

That said, and all things considered, I think it was a very sincere SONA, with the expletives playing the major part in making it so. For I believe the true state of the nation cannot be faithfully expressed and honestly characterized without curses. There is just so much in the current state of affairs to curse about that anyone entrusted to describe the state of the nation would be lying through his teeth if he limited himself to the ribbons and curls.

Take for example the issue with communists. There is no honest way of assessing the impact of communist terrorism on our lives without having to let fly the expletives. The duplicity and treachery of the communists are simply 'tang 'na! and if Duterte has to be pilloried for saying so, in public or under his breath, then he is far more honest and to the point than most people would give him credit for.

Then there is the drug problem, the Moro problem, the corruption problem, the South China Sea problem, all of which are 'tang 'na! as well because, tough and pesky as they are, and deathly challenging to anyone entrusted to solve them, Duterte seem to get brickbats every step of the way instead of getting encouragement and support from those who eventually stand to benefit if he succeeds.

It is really a thankless job if a president has to carry on his shoulders the criticisms of an ungrateful country on top of the problems he is being asked to spend the remaining fruitful years of his life on. It would have been vastly different if he had been someone like you know who, who not knowing anything, was not expected to solve anything. The entire six years of you know who was a mere pit stop in the country's race to discover who it really is the community of nations.

But those wasted six years are over. All the problems that piled up during that time are stacked in front of Duterte, giving him more than any president can hope to handle in an ordinary term. Still he is dealing with them. And if he curses and spits as he tosses the impossible load on his shoulders, it must be because the darned cursed situation is just too much for one man. And if all we can do is watch instead of help, then maybe the least we can do is bite our tongues.

[email protected].