An everyday President

I was in the hospital for a check up as President Rodrigo Duterte was delivering his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).

There was no queue in my doctor’s office.

“You’re my only patient so far, they’re all watching the SONA,” my doctor quipped.

At the visitors’ waiting room, people were glued to the TV set, laughing whenever the President deviated from his prepared speech.

When I got to the car, my driver was listening to the SONA over the radio. When I got home, my husband was watching after-SONA commentaries.

Crime incidents reportedly dipped as Du30 was delivering his speech, though perhaps not as much as they did whenever Pacquiao was on a Nevada ring.

But the message was clear. The everyman felt he had a stake in Duterte’s SONA, and so he listened to it.

And those who tuned it to hear him speak found reason to stay beyond the first 10 minutes. They were glued to what he had to say because he spoke in a language they understood. He knew when to stop rattling off statistics and programs best reserved for a NEDA board meeting. Let’s face it, a lot of people have ADHD.

He scratched the back of his head when he was in a spot, the way most Pinoys do. “Hindi ko nga alam bakit nandito ako ngayon,” he said at one point. He spoke in the language you hear in coffee shops, barbershops, bars even.

This is not to say his speech was flaky or superficial. His speech was clear.

He was stoic when he spoke about macro-economics, but was fiery whenever the topic had to do with the war on drugs, the plight of the common man who had to endure kilometric lines to get government documents, endure hours on the road because of the traffic, suffer delayed flights, suffer fools in government.

They listened because the man behind the mic was talking about their experience on EDSA yesterday, at the LTO the other day, at the NAIA the other week.

“I do not want to see people lining up under the heat of the sun. I do not want people lining up under the rain,” he declared.

“Everyday problems were being addressed,” said my husband Ed.

Though he deviated from his “script” many times, he ended his speech with some grand rhetoric: “And the Filipino, disciplined, informed, involved, shall rise from the rubbles of sorrow and pain. So that all the mirrors in the world will reflect the face of a passion that has changed this land.”

Former Minister of Information Teddyboy Locsin said Duterte’s SONA, “was a reaffirmation of everything that got him elected.”

Du30, except for some cosmetic changes, was himself. Impatient for action, impatient with fools, intolerant of corrupt officials, irreverent with the elite, livid with drug lords.

“Kapag ayaw naman ninyo, because baka sabihin niyo graft and corruption, eh ‘di okay. But I assure you — wala ito sa script — I assure you, this will be a clean government,” he said during his speech.

“Ito na yung warning ko, ‘yon na ang last, wala nang iba, hindi ko na gagawin: Huwag ninyong sirain yung mga bagay-bagay na ginagawa namin para sa kapakanan ng tao. Mabuti ang magka-intindihan tayo,” he warned.

And then a loaded warning, which he repeated for emphasis: “He who is the cause of the cause is the cause of them all.” (A lawyer, he was paraphrasing a line used in Criminal Law: He who is the cause of the cause is the cause of the evil caused.)

He also went out of his way to greet one of his critics, and someone whom he criticized frequently, and even threatened to kill “with love”: former Justice Secretary and now Sen. Leila de Lima. She looked thrilled.

It looks like the presidency will not change Duterte. Instead, Duterte will change the presidency.

* * *

It is easy to believe Duterte, 71, is disinterested in prolonging his stint in the presidency even if he is interested in Charter Change and amending the system.

“I’m disqualified and by that time I would no longer be here. But, I can commit today to the Republic of the Philippines and its people: If you hurry up the federal system of government and you can submit it to the Filipino people by the fourth, fifth year (of my presidency), proseso ‘yan e. You call for a referendum and after that call for a presidential election, I will go. Sibat na ako.

“And even if there is still two years, three years I will go. Okay na ako. Do not worry about me. I don’t aim to that much ambition. Eh nanalo ka eh. Hindi ko nga alam bakit nandito ako ngayon. Noon nandoon lang ako o. Totoo man. Sino man nagsuporta sa inyo sa akin dito? Wala man. Not a single congressman. Except for two provinces, governor. ‘Yun lang. Wala akong barangay captain. Wala akong…wala lahat. Pero ngayon,” he gave a hint of a smirk. Okay, we can give that to him.

Hopefully, Duterte would not be influenced by those who would benefit by his being in power, or by those who would like to see him stay on in a federal system. They may think he is indispensable, and if after five years true change in the Philippines is reflected around the world, he might be.

Hopefully, Duterte can resist the temptation to stay on, and all other temptations that will derail his juggernaut of change. For now, he shuns a big entourage. For the SONA, he walked into the Plenary Hall with his special assistant, Secretary Bong Go, his security escorts, and his protocol officers only. No other hangers-on. Remember, just walking side by side with the President equals 1,000 pogi points.

Hope he stays the course.

For the sake of the Filipino, not only those who have been waiting for days under the harsh sun and the driving rain for a passport, but waiting for months and years for a better life. That is more difficult than getting a passport, but definitely just as attainable.

After Duterte’s SONA, one of my friends posted in her social media status: “I will not be a crab today. For the sake of the country, I wish him success because his success will be ours.”

(You may e-mail me at [email protected].)