Ask if it’s joke time when covering RRD

IT WOULD contribute to world peace if there be universal agreement that whenever President Rodrigo Roa Duterte makes a public statement it is deemed official and irrevocable – if within one hour he does not take it back or dismiss it as a joke.

Waiting beyond 60 minutes for a joke-or-no-joke clarification would be too long for the world to stop spinning, for humanity to hold its breath, or for media to keep their presses and cameras from rolling.

Reporting on off-the-cuff statements of President Duterte has become a most delicate operation. By just listening to him, his fingers stroking his chin, even the sharpest psychiatrist will have a hard time telling if Digong is dead serious or just joking.

The presumption is that the President means it whenever he speaks. It would be impolite to ask that all presidential statements be signed, sealed and notarized. But just to give him time to change his mind, we could wait one hour for a joke-or-no-joke clarification.

Take that time in Davao last Sunday when, aggravated by critical comments of a United Nations rapporteur on the spate of summary killings under his watch, Mr. Duterte threatened to pull out the Philippines from the 71-year-old world body.

The threat reverberated through the world’s capitals, and beyond. We are still checking a report – you know how fast tweeters can tap out 140 characters from nowhere – that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has determined that our Duterte has become the most watched chief of state in the entire universe.

The next day, Monday, his foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay tried doing a fireman’s job telling everybody who cared to listen that the Philippines, one of the proud founding members, was not leaving the UN “despite our numerous frustrations with this international agency.”

Explaining the President’s seeming tantrum, Yasay said the President was tired, disappointed and even hungry that afternoon when he lambasted the meddlesome UN.

• Outside reports on EJK irk Duterte

AS THE NUMBER of victims of so-called ExtraJudicial Killings (EJK) that have marred the Duterte campaign against illegal drug pushers/users soared beyond the blood-stained 1,500 mark, critical comments started popping up with foreign datelines.

Among the high-profile critics was Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur who called on the Philippine government to protect all persons from summary execution.

The irate President said Callamard should have asked guidance from her superior, so UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon could have sent him a letter first, “before saying anything about genocide.” (In fairness, her statement did not mention genocide.)

It was only on the third day, Tuesday, that the President himself told the media that he was just joking when he threatened to pull out the Philippines from the UN and start another global union with some African and other unspecified nations.

(It is typical behavior of some Filipinos to form a breakaway group when disenchanted with their mother organization, but maybe the EJK issue does not apply here.)

“Don’t you know how to joke?” the President replied in Pilipino when asked by reporters about his pullout threat. Still smarting, he added however that the UN “should behave” – presumably meaning that it should not interfere in Philippine affairs.

It is interesting that another UN action -- the favorable (to the Philippines) ruling last July 12 of the Permanent Court of Arbitration established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea – was welcomed by the Duterte administration although it avoided flaunting it in talks with China.

• Bato copies ‘I was joking’ defense

THE PROPENSITY to joke about the most serious issues must be contagious. Even a healthy specimen of a tough cop like Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, national police chief, has been bitten by the Duterte strain of the virus.

When Sen. Leila de Lima, presiding over the joint Senate inquiry on human rights and public order, took out her notes last Tuesday to confront Bato with what could be criminal intent in ordering his men to kill drug suspects who resist, he quickly pleaded “I was just joking, ma’am.”

Now there should be something in the rules that says precisely how and when a cornered offender may invoke the “I was just joking” defense.

Reading from her notes, De Lima quoted Bato as having ordered his men running after narco suspects: “Kung lalaban, patayin! Kung hindi lumaban, palabanin.” (If he resists, kill him! If not resisting, make him resist.)

That scenario in the Senate inadvertently disclosed that De Lima and her sleuths must have been gathering incriminating evidence against Bato (and probably against Duterte himself) along the line that the best defense is offense.

For several days now, President Duterte has been firing warning shots that he has evidence that De Lima, as justice secretary in the previous Aquino administration, was involved in enabling drug lords serving time in the Bilibid penitentiary to continue their drug trade from inside.

De Lima sounded like angling for kinder treatment by profusely telling Bato that she supports their anti-narcotics drive and that the police have been doing a great job under his firm leadership. Of course Bato, and his boss in the Palace, can see through that.

The senadora, and her trusted driver, can expect to travel through rough (“matuwid pero mabato”) roads. It is high time she did, some victims and witnesses of yellow justice can be heard saying in media and elsewhere.

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