Listening to Duterte’s State of the Nation on Youtube

Duterte is a natural. He speaks his mind not to an audience but as he would to friends gathered together drinking beer. This is how his prosecutor friends in Davao convinced him to run for the presidency without money or a political party. It was a simple dissatisfaction like most of the rest of us have with how our country was being run as a presidential unitary system.

I used to be personally present to SONA on the invitation of former Speaker Jose de Venecia. But this year, I listened to President Duterte from YouTube but it was just as well. You get a different perspective listening from a distance.

He had a written speech on hand but very soon he discarded the written speech and spoke on his government in his personal style.

In a nutshell, he said what he was and who he is and that Filipinos would accept him for new directions in government. Indeed he was back to himself as he did when he campaigned. He was roundly criticized by polite society especially Westerners and the elite of Filipino society for cussing but that is part of him and even a formal setting like a SONA would not deter him from being what he is and what he thought would be good for the country – change the system.  

He is a stern leader and said things as they were. This, in itself is a refreshing change and shows how he would govern. After the SONA, he got an 82 percent popularity something unheard of with past presidents. He touched on his political, historical and personal vision for a better future for the Philippines. He talked on almost everything on his table from Marawi, to his war on drugs to drivers’ licenses. Take me for what I am, nothing more, nothing less was the tone of his State of the Nation message.

And unlike other presidents before him who would huddle with other top officials and important guests in a private room after their speech, he went out of the hall to talk to the crowd of protesters to the consternation of the Presidential security guards. It was a nightmare for them. He said, “if anyone has a bomb out there, here I am, go ahead and kill me.”

In the crowd, I caught a glimpse of former Speaker Jose de Venecia seated next to former presidents Fidel V. Ramos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

I remembered I had on my desk a press release from the former speaker on the various geo-political conflict areas in Asia that “he said are capable of “difficult, dangerous but not impossible solutions” and of which “some have already been solved.”

De Venecia is the founding Chairman of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), Co-Chairman of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), and President Duterte’s Special Envoy for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Intercultural Dialogue. Filipinos will remember him for his talent on making compromises and astute dialogue with those who think differently from him.

Among the geopolitical conflicts he mentioned that can be solved  is The Spratlys, claimed by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan in the South China Sea through which more than 50 percent of global shipping pass; and the Paracel isles, claimed by both China and Vietnam over which they have already fought a war and  now occupied by China.

He said “joint exploration and development and conversion of the areas into a Zones of Peace, Friendship and Development are the only viable solution instead of constant tension, conflict and possible explosive war.”

De Venecia, a five-time Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives, said “the most violent threats are still those mounted by the ISIS-ISIL following the extremists’ early territorial victories and launching of a Caliphate in large areas of Iraq and Syria.

Although routed in battle in recent weeks in the conquered territories, ISIS has since deployed deadly terrorist groups in various capitals of Europe and the US, and smaller units have shifted their activities to Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia, and an attack on Marawi City in Muslim Mindanao where it plans to establish a province of the Caliphate.

I am glad De Venecia said the ICAPP fully “supports China’s revival of the ancient overland Silk Road and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road, which have the “potential to change this century, hopefully…a change for the better.”

He described this as a “new circumnavigation in this age of globalization,” following the legendary overland Silk Route by horse and camel caravans, and President Xi Jinping’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Route.

He said another striking recent development was China’s launching of the long-distance railway freight train from China to Europe and back, the extension of the Silk Route across the Red Sea to Africa.

Ever a peacemaker he said “we cannot turn away from the pursuit of peace because the alternative, conflict and war, would be immeasurably costly and make all of us losers.”

Closer to home, in fact in my house it is a jumble papers, books and various household effects that we have kept through the years which I now to throw away. We brought them from London to Manila. We, too are entering a new phase in our lives. I would have written an entire column and called it “downsizing” which is inevitable as we end our lives. It is a wise task to do so.

A unique feature of the house is a narrow staircase similar to those we had in our London townhouse. That had to go, especially for me. In earlier days going up and down the staircase was an excellent form of exercise but it has become a burden for weak knees. At first, the solution was to live in a one-floor condo but after much discussion, the decision was to stay in this house that had sheltered our family since we returned from London and make architectural arrangements for a one bedroom flat on the ground floor in the house using Marta's skills in renovation.The children are all grown up now with their own families and houses.

My second daughter Marta was the architect of “The Courtyard House” which became our home since our return to the Philippines. She worked in London for many such renovations because there are restrictions about what you can do with the exterior of houses. One could only renovate the inside. She has worked with top London-based minimalist architect Claudio Silvestrin. She now lives in Hongkong but off and she visits Manila every now and then. (Here is an advertorial she is open to renovating old houses)