Safest bet
It is no mystery to me why President Duterte continues to enjoy high popularity ratings despite the immense controversies he has generated for himself both here and abroad. And that is because these controversies, as immense as they are, have not grown bigger than the far larger problems besetting the Philippines that the Filipino people have come to expect Duterte to solve.
To the Filipinos, things have not reached the level where it becomes a choice between putting up with Duterte's unorthodox style for the chance to be finally rid of illegal drugs and corruption, or surrendering to the unease and embarrassment and kick him out, at the expense of dealing with the same problems that will surely come back with a vengeance and become unsolvable, perhaps until forever.
Most Filipinos, I think, are still willing to gamble on Duterte, warts and all. I think to them there is no going back on what Duterte has started. To be sure, there is no way of knowing if the full extent of the illegal drug and corruption problems have already been revealed in the first nine months of Duterte's term. But from what everyone has seen so far, anything short of what Duterte is doing will not work.
It is for this reason why many Filipinos have forced themselves to toughen up on the badmouthing, the cursing and the threats of killing that often lace every speech Duterte makes. Anyway, it has become clear that it is far easier to live with words that jar the wax loose from the ears than living in constant fear for our lives with so many walking dead rampaging in our neighborhoods.
Duterte's words may cut, it is true. And they may shame. But over time, the sheer ridiculousness of their utterance becomes in itself funny, to the point of being anecdotal. Once inured to the foul language of Duterte, those present in its utterance begins to look at the sordidness of it all as an experience that is best enriched with each retelling.
I myself find Duterte more of a funny man than one to be feared or reviled. I love his speeches. I find it hilarious how he himself can trigger his own anger. A true provinciano, he listens to himself speak. As he speaks, he hears himself talking about things that make him angry, and so he becomes even angrier. And that sets off a new round of cursing that works him up almost to a stupor, which he naturally recalls in his next speech, beginning a new cycle of anger all over again.
Outside the foul language, there are other things Duterte says that can nettle a lot of people. One of these was his promise to pardon and even promote the police killers of suspected drug lord and former Albuera mayor Rolando Espinosa while in detention in Baybay if ever they are convicted in court. Am I nettled as well? No. I do not think Duterte will do what he said he would.
I think there is a reason why he said what he said. And I think it is time people gave Duterte a check in the intelligence column. The picture people often see of Duterte is a provinciano who was just an average student and barely scraped through the Bar exam and therefore had no business being president. Actually Duterte is street smart. In this day and age when one has to live by his wits more than by pure intellect, it is the guy with commonsense who is the safest bet.
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