Kuya Rody

Instead of enjoying a TGIF night last week, Lonely Rody was at work as usual, addressing entrepreneurs in his home city of Davao with a speech that was noteworthy for the absence of profanities.

With the unveiling at the event of “Kuya Rody,” it looks like the administration is at work to remake the image of President Duterte.

So does this really mean no more Mr. Bad Guy? Or will Dirty Rody always simmer beneath the surface of a kinder, gentler Kuya Rody?

Just as intriguing is what triggered the attempt at presidential reinvention. Maybe certain expats and Filipino Duterte supporters are finally getting through and successfully relaying concerns that the foul mouth and combative statements, often uncalled for, are creating an image of unpredictability and instability – always bad news for business, tourism and matters related to gut issues of jobs and livelihood.

Selling “Kuya Rody” to Pinoys will take some work, after the nation saw the inaugural promise of a presidential “metamorphosis” go straight to the wastebasket. Following a consistent presidential pattern of attack today, flip-flop or clarify or apologize tomorrow, people are less readily inclined to believe Duterte’s actions and public pronouncements.

Why, even his foreign secretary has been forced to issue tentative foreign policy statements while waiting to see if the boss “means what he says.”

This is a disastrous way of pursuing foreign policy. How hard is it for the President and his foreign affairs chief to sit down and discuss clear-cut policy directions? They are childhood friends and speak the same dialect so nothing can be lost in translation.

For sure, many people can use some respite from the presidential foul mouth. I know mothers who these days make sure their young children do not watch TV news, lest the kids start using profanities. But after 100 days of the Duterte administration, people have come to expect that within a week or two of struggling at politeness, the President may suffer a relapse and go back to being Rude Rody, with his trademark flourish: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a s**t.”

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Foreigners are confounded that Filipinos find a cussing president funny, but then we do have a different sense of humor. We notice this only when we go overseas and are immersed in different cultures. These societies may never understand the jokes of President Duterte, which certain segments of the Pinoy population genuinely find hilarious and even endearing.

Many people who have personally met Duterte are surprised to find him polite and naturally charming. He uses jokes to break the ice and establish rapport, and he doesn’t seem to know (and surely doesn’t give a s**t) if the joking is politically incorrect or culturally insensitive.

Not giving a s**t, if you ask some of his staunch critics, is now driving away investors and has contributed to the weakening of the peso. Actions of the US Federal Reserve and other external factors played the bigger role, but volatility in the Philippines certainly isn’t helping either. As analysts have pointed out, the volatility is “chipping away” at the economic gains of the previous years.

Duterte himself has acknowledged the macroeconomic gains achieved during the Aquino administration. The new government is supposed to build on those gains instead of eroding them.

At the start of his term, there were also unusually high hopes that economic growth would finally be inclusive under a president who did not owe his victory to the traditional moneyed and influential power brokers in this country. Duterte, as he has often reminded the nation, also won without the support of the majority of congressmen and local government officials (except Imee Marcos of Ilocos Norte).

With few political debts to repay, Duterte has not hesitated to go after politicians, from entrenched provincial and city kingpins to barangay chairmen, in his vicious war on drugs.

He has also taken swipes at the “oligarchs” – promising to level the playing field for business and make economic growth trickle down. If this promise is delivered, it will be a most welcome development.

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Leveling the playing field, however, will entail further trade liberalization, and creating an environment that is welcoming to all investors – including those from the big players, most of whom happen to be in the US and Western Europe.

Kuya Rody may be fighting mainly with foreign governments, but his fighting words are scaring away other segments in the affected areas. American and European chambers have said several business plans are on hold, including those in business process outsourcing, and investors’ scheduled visits to the Philippines have been scrapped or indefinitely deferred because of uncertainty in the Duterte administration. The BPO sector has become one of the largest providers of decent jobs in this country, and we should be working for its expansion, not flight from the Philippines.

Some investors have also reportedly decided to put their money elsewhere in this highly competitive region. We are hard-pressed enough to attract investors, what with our poor infrastructure, high power costs, mountains of red tape and low regional ranking in ease of doing business.

Even the Chinese are deterred. In the previous administration, a business delegation arrived in Manila to sell solar power for various uses, but left because they found the energy regulatory regime too confusing. As far as I know, the same regime is still in place.

Though the thaw in official relations is good news, we can’t confine ourselves to just being friends with China (and Russia). As the equally foul-mouthed Philippine permanent representative-designate to the UN Teddyboy Locsin observed: What’s worse than being a lackey of the United States? Being a lackey of China!

The Chinese, ever practical, are themselves among the biggest trading partners of the Americans and Europeans. When these partners suffer from economic and financial woes, China feels the pain.

The planet has truly become a global village. North Korea and a few other states have suffered the consequences of failing to behave as responsible global players.

We can demand respect – though it is always better when earned and freely given – and we can and must pursue an independent foreign policy, but without being offensive and losing friends.

But it’s been only 100 days. We’re still waiting to be pleasantly surprised by President Duterte. Perhaps Kuya Rody, the nurturing national leader, will be here to stay.