The president as the master of ad lib and spontaneity

President Rody Duterte is a different kind of head of state. He is one of a kind, a “sui generis” in the language of lawyers. He speaks extemporaneously and off the cuff. He does not follow any script and refuses to be controlled by his speechwriters. President Duterte speaks his mind and he does not give a damn if he breaks protocol or steps on the toes of bishops, human rights advocates, or even heads of states. He does not mince words in attacking the US or the UN. He does not care if he loses his life, his honor, or even the presidency. Those are exactly his own words. He lambasts the church, attacks the bishops, and priests, he ridicules Joma Sison in the same manner that he insults the rightists and the leftists alike. He calls a spade a spade and often interjects his speeches with expletives and curses. No other president has done that, except Manuel L. Quezon in a limited way.

In our lifetime, we have not seen any other Philippine president who does not really read the speeches written by many expert writers. I was six years old, when President Ramon F. Magsaysay died. He was the guest commencement speaker in UV, USC, and SWU, after which he flew back after sunset from Cebu's old Lahug airport (in the place where the Waterfront Hotel and the many call center office buildings are presently located). His plane, the Mount Pinatubo, crashed in Mount Manunggal, a mountain forest in the hinterlands of Balamban. He died with all the Cabinet members and some congressmen. Only one man survived, writer Nestor Mata. Magsaysay was a mechanic who married the daughter of his rich employer. He always followed the script and read his speeches verbatim.

President Carlos P. Garcia, the poet from Talibon, Bohol, who replaced Magsaysay, generally followed all the scripts and read his speeches but interspersed them with poetic phrases apropos to the occasion. President Diosdado P. Macapagal, the poor boy from Lubao, Pampanga, who rose to become a Bar topnotcher, congressman, vice president, and then president, also followed all scripts and read his speeches. But Congressman Dadong could cite provisions of law, especially international law. Ferdinand E. Marcos, also a Bar topnotcher, from Batac, Ilocos Norte, could deliver speeches extemporaneously. He could recite legal provisions exactly as they were written. He was even given a standing ovation by the US senators and congressmen in a joint session. But he never cursed or said any expletive in public.

President Cory C. Aquino, the well-bred colegiala and prim and proper housewife from Hacienda Luisita, always read word for word the beautiful speeches written for her by Teddy Boy Locsin, now Secretary of Foreign Affairs. President Fidel V. Ramos, the military officer, West Point graduate, and American boy, was trained to follow protocol, never deviated from the written speeches. President Joseph “Erap” Estrada always started his speeches with jokes, mostly lascivious, green, and obscene ones, but not as brutally obscene as the words of President Digong. Erap made people laugh as he tried to joke about himself and about his enemies and friends. Somehow there are many streaks of similarities between presidents Rody and Erap. But President Duterte is a lawyer with a lawyer's oath to act with dignity, to be dignified with all those legalese niceties. GMA spoke like a bored professor, and PNoy tried to embellish his ineptitude with Balagtas-sounding Tagalog, written by his speechwriters.

President Digong is unlike all of them. He talks like a probinsyano town mayor who speaks freely without inhibition. He is a master storyteller and an “ad lib” artist. Some of his listeners are scandalized, bewildered, vexed, and become uncomfortable. Many are disturbed, but most of them are amused and somehow pleased that, finally, here is a president who blurts out what each of them has always wanted to say but never had any chance to do so. We may never have another president of such kind and caliber, “sui generis” indeed.