Why Carpio hates Duterte

Former Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio is starting a signature campaign to force President Duterte to retract statements he made about Philippine claims in the South China Sea. Carpio wants Duterte to take back his words because, according to him, they run counter to the Constitution.

Constitutional violations and you are calling for a signature campaign? No wonder Carpio has had to retire without making chief justice despite having served the High Court through three presidencies. The guy does not know which trigger to pull. You give him a gun and he shouts BANG! All three presidents he served under --Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Noynoy Aquino, Rodrigo Duterte-- bypassed him despite him being the most senior.

All the pent-up anger at being consistently ignored are now only starting to manifest themselves. But why the particular focus on Duterte? Because, my dear friends, like Duterte, Carpio is from Davao. Like Duterte, Carpio is a lawyer. But while Carpio placed sixth in the Bar whereas Duterte passed only through the skin of his teeth, it is Duterte who is president, while he never made chief justice. Why, an unknown Lourdes Sereno fared better.

Bitterness can sometimes make people like Carpio, Carpio. They do not really want truth. They just want the noise that comes with the search. They are like the papayas planted at almost every rectory or convento --mute manifestations of an unspoken statement. But there is nothing quiet about Carpio, you know, like water over rocks and stuff. They advertise themselves.

Why would Duterte take back his words? Somebody ought to tell Carpio that Duterte is the president and that presidents do not take back their words. They may say sorry about words over their unintended effects, but saying sorry does not define policy, it only establishes character. Only real men say sorry. The rest laugh and poke fun at those who do. They think it is funny.

Duterte does not report to Carpio. It is not Carpio who determines what comes out of a president's mouth. And if Carpio hates the foreign policy of Duterte, then that is just his tragic and unfortunate fate that he should be born at a time when a Duterte grows up to become president while he just collects signatures after retirement.

Still it is interesting to see how many signatures Carpio can collect. It does not matter if the signatures are honestly derived or not as some are just more honest than others. But if Carpio can collect more signatures than the votes Florin Hilbay got in the 2019 senatorial elections, then a presidential run by Carpio next year might be worth the fun collecting those signatures.

Duterte is not going to take back any words. On the contrary, he will say them over and over again, if for nothing else, then maybe to just spite Carpio, perchance to make him lose sleep. Duterte is not and cannot run again for president. But he can collect signatures. And I think he would be better at it than you-know-who.