Team Philippines

If the so-called “yellows” still held sway over the nation, Rodrigo Duterte the reluctant candidate and happy killer would not have won the presidency, and by a landslide.

And while the Liberal Party’s candidate took the vice presidency, the fact that the only son and namesake of dictator Ferdinand Marcos came within a hair’s breadth of winning the post speaks volumes about the sea change that has come to the nation, three decades after the 1986 people power revolt.

Duterte’s stunning victory was seen partly as a manifestation of disappointment and fatigue with the daang matuwid rhetoric of the previous administration. His supporters aren’t exaggerating when they say that his victory was also a revolt of those who felt excluded by the yellows, those locked out by daang sarado, and they’re referring not only to the roads that were closed, literally, during the 2015 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila.

So of course it was not surprising that the size of the crowd in Rizal Park last Saturday for a pro-Duterte show of force was much larger than the combined numbers of those who participated in rallies commemorating the 1986 revolt.

A landslide election win, however, should make it easier for the victors to be magnanimous and proffer a hand of conciliation. Or at least accept opposing views and criticism with grace.

Rodrigo Duterte is no longer a city mayor but the president of a republic. He is representing every Filipino, and not just his diehard supporters.

It’s the winner who must reach out to everyone, if he truly wants national unity, as the President said in his message for the EDSA anniversary.

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Fidel Ramos adopted the best theme for a president of this fractious nation: we’re a team, and there’s strength in unity. FVR’s idea of Team Philippines negates the crab mentality that I’d like to believe is not an inherent Pinoy trait.

There was a group that constituted an actual Team Philippines, which joined FVR in his numerous travels overseas during which he pitched the country as an attractive destination particularly for investment and tourism. Some of the team’s members were hounded by controversy. Still, the concept of a nation behaving as a team is one that deserves nurturing.

This team spirit runs strong in Asia’s tigers. You feel it in Japan and South Korea, in Taiwan and Singapore. It also runs strong in several of our other Southeast Asian neighbors notably Thailand and Vietnam, and in the Muslim-majority states of Indonesia and Malaysia. And of course the Chinese have it along with a strong national identity.

FVR, the only person I can think of who has been publicly acknowledged by Du30 as someone whose counsel he seriously considers if not heeds, might want to discuss the concept of teamwork with the President.

In giving counsel, FVR may take some cues from Du30’s reactions to critical or dissenting voices. This President is not fond of criticism or unsolicited advice (who is?), especially when delivered in public. If Du30 wants someone’s opinion, he prefers to ask for it – something Vice President Leni Robredo, among others, learned the hard way when she was a Cabinet member. But FVR might be among those who need not wait to be asked. His opinions can still matter, if delivered in private, without making it look like he’s calling the shots in this government.

That’s another thing about Du30 – he wants respect, if not for himself as a person, then for the president of the Philippines. This is the underlying message each time he tells the world, “Don’t tell me what to do.”

This is something Washington has learned the hard way, but the Americans are quick learners and have recalibrated their approach in dealing with the volatile Philippine president.

FVR, who is now being blamed for all the sins attributed to the man he persuaded to run for president, can still sell his ideas about teamwork to Du30.

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Teamwork does not mean the absence of dissenting or contrary views. This is unhealthy for our democracy, which is dysfunctional enough as it is. What it means is working to achieve common national goals, with the idea that what is good for the nation tends to be good for individual citizens.

FVR reached out to all the dissatisfied sectors, discussing peace with communists and restive military officers alike, and forging peace with the original Islamic separatists led by Nur Misuari. Because of his background, FVR could work with both the EDSA forces and the Marcos camp during his presidency. Ramos’ initiatives are still a work in progress, but forging peace is never simple.

A president who has a nation united behind certain common goals need not worry about dissenting views, which are manifestations of a healthy system of checks and balances in a free society.

Rodrigo Duterte has been handed a unique and precious gift – the opportunity to lead and catalyze meaningful change – and he must not waste this gift. A president must be a rallying point, leading by example with a can-do attitude in achieving common goals.

It’s been said often enough that he’s no longer the father only of Davaoeños; he’s now the father of the entire nation. He must act the part.