State of our minds

That was some awesome SONA. No, I was not looking for stuff that policy wonks are looking for. I was not looking for “substance” in the form of statistics or even another grand plan for uplifting the sad conditions of our people. None of those mattered anyway, based on experience.

I was more interested in how the President would rally the people behind him in the midst of very serious problems we face. What we got is classic Duterte… the leader who is able to make people suspend judgment, give him the benefit of the doubt and feel reassured they voted for the right man.

Of course, Mr. Duterte was addressing that public segment that is already his, but needs continuing reassurance. He said he didn’t care about those who didn’t vote for him. This is a flawed view of what a leader in a democracy should be doing after an election… unify the people not accentuate the division.

“Alam mo kasi in this country it is a rule of majority. I did it for the 50 plus one because in a vote of 100, I get 51, 50 plus one. Fifty is one-half, one, that is majority of one, I win. ‘Yung 49, ‘yon ‘yung mga… I do not have to make them happy.”

Duterte only won 39 percent of the votes, which means the majority didn’t vote for him. But I am sure he now has the support of more than 50 percent based on recent surveys I consider reputable.

Mr. Duterte said plenty of the right things … things I believe in and constantly advocate in this column. If only the reality on the ground is as good as the vision in his head that he shared, I would be a Dutertard right now.

Duterte remains popular today because the conditions are still as bad as it has ever been. And there is no one else out there who seems capable of addressing the mess. Change, the promised change had not happened, but ironically, it is still Duterte who seems best able to bring it around. Hope pa more!

The opposition is now a pathetic mess, with no one among them able to impress us as a viable alternative. The Liberals are as dysfunctional as the Democrats in the US. An inconsequential opposition has left us and the Americans to the tender mercies of our current leaders.

Randy David, my former UP sociology professor, said it best about the state of our minds: “I am convinced about two things: one, that Mr. Duterte has accidentally tapped into a deep well of anger against a dysfunctional social order — a system in which ordinary Filipinos could find no hope; and two, that, with an angry president at the helm, Filipinos have stumbled into the age of resentment, expecting it will lead to change.”

So Mr. Duterte said he is looking for “change that is not confined merely to the replacement of people by people, but a change in the people’s attitude, disposition and work ethic.” No argument there.

And he also said that change must come from the people. In other words, if change has not come, it is also our fault.

“Sadly, although we knew years ago that what was needed or ought to do, we did not do because our idea of government was parochial and we could not rise above family, ethnic and clan loyalties as well as loyalty to friends and co-workers. No one wanted to be a snitch. That is why we are one in saying that genuine change is what this country truly needs.”

He said change must start from the top… from among top officials in government.

“Early on, I felt that if change was to be meaningful, it had to start with those occupying the highest positions in government because change that comes from below is more transitory than permanent. And I was aiming for permanence. Let change trickle down from (top to) bottom.”

Well, he did say trickle and that means slow. So we must be patient. Even immediately doable things like showing some egalitarian decency among his officials will take time to happen.

Just the other day, a motorcycle mounted escort, with sirens wailing, stopped traffic at the corner of Ortigas and Meralco Avenue near Marco Polo Hotel. That was to let a black Suburban and its SUV escort to pass.

That was not the first time I saw firsthand that the wang wang mentality lives under Duterte. That made me smirk when Mr. Duterte said his high officials should show the example. In fact, he said, he did not allow them to sport low numbered car plates. Mr. Duterte has a problem convincing his own officials to believe him enough to indeed, show the example.

But I like his Gina Lopez moment as he harshly castigated the mining industry and threatened them with extinction unless they clean up their act. Gina Lopez couldn’t have said it better. He could have made the ultimate threat by saying he is inclined to name Gina back into DENR and the Commission on Appointments can just suck it.

“I sternly warn… I am warning all mining operations and contractors to refrain from the unbridled and irresponsible destruction of our watersheds, forests, and aquatic resources…

“I am holding all mining companies and its officials responsible for the full and quick clean-up, restoration [and] rehabilitation of all areas damaged by mining activities, and the extension of all necessary support to the communities that have suffered mining’s disastrous effects on their health, livelihood, and environment, among others.”

He seems determined to fight corruption… not even a whiff, he said again. But his warning may be falling on deaf ears. Beyond losing their jobs, people like his fraternity brods at immigration, must go to jail.

He gave us hope with his call to bureaucrats “to further streamline their respective services to make these truly efficient, and people-friendly… I expect speedy reforms along this line.”

The test, however, is if he is able, as promised last Monday, to “right size the national government. Let us trim the excess fat and add more muscle…” 

 He doesn’t sound credible about trimming the fat after he just appointed Isko Moreno, a failed senatorial candidate to the board of NorthRail, a dormant government corporation about to be dissolved. That appointment is obviously a sinecure.  

 The President was so right to call the attention of the Supreme Court on judicial abuses that includes the indiscriminate issuance of temporary restraining orders that delay vital infra projects. He is also right to call the Supreme Court’s attention to a two-year-old TRO it had issued on the Reproductive Health Law.  

Indeed, two years delay is too much and it will cause losses for the National Treasury in the hundreds of millions of pesos because medicines bought for the implementation of the law are now due to expire. But the SC claims the TRO only covers a particular hormonal contraceptive.

 I like it too that there is no more dancing around with the Reds pretending they are ready to compromise. He has seen their duplicity and is personally offended.

 We all share his sentiment that “the people’s patience is wearing thin. So is mine.”

 I think President Duterte gets it. I hope someone teaches him how to Tweet. It will be a good way of getting to understand him better… Why go through Mocha Uson for social media exposures when he can do it better himself, ala Trump? 

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco