Hyperbole or hyper-bola

“Tita Miriam” has once again shown how perceptive and experienced she is when it comes to politicians and political strategies. Not only did she provide a diagnosis for Digong Duterte’s multiple exaggerations, fantastic claims and extremely thought provoking challenges, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago also showed her sophisticated vocabulary by using the rarely used word: Hyperbole.

I certainly agree with Tita Miriam regarding Duterte’s hyperbole and if anyone wants to give it a local flavor, I would call it “hyper-bola” which would be the colloquial equivalent. Whatever you call it, hyperbole or hyper-bola, Digong Duterte is simply being as Filipino as dinuguan and San Miguel Beer. Hyperbole is stereotypical of Filipinos gathering at the street corner, the barbershop, the sari-sari store or the basketball court. Every body gets “hyper” telling their stories and when they inject liberal amounts of exaggeration, it all becomes the classic “hyper-bola.”

The style of Duterte reminds me of a movie storyline where a scary and stone-faced American officer had a reputation for having single-handedly shot, one by one, an entire platoon of German soldiers after making them dig their own mass grave. As the story progressed, a war correspondent built up enough courage to confront the officer and asked him if he really killed people in cold blood. With no emotion whatsoever, the officer turned to him and said: Son, it does not matter whether I killed those Germans in cold blood or not. It certainly helps that people believe I did.

People will believe what they want to believe. The same goes for Mayor Duterte and his overnight crowd of nationwide worshippers. It is certainly unbelievable that he could have killed 1,700 persons in his lifetime unless his acts of killing was spiritual and in the form of curses. That qualifies as killing someone by biblical standards. I’m sure even his adoring legions don’t believe such exaggerations, but people have promoted the story, and just like in the movies people go for stories and claims that are larger than life as well as rough and raw!

The question is: Are the billionaires, millionaires, taipans and typhoons now bowing like penitents to Duterte doing so because they believe he is their political Messiah, or are they as we all know them to be, simply interested in self-preservation and hoping against hope to get a business advantage by giving a pittance or an equal share of their campaign contribution to Digong as they gave to others? If Duterte is what he claims to be, these moneybags with legs are certainly setting themselves up as targets for the clean up!

Because we live in a democracy (for now, but maybe not after Duterte becomes President) I also agree with “Tita Miriam” that as long as he does not hurt anyone and as long as his tales are simply tall but not lethal, then let Digong have his way. However, I would caution Mayor Duterte to reign in his modern day minions on the Internet and social media who are apparently intolerant, abusive and in some cases threatening towards people who don’t agree with Duterte or his style.

A pattern has started to emerge and people are beginning to suspect that the verbally violent and threatening social media response that critics or naysayers receive is produced or put out by a professional QRT or quick response team, to intimidate or quell criticism or opposition to Digong.

The DU30 camp may not realize it but their slip is beginning to show, and a number of people have started to fight back on the Internet, the same way Mar Roxas has shed his “santo santohan” image and challenge Duterte to a bitch slapping duel! Ignore your critics but never threaten them because you may reap the whirlwind. It may also interest Digong Duterte that at least one of his “opponents” has called him on his dare and put him in a catch-22 situation where he is “damned” if he slaps Mar Roxas on sight and “damned” if he doesn’t slap Mar on sight.

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As far as the bitch slapping/pissing contest between the two, Mar Roxas has only himself to blame for making Digong Duterte his pet-rock. The fact is Roxas allowed Duterte to create and develop the myth unchallenged when Mar was DILG. Political expedience may have dictated for Mar to adopt the “He may be a son of a bitch but he is our son of a bitch” attitude. But now, Mar discovers that all this time, he actually developed Duterte to become his “pet rock” that has come back to hit him on the head.

Just a word of caution about these two “kids on the block” playing “pitikin mo nga” (I dare you), I can’t shake the suspicion or the thought that in the “long of time” we might all wake up after 2016 to discover that they were BFFs all along and the entire bitch slapping contest is all part of a script written by a PR and political tactician that makes both of them the winner!

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The DTI panel currently investigating the growing number of claims involving alleged Sudden Unintended Acceleration or SUA are certainly caught between a rock and a hard place. What I can predict with certainty is that their findings will not make everybody happy and the media group that has specialized on reporting SUA incidents will surely be nosier than ever before.

To make matters worse, now that Congress/Senate has announced they will also investigate, we can be sure that even the DTI will be one of the whipping boys not just by some people in media but as well as in Congress.

The most important thing that the DTI panel needs to do is to present and explain in detail each and every finding, every point of law or procedure, as well as the opinion or determination arrived at by each and every member of the panel. The fact of the matter is that the parties concerned have already made up their minds about what is right, what is fair and what is true. What the DTI officials should never allow is to be pressured, bullied or take the politically correct way out.

The Department of Trade and Industry is vested with great power and authority and it is incumbent upon the DTI to make their processes and power clear to all without malice and prejudice to any.