Was Duterte’s appearance before the House quad committee of any value?
It was almost an exercise in futility. Why so?
The answer may be found in the expression, “You cannot squeeze blood from a stone” or “You cannot squeeze blood from a turnip.”
The expression means that you cannot get what you want from a person because it is simply not in his character to give that which you want.
The House quad comm was created to ferret out the truth about the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) that were committed by members of the Philippine National Police and vigilantes as part of Duterte’s so-called war on drugs.
Here lies the problem:
By the record of his statements throughout his six-year term as president, Rodrigo Duterte has shown that to him, truth is a mere plaything, something to twist this way and that as a child would do with clay.
His propensity for joking, even about serious matters, demonstrates his cavalier regard for truth.
Duterte’s flip-flopping, bluffs, attempts to extricate himself from accountability for his grandiose claims (e.g., that he would go on a jetski to Scarborough Shoal and hoist the Philippine flag there, that he would “end poverty, criminality and the problem of illegal drugs in three to six months” and the most recent one of signing the waiver regarding his bank accounts and hanging himself in front of everyone if former senator Antonio Trillanes’ charge proves to be true) by his fallback claim of having merely resorted to hyperbole – all these point to his aversion to truth and perverse preference for lies.
The essence of truth, however, is that it always surfaces somehow. Cover and squelch it as those who despise it might, it rises to the surface from the dark depths of outright lies and half-truths.
Truth is of God, the one whom Duterte in his arrogance dared blaspheme when he asked in one of his outbursts years ago, “Who is that stupid God?”
The members of the House quad comm, the media and all of us who viewed the televised proceedings of the hearing may have sat in exasperation as Duterte made admissions that he virtually took back or confused us with, but such confusion was temporary.
Pope John Paul II said something to this effect, “We are drawn to the truth by our nature.”
The truth reveals itself to anyone and everyone who values and truly seeks it.
In the words of Leo Tolstoy, God sees the truth, but waits.
And Christ Himself said, “The truth shall set you free.” – Ma. Socorro G. Naguit, mariasocorronaguit5@gmail.com