When President Rodrigo Duterte dropped the F-bomb and showed a dirty finger in response to the criticism of the European Parliament, a San Beda dean wrote several suggestions that could help Duterte and his presidency.
In his Facebook post “Helping the President,” Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, Dean of the San Beda Law of School, said that Duterte needs our help despite him not asking for it, especially in these “tough times.”
Aquino’s first suggestion is to encourage everyone to join discussions “intelligently” instead of trolling to give the President more perspectives to consider. He even threw shade against the presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo.
“First suggestion: Join the national discourse INTELLIGENTLY, and trolling is not it. A troll is an idiot who puts on the airs of a participant in discourse. In discourse, you challenge claims, you ask for their vindication. You make claims and you offer rational vindication. The President needs to hear more people and to entertain more views. He is an intelligent man and deserves more than Panelo’s clowning,” the dean wrote.
As for Duterte’s tendency to curse, something he has done to the Pope and US President Barack Obama, among others, the dean suggested that we should not applaud Duterte when he does something obscene.
“Second suggestion: Applaud the President when he is right. When he announces relief for our soldiers, the elimination of bureaucracy, even when he reads out the names of robbers and villains in our government, applaud him. But do not applaud him when he curses, when he displays obscene gestures especially when these are covered by media,” Aquino said.
He added that presidential candidate Donald Trump even had to learn after being heckled a few times and how Duterte needed the same thing for him to learn how to carry himself with dignity as a president.
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“Just as Trump had to learn by being heckled some times, President Digong too has to learn that some kind of presidential “gravitas” is expected of him,” Aquino added.
For his third suggestion, Aquino urged everyone to respect the Philippine institutions – the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Church.
“Third suggestion: Stand by the institutions of the Republic. Insist that our legislators keep Congress independent of although helpful to the Executive. Defend the courts, especially the Supreme Court, against any attempt to erode judicial independence. Public opinion counts for much,” he said.
He also pointed out slandering against the church when it has remained standing way longer than any government.
“Never join in slandering the church. It has lasted longer than any government and it will be around long after Caesars lose their thrones,” Aquino wrote.
His last suggestion was about vigilance against drug pushers and how to help the law enforcers single them out and how to help those who were killed even when they did not threaten the life of the arresting officer.
“Fourth suggestion: Be as vigilant against peddlers and pushers of dangerous drugs, as against other agents of death – among them, law-enforcers who believe that they have the right to kill at will. Send leads, hints, clues, anonymous tips to law-enforcement officers on drug-dens, on peddlers’ whereabouts, on clandestine laboratories, if you hesitate about coming out in the open. But when you know for a fact that a law-enforcer has shot to death someone who was not a threat to his life at all, then be a willing witness against the law-enforcer. Do not trade your birthright for a bowl of pottage, like Esau,” he said.
As a parting message, Aquino clarified that he was merely making suggestions. Those who do not like them should just ignore them or make suggestions of their own, he added.
One commenter said that they are trying to request for a meeting with the President for them to understand him and for him to hear about their sentiments on certain issues, especially the sensitive ones.
Another commenter noted how Duterte’s goals are “noble” how the means used to achieve them need rethinking.
Just like what the law dean said, we must encourage Duterte to join in the discourse on sensitive issues instead of slamming down on those who oppose him.
Source: (facebook.com)
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