HARRY ROQUE AND MORNING AGITATIONS

          The newspaper this morning announced that President Duterte has appointed a new spokesman.  That kind of news ordinarily should not wake me up faster than a cup of coffee but this time it did because only a few days ago I posted here my thoughts on past presidential spokesmen in general and in particular the replaced Ernesto Abella.  I had bewailed, naively of course, how those individuals could accept and stay in a job where the main qualifications are a lack of intellectual honesty and moral principles or the weak character to be able to sell out for the perks of the position.  I particularly lamented the case of Ernesto Abella because I thought that his being a former religious pastor was anathema to the job he was doing as Duterte's spokesman where he had to be untruthful and dishonest in order to deodorize or embellish many things about his principal.     

                Now he has been fired.  Maybe a little late in coming but this is some vindication for the man because Duterte is telling him and telling us that Abella had not been sufficiently effective in doing the job.  In my book, he might not have, after all, completely let go his intellectual honesty and moral principles and therefore his rhetorical spins were not adequate in clarity and credibility to serve Duterte's specifications and requirements.  Abella must go and someone more "qualified" should come in and that is Harry Roque.

                Harry Roque is a bright lawyer and professor according to people who know him.  "Malikut ang bunganga" according to President Duterte who must have listened or read enough of  Roque's press releases and interviews.  I have not formally met Atty. Roque but have listened to him up close on occasions.  My impression is that he does talk fast which seems natural of his gender (no malice or derogation intended), only faster when he gets agitated so that he sometimes gets ahead of his thoughts but with remarkable aplomb to remain unfazed even when one of his toes gets caught in his mouth, so to speak, and still forces his point.  "Malikut and bunganga."  But the guy has other attributes and talents.

           Atty. Roque is bright in sizing up situations and opportunities and very adept at taking advantage of them for personal advancement.  Remember the Maguindanao Massacre and the Jennifer Laude murder in Olongapo?  Just two very high profile cases where he volunteered to be a lawyer and which paid off, as he must have anticipated, with much national media exposure and an undeserved label as a human rights lawyer.  And, after an unnoticed candidacy as senator, he finally managed to have himself selected and nominated as Kabayan party list representative in Congress.  But according to some Kabayan members, he soon easily forgot his role and marginalized the advocacy of the group and mainly directed his efforts as congressman to promote his self-interests and, pursuant to that, applied his brain and mouth to defending Duterte at every turn, presumably with the same motivation as when he supported and defended the accused plunderer Jejomar Binay in the past presidential election.  This is one of the reasons Kabayan party decided to disown him and  withdraw his nomination as its representative in Congress.  The sense of delicadeza and the withdrawal of trust from him as representative of the party should have been sufficient for him to let go of his party list nominee in Congress.  But Atty. Roque, the bright lawyer, brought his case to court and insists that delicadeza and moral considerations like trust are not legal reasons and should not affect his tenure as Kabayan party representative in Congress.  Lawyers like me who may not be bright but still believe in self-respect and delicadeza would not have gone to court about what is clearly a personal moral issue.  However Atty. Roque, a bright lawyer, must have calculated that, given the pace of our judicial system, his term would already be over before the courts could come out with a ruling.  But that is moot and academic now.  The President has anointed him as his mouthpiece and Roque can now leave Congress in the style that should further bloat his ego.

                That is my brief profile of the new Presidential spokesman, given that I do not know other details of his unpublic life and character and that this space is limited as well.  But surely Duterte must have seen something in the man's composite being that he likes and can use for his purpose.  It is obvious that there is chemistry between the two and we may expect results of their collaboration and teamwork that, given their common dishonest proclivities, will agitate and offend some more our sense for the truth and what is decent.  After all, there appears no other way or devise (except martial law) to render palatable or to justify most of the things that this administration does in its governance.  But the thing very evident to me right now is that Atty. Roque will be a very capable, imaginative, articulate and very compliant mouthpiece who will surely do his best or worst to serve and please the President who may anoint him as a senatorial candidate sometime.  Atty. Roque has shown that he knows what it takes to get ahead in the world of politics and he fits in the mold of our political leaders exemplified by the Gordons, Alvareses, Sottos, Farinases and many others in that herd in Congress ruminating on perks and waiting to be led wherever.

               These morning thoughts, against the advice of less serious friends, always aggravate my misgivings for the future of the country.  Try to disregard the present; it is already hopeless.