FEAR HIM BUT HOW CAN YOU RESPECT MR. DUTERTE?

        That basic question signifies that of resignation to what is not possible anymore or the other implication is a despairing wish for a reason from anywhere so that the person who now occupies the highest position of power in the land can somehow become respectable as it should be.  It is simply that people have already given up on having a President in Mr. Duterte that one can look to as a model for propriety and decency as a person and leader.  Many even among those who voted for Mr. Duterte are now just hoping his era, like some awful winter, will sooner than later pass with the least damage on the humanist values and culture of the nation.  A few are still hoping for that the man would undergo some psychological transformation that would sensitize him with moral accountability in his governance and his objectives, some of which are positive and welcome, can be carried out forcefully but in civilized ways.           

          There is no respect but there is fear for Mr. Duterte and his dictatorial exercise of the powers of the office.  This fear is evident within the circle of people surrounding him who are only there for the advantages and perks Mr. Duterte can give to them so long as they keep dancing his music.  Observe specially those legislators who shamelessly flip-flopped over to the Duterte chorus line in Congress soon after the election.  No matter how casual and natural they try to posture out conviction and independence, the fear and intimidation factor is palpable among them as they see instances of how  Mr. Duterte can use fair or foul means against those who oppose him and who among them are not hiding skeletons that cannot be dug up?  Even among those who remained in the opposition, only a few whose official and private secrets are probably not too compromised occasionally speak up in uncharacteristic measured tones against Mr. Duterte's excesses and improprieties just so it cannot be said that they, too, are scared.  Only Senator Trillanes remains unintimidated but Mr. Duterte and his minions are working on that.

        Mr. Duterte cannot be respected because he consistently exhibits himself as one without breeding and sense of decency in his mouthings and behaviors.  How can a person like that deserve respect?  That he is to be feared is convincing by his own admission of killings and other exploits that showed criminal disposition, lack of compunction and conscience, ruthless and unreasoning acts of vengeance on those who oppose him or those he has personal grudges against.  This mindset comes from narcissism, a personality disorder that warps and wraps an individual with excessive admiration of himself, a bloated ego, and a self-centered evaluation of people and situations and anything that opposes and offends him is unacceptable and has to be eliminated.

       

            It is clear from all that we have seen and observed about him that Mr. Duterte has all those attributes so that he is not accountable to anyone but to himself; he is not afraid of anyone; he is not ashamed of anything or anyone; has no empathy for others and only values those that can be used for  his purpose while that lasts.  The danger of such a man is an increasing worry to thinking Filipinos to a point of desperation as there appears nothing that can stop the propensities of Mr. Duterte that have already destroyed many lives and Christian values of our society.  Actually, this desperation seems to have already boiled over to more vicious feelings when I hear many exclaim, probably in a play on words or in jest as Filipinos are known to do even about serious matters, that since Mr. Duterte often says that he will not hesitate to give his life for the country, they hope that he does that soon or now.