THE FIRST step to take when solving a problem is to define it. Former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio has done his homework and figured it out.
In the case of the knotty dispute on territories in the South China Sea, Carpio has put his finger on one thing: it’s the President, not Xi Ping of China, although he’s inextricably linked, but Duterte. His monkey mantra of no–see, no–speak and no–sound has encouraged China’s expansion or incursion into Philippine marine territories.
So while China is moving some 200 militia ships side by side in the Julian Reef, Duterte is looking the other way and tells all and sundry he’s not going to pick a brawl with his idol, Xi Ping.
In fact, it’s no way of showing gratitude to a kind friend, he drills, with vaccine donations and generous promise of financial help overwhelming Duterte it seemed as though he would tear up at the thought of offending the Chinese demi-god. Xi Ping is a lifetime president in a country which entertains an ancient notion it is supposed to rule everything under heaven.
But like Shylock of Shakespeare in the Merchants of Venice, Duterte’s raw nerves were pricked (do we not bleed, Shylocks asked?) when Carpio bluntly wrote that the President is to blame for China’s unbridled occupation illegally of Philippine shoals and reefs and wanton fishing in the West Philippine Sea.
Carpio’s finger pointing cut the cake. Duterte bristled and badmouthed and became belligerent at the accusation. He was incensed like another Shakespearean character king who said “who is wicked, mother, you, who gave me a twisted spine and wicked shoulder, or I , who has to bear it?”
“Who retreated from our territories and gave them away to the Chinese and now you want me to solve the problem?”, Duterte angrily asked during a pre-recorded nocturnal tete-a-tete with his Cabinet choir.
And then the climax: let’s debate on this issue with me asking only three questions. Duterte offered to resign immediately if he loses in the history-in-the-making debate between two well-known lawyers, one a former magistrate, the other a former mayor.
A window, rare and precious, of opportunity is open to the opposition. Previous to the debate dare, there were only three options to the opposition: 1) wait it out until the challenger’s term expires a year from now or the 2022 elections when they can have a shot at the presidency (but the surveys are not so good) 2) the president resigns because of poor health and 3) pray harder as Duterte egged his critics to do to get rid of him.
Looks like the last one works, although in a mysterious but simple way, not unlike the snap election in 1986 when the strong man Ferdinand Marcos thought it the then TWA (talagang walang) widow Cory Aquino was just a piece of cake or a walk in the Luneta Park.
The rest is a rear view mirror.
It’s carpe diem for the opposition. The fish, the biggest there is on this side of the South China Sea, is hooked with his debate challenge. Don’t let it off the hook. When Duterte writes his memoirs, this could be the turning point inhis political career. Carpio has accepted the challenge. As an honorable man, he, Duterte, must resign after the debate. It’s a mind game for Carpio to lose, and for Duterte to win.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines is quick like a boxing promoter it has volunteered to handle the debate, rules and all. Duterte’s camp is cornered and might resort to a rope-a-dope tactic like when Muhammad Ali kayoed George Foremam in Zaire. But how is that translated into a political strategy? Harry Roque and Salvador Panelo can now truly earn their keep.
The debate is one thing that Duterte may not be willing to go toe-to-toe with Carpio. Just look at the pictures. It’s a mismatch. The odds are stacked up against the President, especially if a pre-debate video presentation of Duterte’s remarks on the fabled sea are replayed before the nation. By the way, the debate must be televised live nationwide.
The debate must be rated a general patronage. No cursing please. It’s not good for minors who, in the words of Dr. Jose P. Rizal, are the hope of the fatherland. Cursing might not serve anyone during the debate. As Nietzsche advised, one should always put one’s thoughts on ice in a likely heated exchange.
Given the odds, there’s a remote chance Duterte will try to wiggle out of the challenge. He, or his interpreters, could just say it was a bad joke and the side effect of his vaccination with Sinopharm which he has forth with junked.
No one is perfect, especially in this excruciating pandemic, not even the highest official of the land is spared from its ill-effects. And the headlines could only last a day or two. Let the tail wag the dog. It’s a dead end and one that needs, quick, a deus ex machina.
