ASEAN engages the world
with the theme, “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World.”
Last week, Southeast Asian defense ministers and their counterparts from several dialogue partner- countries held meetings at the brand- new ASEAN Convention Center in Clark’s Fontana Resort. This event served as a dry run for the summit, and the defense officials were among the first to try out the 21 ASEAN Villas built by the Bases Convention and Development Authority for the summiteers.
As the ASEAN Chair for 2017, President Rodrigo R. Duterte is hosting the series of events that would catapult him to the world’s center- stage from Nov. 12 to 15. Meanwhile, his detractors are working double-time to embarrass him before the international community.
Take for instance the column of former Economic Planning Secretary Solita C. Monsod questioning Mr. Duterte’s fitness to preside over the country due to his alleged “narcissistic personality disorder” based on a psychological examination required for marriage annulment that cited the findings of Dr. Natividad Dayan, expresident of the International Council of Psychologists,
Ms. Monsod suggested that the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) conduct an assessment of the President’s behavior in the light of a new book titled The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President. She drew attention to parallelisms between Messrs. Trump and Duterte in terms of pathological narcissism and its lethal mix with politics.
Her views seemed to echo the sentiments of Dr. Ana M. Junia, a Californiabased psychiatrist who obtained her medical degree from the Cebu Institute of Medicine. She called on the PMA and the Philippine Psychiatric Association to denounce extrajudicial killings ( EJKs) as she urged doctors to speak out against EJKs linked to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Dr. Junia contended that remaining silent on this issue made Filipino doctors “complicit in the murder of three million.” She insisted that killing is not the solution to substance abuse, saying: “If you are a doctor and you are for this, then your actions need to be reviewed by an ethics review board. You should lose your right to practice if your solution to drug addiction is murder.”
However, Dr. Francisco P. Tranquilino, a cardiologist at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Muntinlupa City who graduated from the University of the Philippines, refuted both Ms. Monsod and Dr. Junia in his Facebook posts that have gone viral.
He said Dr. Junia’s premise is “illogical and deplorable” while accusing her of spreading fake news regarding the number of EJKs and asking: “Whoever said that the solution to the drug problem is murder? Where did you get the idea that all deaths related to the war on drugs are statesanctioned?”
A fellow of the Philippine College of Physicians and an associate of the Philippine Heart Association, his advice was to clear the facts first, “otherwise, such malicious, unsubstantiated allegations against a colleague may constitute violation” of certain provisions in the Professional Regulation Commission’s code of ethics.
Regarding Ms. Monsod’s article, Dr. Tranquilino presented information that “great leaders and world figures were found to have narcissistic personality traits.” He mentioned US presidents such as John F. Kennedy,