These profane times
The cab driver, who was standing on the sidewalk in front of a sari-sari store, was about to light his cigarette when we approached his parked vehicle. He placed the lighter in his pocket and got inside the vehicle. He placed the unlighted cigarette on the dashboard. After we got in, he started the engine, asked for our destination and proceeded to his rather lengthy rant.
“Peste ning mga tawo sige’g panakop anang manigarilyo. Gisita ko gahapon sa traffic enforcer. Nihana og dakop. Akong giingnan nga nawong baya ninyo manakop. Wa gani mo kalimpyo anang mga sagbot sa sidewalk. Naa ay mga upos sa sigarilyo ipon anang mga gipundok nga basura dugay na kaayo na diha. Bitaw, buang baya ani nila. Sigeg panakop unya way klarong serbisyo. Mga inahak gyud,” he said.
That was merely his introduction, because he ranted until about half the length of the entire trip, slowing down only after he realized we have gone silent. I observed his demeanor from the back seat and the more he talked, the more I was reminded of President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) the previous day. The cabbie was Bisaya like the President. They ranted the same way.
I could not see the driver’s face from the back but I could imagine him wearing the same poker face as the President as he delivered the curses and did his best tough guy impersonation. Both obviously come from the same mold: a “lagala.’
Duterte’s Sona, his second since he assumed the post of president middle of last year, was in certain instances a “lagala” rant. In this sense it was novel. Other presidents delivered formal and decent Sonas. Not this president. In those instances when he adlibbed instead of delivering his prepared speech, curses peppered attempts by him to articulate his intended message.
And I say it overshadowed the substance of his Sona. A neighbor talked to me when I passed by her house. “Alegreha gyud anong Duterte. Nindot na unta to iyang speech pero usahay molikoy man. Sigeg pamalikas,” she said. Her family was a Duterte supporter in last year’s presidential polls.
The Sona is covered live, which means that media outlets couldn’t mute the cuss words when these are delivered. Inquirer.net listed the following “curse words” that the President used in his Sona the other day: “shit,” “leche,” “gago,” “putang ina,” “son of a bitch,” “fuck” and “yawa.” that was from English to Tagalog to Cebuano. The website, though, missed the more colorful one, “l-l-.”
“L-l-,” which is Cebuano for masturbate, was actually not used in that sense. When one say “ll- ninyo,” “l-l-” becomes a cuss word like “yawa,” “peste,” etc.
The President’s prepared speech didn’t include those cuss words, of course. But he gets both bored and tired reading the teleprompter. It became obvious when he stammered and his delivery became a monotone several paragraphs into his prepared speech. That was when he gave up, raised a dismissive hand and said “sumasakit ang mata ko.” Then the speech became extemporaneous for minutes, and cuss words-laced.
I remember some sectors warning about the surge of profanity-laced talk because of the way the President speaks. But it has become the norm now.