A Chinese story inspired by Diogenes
“Do you know the story about the Chinese man who carried a lamp in broad daylight?” President Duterte rhetorically asked.
The economic team of President Rodrigo Duterte is off to yet another international roadshow that is taking them to the United States this week. The economic team is led by Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Benjamin Diokno, and National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) directorgeneral Ernesto Pernia.
The first stop of the US roadshow is New York City where they will present before foreign bankers and top executives of multilateral financial institutions the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program of the Duterte administration. From there, they will proceed to Washington for meetings with top officials of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The latest roadshow comes at the heels of the most recent trips of the Duterte economic team one after the other to Japan and China just two weeks ago. At least, only three of the Duterte Cabinet officials are out of the country this week.
The last time I checked, almost half of Duterte’s 21 Cabinet officials, including Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea who is the so-called “little president,” were all abroad at the same time. Medialdea joined the economic team for one day in Tokyo for the briefing of Japanese government officials and top business executives.
In that trip, the Duterte economic team was joined by other Cabinet officials involved in the Philippine infrastructure program being offered under the private-public partnership project ventures and for official development funding on government-to-government basis.
Meanwhile, three Cabinet posts remain unfilled as of this writing. One vacancy arose from the resignation of Department of Information and Technology (DICT) Secretary Rodolfo Salalima. The two other vacancies were the result of the Commission on Appointments (CA) rejection of Duterte Cabinet officials closely identified with left-leaning groups.
The CA rejected one after the other the nominations of Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Judy Taguiwalo and Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Rafael Mariano.
Actually, there is a fourth Cabinet post that is still not filled but currently headed by undersecretary Catalino Cuy as “acting” Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary. President Duterte earlier announced he was reserving this Cabinet post to outgoing Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Año who is set to retire this Oct. 26. However, Año will have to sit out for one year before he could assume as DILG Secretary. This is because of the one-year ban against newly retired police or military general from being appointed to a civilian post in government.
Another Cabinet post might again be vacated if Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Paulyn Ubial gets bypassed by the CA, which adopted earlier the “three-strike” rule to reject a nominee who gets by-passed three times in plenary session. The CA will have its last plenary session on Wednesday and may decide whether to confirm or reject Ubial’s nomination. She is considered by-passed for the third time if she is not confirmed before the 17th Congress adjourns for a two-month break starting this Friday.
After dinner with columnists from various newspapers last Tuesday night at Malacañang, I got to ask President Duterte why up to now he seemed to have difficulty to fill the three existing Cabinet vacancies. Addressing me as “Ma’m,” the 71-year-old Chief Executive confessed indeed he has a hard time to find out replacements.
“Do you know the story about the Chinese man who carried a lamp in broad daylight?” President Duterte rhetorically asked.
According to this story, the President narrated, while the Chinese man was walking with a lighted lamp on broad daylight, a fellow Chinese man approached him to ask: “Why are you carrying a lamp when the sunlight brilliantly shines?”
The man with lamp replied: “I have to use the lamp because I cannot find an honest man.” President Duterte deadpanned: “That’s my problem, too!”
Actually, the President may have been inspired by the story of Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope who is best known for holding a lantern (or candle) to the faces of the citizens of Athens claiming he was searching for an honest man.
Joshua J. Mark, a freelance writer and former part-time professor of philosophy at Marist College in New York, and who has lived in Greece, wrote: “According to Diogenes society was an artificial contrivance set up by human beings which did not accord well with truth or virtue and could not in any way make someone a good and decent human being; and so follows the famous story of Diogenes holding the light up to the faces of passers-by in the market place looking for an honest man or a true human being.”
“Although it seems many people thought he was simply mentally ill, Diogenes would have claimed he was living a completely honest life and others should have the courage to do the same. The citizens of Corinth, like those of Athens, had come to greatly admire the philosopher and buried him in honor by the city gate, erecting a monument over his grave. This would have amused Diogenes who, when asked what he wished done with his body after his death, replied that it should be thrown outside the city for the dogs to feed on. A statue of him stands in modern-day Sinop, Turkey, depicting him holding out his lantern with a dog sitting by his side.”
This story of Diogenes sounded very close to home. President Duterte himself is being accused of “losing his mind” already. In their latest word war, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV questioned the state of mind of President Duterte in how the latter could get crass in attacking him but would not issue bank waiver of his alleged unexplained wealth.
It was during our dinner with him that night when President Duterte first revealed about the alleged “mistress” of Trillanes, Julia Bacay-Abad, executive director of the AntiMoney Laundering Council. The President charged Abad as the one who furnished Trillanes his bank transactions that supposedly amounted to billions of pesos by adding all deposits and withdrawals made through the years. “I don’t know how insane si Trillanes!” the President ranted.
In righteous indignation, President Duterte vowed he would not let “a lie repeated a thousand times” without stopping it. As the Chinese story – inspired by Diogenes -- tells it, we must have the light to look for the honest man telling the truth.