Dick Gordon sets the standard
The start of August was marked by a public tirade President Rodrigo Duterte unleashed against Sen. Richard Gordon, who had earlier expressed his reservations about what the senator saw was a penchant of the President to appoint retired military officials to the Cabinet.
Gordon actually meant well, because staunch critics of Mr. Duterte had been accusing the President of being too dependent on the military establishment.
President Duterte retorted that it was well within his prerogative to appoint whoever he sees fit to the public office concerned.
Unfortunately, the President’s statement was followed by a series of not so flattering remarks at Gordon, mostly about the senator’s physique.
More specifically, President Duterte said Gordon’s brain is melting and it’s going to his stomach, and that the senator was a fart away from disaster. The President cautioned Gordon about his waistline, suggesting that if the senator were to need emergency medical attention, he may not fit in an ordinary ambulance. He also said that Gordon’s desire to become president is consuming the senator and adversely affects the latter’s better judgment.
When the media asked Gordon to reply to the President’s sharp remarks against him, the senator downplayed everything and attributed the President’s tirade to the unenviable stress that goes with being president. Gordon also expressed delight that the President seemed concerned about his health.
As expected, Gordon’s statement disappointed those who had wanted to aggravate the situation and provoke a word war between the President and the senator. Apparently, they were expecting Gordon to retaliate in the same predictable way one would do so if found at the receiving end of the President’s verbal onslaught.
They were probably expecting Gordon to behave like the ill-tempered and badmouthing ex-senator Antonio Trillanes IV, but Gordon is not a Trillanes. The senator from Olongapo City has more breeding than the ex-military mutineer cashiered during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Gordon’s demeanor also impressed many. It demonstrated that Gordon cannot be easily provoked into losing his cool and letting anger prevail over reason. How he comported himself in that dire situation should be an example for his colleagues in Congress to emulate.
Sure, the President’s remarks were insulting, even provocative, but Gordon did not allow the matter get out of hand. His refusal to engage the President in a shouting match is not even unfounded. Indeed, the stress of the presidency may have caused
Mr. Duterte to lose his cool.
Undoubtedly, being president in these troubled and troubling times can take a heavy toll on his patience. Endless but unfounded accusations from the opportunistic political opposition, the quarrelsome local communists, and the highly politicized clergy can be enough to make the President to lose his temper for even the slightest reason.
Since President Duterte and Senator Gordon are not known to be political enemies, and considering that Gordon has already locked horns with many of the President’s harsh critics on the floor of the Senate, it is suspected that someone who has the President’s ear may have been brewing intrigue enough to make the President turn against Gordon, a legislator who is better off as the administration’s friend rather than its foe.
In all likelihood, whoever may be fomenting the intrigue does not want the President to be on friendly terms with one of the more credible members of the Senate.
Just how that troublemaker intends to benefit from a Duterte-Gordon feud remains unclear for now.
The good news is that at Gordon’s surprise birthday bash held at the Philippine Red Cross head office in Mandaluyong City last 5 August, it was disclosed that President Duterte has reached out to Gordon by telephone, and that all remains well between them.
That certainly delighted many of Gordon’s well-wishers at the birthday party, including House Majority Floor Leader Martin Romualdez, University of the Philippines president Danilo Concepcion, City of Malabon University president Ramon Maronilla, and the anti-crime crusader himself, Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras.
The Duterte-Gordon incident teaches that fighting fire with fire does not lead to effective politics. Patience, especially when it comes when it is least expected, can accomplish a lot more. Gordon proved it.
“Gordon’s statement disappointed those who had wanted to aggravate the situation and provoke a word war between the President and the senator.
“Whoever may be fomenting the intrigue does not want the President to be on friendly terms with one of the more credible members of the Senate.