At wit’s end

If everything goes according to plan, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe will be in Davao City today as part of his two-day Philippine visit. Apart from his official schedules in that city, Abe is expected to drop in on President Duterte in his home as a personal gesture. Make that a very personal gesture. Not that it has not probably happened, but I am not aware of any other head of state visiting the private home of another during their incumbencies.

To me, that is a very personal gesture indeed, and if anything, it erases a large part of the image Duterte has wittingly or unwittingly built around himself — that of a foulmouthed, murderous bully who respects no one, not even a woman. To be visited in your own private home by a foreign counterpart is a deeply human expression of warmth, respect, even tenderness, all of which find no room at the inn among scalawags and scoundrels.

That Abe is Abe, one of the most respected Japanese and global leaders in contemporary times, makes the house call even more significant. It could even be an all-is-forgiven sign considering how Duterte was perceived by some Japanese as disrespectful to their Emperor when Duterte called on the holder of the Chrysanthemum Throne with his barong sleeves rolled up casually and inappropriately.

More than his official activities in Manila in a visit that is the first by a foreign leader this year, the personal respect Abe shows Duterte delivers a big and telling blow on the contention of his enemies and critics, both domestic and international, that the whole world looks down on Duterte with spite and scorn. Well, in light of the Abe house call, that very apparently is not the case.

And to those who are plotting his ouster, if that is even true or possible, then there goes one big and significant chunk of support if ever Duterte is ousted and his replacement needs, as he or she surely must, some respectable show of international recognition. There is no other way to view the Abe courtesy call than as a recognition of Duterte's legitimacy and those of his policies. So plotters be warned.

Actions at the very top, from taking offense and showing displeasure to expressing approval and signalling support can be very stiff and staid. But they can nevertheless be very direct and unequivocal. You know at once what is going on and what the consequences are. But in a private personal meeting, there is the element of mystery and anticipation.

There can be probing, testing, a little giving, a little taking. But in the end, there is the respect and the understanding. And among world leaders, that is what truly matters, so that in whatever is said officially, there will always be the seeing through the maze, the reading between the lines, the knowing of the why a thing is done or a word is said.

In a world that is constantly in a crisis mode, personal knowledge of the other is crucial in resolving or escaping crisis. Abe, whose country is similarly at odds with China over disputed islands, may find it beneficial to get to know Duterte personally, away from the cameras and microphones that often drive the Philippine president nut, in the comfort of his own home where his guard is down and he is who he really is.

To Duterte, the personal visit of Abe is an important and crucial affirmation and respect for who he is, not just as a leader, but as a man. To Abe, it is a political coup of sorts in being able to be the first to probe and know the very depths of a man who had the temerity to openly challenge the equilibrium of American leaders and policy makers and thereby put the world on notice.