I HAVE learned how to parry the gutter loquaciousness of Digong because the last time I stayed at the concrete jungle of Metro Manila several things were really working --- the MRT, lesser tambays at Kyusi, Makati, and Mandaluyong, improved PGH, and better service at airports. But on a week where one of his best and brightest secretaries states that it is okay to eat weevil-infested rice and formalin-induced scud and Digong himself declares that there are a lot of rape cases in Davao City because "there are a lot of beautiful women," I bury my head again.
I don't know what strange diet his one of his secretaries keep but I know that some people do drink their own urine allegedly because it is healthy. There's also a cult that subsists on raw food and of course, there are the vegans and pescetarians. Google says that people who eat bugs are called entomophage but since what the secretary ate is called as “bok-bok” then probably he can be called as bok-boker, bok-bokian, bok-bokianer (like buccaneer). In all my days as a dinosaur, this is probably the only administration that says it is okay to eat rice loaded with weevils.
On another hand, Digong's recent rambling at Mandaue City shames rape victims and blames women for the heinous act. This recent joke sends out a message that women are "chattel, to be owned, to be punished according to the whims of men". What is really appalling when Digong does what I have called as his 'disgusting routine' is that he betrays himself and every single thing that he has worked on that has empowered the women in Davao City. As a mayor, he has approved the creation of the IGDD and has supported the establishment of the Women's Crisis Center way before other LGUs in the country were still confused about “gender” and “sex.” When Digong is labelled “misogynist,” Lorna of IGDD or Bing Sobrevega-Chan of ACWC seem to be reduced to accessories meant to soften and perfume a chauvinist pig when really they are not and so are the other women supporting Digong.
What added insult was when Roque cited that the Bisaya humor is seemingly liberal with rape jokes. There is nothing regionalistic about normalizing the idea of sexual assault. Most likely Roque was trying to deflect the arrows pointed at Digong but nonetheless, it was a cheap decoy at the expense of the Bisaya/Cebuano-speaking Filipinos.
It might be too late to teach old dogs new tricks but honestly, Digong should.