“The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.”—T.S. Elliot, Murder in the Cathedral
I AM reminded of this quote while reflecting on the threat to cancel the Visiting Forces Agreement. There can be debates on the necessity and beneficiality of the Visiting Forces Agreement. Honestly, I am ambivalent about it. But there is no argument that this administration is doing it for the wrong reason. This threat to abrogate the VFA was triggered by the cancellation of Bato’s US visa. Duterte could not bear the sight of his favorite son crying. A cry baby needs to be appeased, and thus the VFA has to go. It is another example of Duterte’s penchant for making decisions out of pique. There is no rational discussion of the pros and cons.
Contrast this behavior of Duterte with his handling of the victimization of 22 Filipino fishermen in Recto Bank sometime in June of last year. Their vessel was rammed by its Chinese counterpart and the Chinese did not even show any amount of elementary human compassion. There was no attempt to rescue them. But these Filipinos became victims twice over when their leader belittled what happened as simply a maritime incident. Everything was done to appease the Chinese at the expense of the Filipinos. The Agriculture Secretary then accepted the Chinese version, hook line and sinker, and appeared to have intimidated the fishermen to alter their stories. The occupant at Malacañang who always tries to appear macho, from whose mouth venom has often come out, cannot even utter a single word of polite protest. He told the fishermen that nothing can be done, “it is what it is.”
See the contrast? The 22 fishermen are poor. Bato is a crybaby but he is favored.