Called names but not named
Appalled by stupidity. Friday night, April 3, President Duterte ordered the firing of Manuelito Luna, commissioner of the Presidential Anti-Corrruption Commission, thus supporting Vice President Leni Robredo’s efforts to raise funds for health workers fighting the coronavirus threat. Luna had pushed for investigating Robredo. Not right, Duterte said, firing Luna on the spot.
Malacañang later explained that Luna’s sacking “demonstrated Duterte’s intolerance to” -- here slow down and take note -- “abusive, arrogant and incompetent government officials” and a “decisive action against errant officials.”
The Palace called Luna, without naming him, “abusive, arrogant, incompetent and errant.”
That and the termination of services, all in one fell swoop, without his explanation why in heaven’s name he could be thinking of cutting down Robredo in a clearly defensible act in a time of extreme crisis.
The stupidity must have appalled Malacañang communicators.
Presidents with face masks
DUTERTE DOESN’T WORRY HOW HE’D LOOK. What is it like for Americans to receive from the lead agency Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the coronavirus battle the advice to wear a face mask in public and at the same time get the caution from President Trump that it is just a recommendation?
It would be like for Filipinos to be ordered by our lead agency IATF to wear face mask in public under pain of penalty and at the same time be told by President Duterte it wouldn’t be forced on citizens.
Trump repeated the “voluntary” part six times; no mistake what he wanted to tell Americans, capped with the remark that he “couldn’t imagine wearing one.” A fine model for that country.
President Duterte, in contrast, has not contradicted the IATF order or, more precisely, hasn’t dampened people’s enthusiasm for mask-wearing. And obviously, our President doesn’t worry, as Trump obviously does, how he’d look on cam with his mouth and nose covered.
Look ma, no mask on
NOT WHEN THEY TALK TO US. In Cebu, we’ve seen public images of Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella with a face mask on while Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia continues un-masked in her live-streamed, video-clipped addresses to the public.
Mayor Labella has compelling reason to be face-masked when he meets the public digitally: It was his executive order issued April 1 that preceded most other LGUs -- and the IATF-- in imposing the ban on bare faces in public. He should be the model of compliance.
Actually though, public officials sound -- and look -- better with their mask off before the camera. Mayor Labella and two others, all of whom were masked, were on a Facebook video clip last April 2 and I didn’t get much of what they said and which was who. Obviously, the face had a lot to do with the garble and hard recognition.
There’s also the problem of communicating with no help from the face -- eyes and mouth principally -- along with the hand gestures and body language. An audience often fails to get fully what the speaker means -- and thus not be touched or moved -- when the vision of him is limited.
Physical distancing and other measures to keep the President, the governor or the mayor safe can still be observed even if the public official takes his mask off while talking on the internet to constituents. Talk show hosts and other celebrities who have continued their conversation (and cable/TV shows or programs) with their public do so unmasked while they do the live-stream or video-recording.
And in Cebu City it doesn’t risk violating Labella’s EO The office or room where the images flow from or are recorded is not the “public place” within the meaning of the penal order. At the time it is off, the place is closed to the public. Anyway, a mask within reach is adequate to get one off the hook.
The quip somewhere about unmasked Gwen violating Edgar’s prohibition is aimed to be funny, not to threaten the governor, that is, if anything could threaten her.