The prize of a death wish

PILO Hilbay and Erin Tañada exemplify the irrational behavior of today’s opposition and their propaganda machines. Pitiful, for by all indication, they had been nosing around and keeping track of President Rodrigo Duterte who flew quietly to Davao City last weekend. Obviously they were caught unaware this time. And they went wild with speculations that the President’s absence from their radar screen portends of something terribly wrong with his health.

They surmised that President Duterte must have sneaked out of the country and flew to Singapore to seek medical attention. This, after they learned that a Lear jet from Singapore landed in Davao International airport. Well, the opposition should know by now that it is not the lifestyle of the probinsyanong Presidente to indulge in luxury. They should have also known that Digong has the knack of slipping out of his security when he was Mayor of Davao City and early in his Presidency.

The opposition and their propaganda machinery didn’t lose time spreading rumors Duterte went missing, sick, and had sneaked out of the country for treatment. Noticeably the drolling Hilbay and Tañada must have called for an emergency meeting following the statement of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque that his boss is in “perpetual isolation”. Two words that triggered Ka Pilo and Ka Erin to quickly train their turrets on the President and went on to blast Duterte by sermonising that “a true leader will not selfishly hide”.

He did not.

Harry’s figure of speech accorded Hilbay and Tañada a bit of an abrupt ejaculation. Duterte in fact was in full control of the government and every situation only this time not in the Presidential office in Malacanang Palace but in his austere and simple home in Davao City. He is not with his Presidential staff but with her daughter Kitty, wife Honeylet as personal secretary and nutritionist, and his data bank, Sen. Bong Go.

Those political characters who wish and even pray Duterte gets ill or even die, only display how desperate are they to regain power conveniently and shamelessly forgetting the demeaning defeat they suffered in the last senatorial race. They should be comfortable with that ignoble defeat because others who didn’t run but wished Duterte dead went ahead of this 75-year-old indecent man in the race to that great beyond instead. So beware of what you wish for.