A make or break for Roque

BAÑOC

If, in the past, you were able to throw stones without anyone hitting back, be warned that if you throw stones, I won’t just throw stones but hollow blocks,” said Harry Roque, newly appointed presidential spokesman.

With the appointment of Roque as the new spokesman of the President, we can expect that in the next five years of the Duterte administration there will be feisty exchanges of words from his end and against his critics. Roque, an experienced law professor of UP and a litigator, is perceived to be a fighter who is ready to go to war.

I notice that even before Roque formally assumes his new position, there are already lots of reactions against him for accepting the said position. Some have already judged him of departing from his advocacy as human rights advocate. On the other hand, many of the President’s supporters rejoice over Roque’s appointment.

Critics of the Duterte administration attack Roque as running counter to his background as fighter for human rights. This is because they believe that Duterte is a human rights violator because of his war against drugs. They accuse Duterte of extrajudicial killings (EJK) in the process of carrying out such campaign.

But Duterte’s supporters see the appointment of Roque as a wise move on the part of the President and a very welcome development to them. At least the new spokesman will convey more effectively the right message of the government to the people and he will take care of all the controversial issues against the administration.

With this development, the President can now concentrate on his more important responsibilities rather than answer the issues thrown against him. Maybe this time he does not need to go down to the level of his critics, some of whom are just exploiting his prominence to gain media exposure that they think can help their future political ambitions.

Those critics of the Duterte administration who always invoke due process should be sincere enough to give Roque the benefit of the doubt as to how he performs his new job. It is too early to judge him now when he has not yet even assumed formally his new post.

However, I don’t think that Roque’s critics resent the fact that he is a known human rights fighter who would soon speak for the President they abhor. They actually tremble at the thought Roque is an intellectual heavyweight they cannot bully around. Of course, they will not admit it, but look at their body language. There is no one in sight on the part of the opposition who could match his stature. He will meet the President’s bitterest critics head on.

Roque, who will replace the soft-spoken Ernesto Abella, promised to just follow the marching order of the President. He narrated that the marching order is to stick to the truth and not lie. Let’s see how he packages the message for the people to easily comprehend the point.

To be fair to him, and if one scrutinizes the background of Roque as an experienced lawyer and litigator, he is more than qualified for his new job. After all, the Filipino people deserve the service of a brilliant servant.

This is a make or break for Roque.