When Harry met Rody

Lopez

(The following column entry is expanded from my Facebook post on October 6, 2017)

Newly minted Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque incited a firestorm of controversy and vitriol following his ambush interview last Monday.

The tough-talking congressman-turned-spokesperson who promised to throw metaphorical hollow blocks at those who continue to undermine the President was singing an entirely different tune as he defended mainstream media and asked the DDS (Diehard Duterte Supporters), the President’s most vocal supporters online, to refrain from attacking mainstream media.

Calling mainstream media “legitimate media” and wanting to explain to the DDS and Communications Assistant Secretary Margaux “Mocha” Uson the value of critical journalism apparently did not sit well with most of the President’s passionate supporters.

It came across as condescending.

Poor choice of words on the part of the new Spox, for sure, especially judging from the online reaction and the slew of angry faces flying across the Facebook live broadcast when he gave his briefing yesterday.

I completely commiserate with my fellow Duterte supporters, especially since many in the mainstream media have been caught lying through their teeth about the President. Furthermore, during the elections and the President’s first year in office, our OFWs relied on alternative sources of information — the blogs and bloggers — when mainstream failed or refused to run stories about the President our OFWs felt they should have. The OFWs are grateful to the President’s socmed supporters for being there when mainstream was not.

And even as the spokesperson needs to cultivate a good relationship with traditional media (it’s part of his job, after all), it cannot be at the expense of those who already solidly support the President.

But I’d like to cut Roque some slack. He may have been tired coming from a Cebu trip over the weekend.

He had a press conference here on Sunday and even caught up with our group at a private dinner before flying to Manila on a redeye flight. I was even surprised that he still gave a briefing at noon the following day.

He must’ve lacked sleep (he left us at around midnight, I reckon) between Cebu, his flight back, and just a few hours after when he gave the briefing. Plus, he was scheduled to have an important interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour later that day.

I am disappointed, but I don’t want to be angry because I’ve committed to be less angry about political developments since social media has so much of it as it is.

Talking to some friends from both sides of the political fence, we agreed there’s just so much vitriol going around it ain’t pretty anymore.

And not only have we been complicit to this, we’ve become, wittingly or unwittingly, its prime purveyors. But this call to civility is reserved for another column.

(One commenter pointed out that my refusal to openly attack Roque was because of my closeness with Deputy Speaker Gwen Garcia, my mom’s STC classmate, who is Roque’s close friend. My gosh, what a shallow appreciation of things. Did that “closeness” stop me from writing against the death penalty even as Garcia was one of its prime movers in Congress? Good grief, I have a mind of my own.)

I have very strong opinions against Rappler, especially Maria, and while I welcome Spox Roque’s freedom to recommend, it doesn’t mean I will abide by the suggestion.

And I will continue with my criticisms of mainstream media when they err, but I will try my darnedest best to restrain myself from being angry as I criticize. But that’s just me; I can only speak for myself. And again, I will try.

I’d like to think my criticisms of Rappler and Maria Ressa and Pia Ranada have been largely issues-based, say, 85 percent of the time.

For times that my emotions get the better of me and I’ve criticized people for their looks, my bad. I apologize. Sometimes they’re just too brazen, it’s too much, but no excuses.

As regards the appointment of Cong. Harry Roque as spokesperson, I could be wrong but I wager it has something to do with the International Criminal Court (ICC). I’m not sure if there are movements in the ICC, but knowing how powerful and moneyed the President’s enemies are, things can happen very quickly and we can’t allow ourselves to be blindsided.

Roque, according to various news articles, happens to be the only Filipino lawyer who can practice law at the ICC. Perhaps the President wants him on standby in case shit hits the fan.

The President doesn’t have to have Roque as his lawyer, and in such case, Roque will still work with a team of lawyers, but maybe PRRD wants a Filipino lawyer on his team. (This is a president who didn’t want someone like Grace Poe who was not Filipino at one point to be president.)

And who better to be spokesperson than someone who can not only ably defend him in the ICC but who can, hopefully, also translate the issues discussed there into a language more palatable here at home.

Roque’s political ambition aside, which is speculative at best, this seems like another masterstroke on the part of PRRD. And we trust him and his wisdom, right?

I also heard Roque will hold a concurrent post as Presidential Adviser on Human Rights, something like that (and this strengthens his portfolio as he represents the President in the ICC). And this could be the reason why he has adopted a more conciliatory attitude toward our erring mainstream media.

He has to show that this government is tolerant toward media and cognizant of the freedoms afforded them in a democracy like ours; otherwise, it might be hard to defend the President on human rights issues if the President’s lawyer and spokesperson himself is perceived to undermine the rights of journalists, especially in a country that’s among the most dangerous for journalists even before Duterte became president.

When Harry met Rody about this job, I don’t think Rody explained how protective his social media supporters are of him. But the events of Monday changed all that. Harry now knows the extent of DDS’s support and the enormous voice this online community has found in shaping the affairs of state.

That said, moving forward, I wish Spox Roque well as he finds the delicate balance 1) in promoting the freedom of the press and 2) in calling out media practitioners when they report blatant lies against the President.

Surely it won’t be too hard to spot things when they do. And then it’s time to bring out those hollow blocks. (Metaphorical hollow blocks, if I need to stress for the benefit of Rappler’s Pia Ranada.)