Why I like Teddy Locsin as Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi at inauguration of the Chinese consulate office in Davao City (Source: DFA via ABS-CBN)
By JoeAm
Bear with me on this. Teddy Locsin is just as much a challenge to my sensibilities as he is to yours. But let’s think this through.
The first thing we need to do is set aside our partisanship and think of one thing only, the well-being of the Philippines. That does not mean we have to be blind to what is going on in the Philippines, that it is a corrupt, poverty-wracked, self-dealing, uncivil place run by a tyrant with a lot of well-intended constitutionalists objecting while the vast majority of Filipinos are emoting their way along in resilient ignorance. Those aspects of our social-political environment are real. They are a part of the reason that Teddy Locsin is a superb choice for Secretary of Foreign Affairs, but they are not the core, real reason he is good.
Yes, yes, Teddy is a blunt, foul-mouthed, arrogant, insulting character . . . if he is promoting some point that we disagree with or don’t understand. If he is on our side, on the other hand, he is brilliant and forceful.
What is it about his CHARACTER that counts, in our assessment? Here are a few of my observations:
- He reads a lot. He knows something about everything and a lot about some things. He is particularly aware of international goings on. His stint as the Philippine ambassador to the United Nations helped him immensely to meet, greet, and think about things.
- Secretary Locsin knows more about Philippine international dealings than just about anyone in the nation, and certainly more than any political player.
- Teddy is high on himself. His confidence level is 100%, something that holds well for a diplomat who must tread between competing interests – both domestic and international – with a clear mind.
- He doesn’t care what you or I think about him, nor should he. His mind should be uncluttered by our ignorance and emotions. Or those of President Duterte, or the yellows, or the blithering masses.
- Teddy has a vocabulary which he displays on Twitter as the world’s second most loquacious politician twerp after US President Trump. He has taken to inserting ** in f**k to respect the sensitivities of school teachers and priests, I suppose.
- The Secretary is a troll. And a good one. He agitates with fallacies such as ad hominem insults, forced either/or choices that are not the whole story, and other devices. He is seeking open mindedness. If you are not of closed mind and don’t fall for his trollish tricks, he’ll pry your brain open.
- He is outrageous. Socrates asked questions. Teddy provokes and challenges. He is among the most refreshing people on the internet, for out-of-the-box. He will go mushy over a bus driver who gives a bum a meal or chastise you as being a moron. My view: accept it and get smarter or fight it and get angrier.
- He is a patriot. Through and through. He is Filipino. That is what sets him apart from many trapos in government who are busy self-dealing. That is what allows him to defend the people against President Duterte’s ignorance or tyranny, and defend the President against the ignorance and emotionalism of the masses.
- Teddy is President Aquino with a mouth and President Duterte with a patriotic conscience.
What is the job of foreign affairs? It is to be able to DEFINE a course for foreign dealings that protects and promotes Filipino interests. It is to chop through forests of black and white foreign interests – through thorny vines and snake-ridden swamps – and lay out a safe, constructive gray line that allows the Philippines to move forward in the nation’s best interest.
Teddy will not accept a draft joint development agreement drawn up by the Chinese. But he will craft one himself that reads both Philippine and Chinese interests and puts POSSIBILITY rather than rejection into the dialogue.
He is comfortable with other diplomats because he is comfortable with himself. He can be respectful if that is what the occasion demands. When he is on twitter, he offers his personal take on everything, and some of the things are affairs of state. We should be thankful that we can get it straight, unfiltered by our hopelessly tabloidian press.
He will respond to a tweet from an ordinary Joe if it helps him make a point.
Do I have concerns? Yes, Two.
- I worry that he is too much the bully. Most bullies are threatening to the weak but shrink within themselves when faced with power. We see this in President Duterte. I don’t know how Secretary Locsin is eyeball to eyeball with power. I give him the benefit of the doubt – and presume he speaks clearly and firmly. If not, the Philippines will not stand strong against the oppressive self interest of other nations.
- His style might be adopted by others or responded to in kind. That would lead to more trollish misinformation, nonsense, and incivility on the internet. I hope, as he gets deeper into his job, that he will shade more to content than shocking form.
Let me go through a few of his recent tweets and offer my observations about their meaning and significance. These are selected excerpts. Some of his stuff I can’t relate to so I just move past those. I did not include them here.
– – – – –
This is the kind of insight we can get directly from the Secretary into a variety of foreign affairs issues from passports to OFW predicaments. You are moving fast, he is moving fast, but we can sense he’s on top of it.
We cannot expect to agree with all his decisions. He deserves wiggle room . . . and the right to a personality. He does not have to “be and think just like us” to be successful. Only ego-bound morons would try to hold him to that standard. (I’m channeling my inner Teddy in making that statement.)
– – – – –
He is exasperated by the rampant stupidity that afflicts humankind. That is one takeaway.
The tweet also caused me to look up the facts to see if it was President Obama who was the “stupid idiot”, or Hillary Clinton. I don’t really know which of the major players the Secretary was referring to, but the primary mover in the Libyan intervention was French President French President Nicolas Sarkozy (see Wiki chronology: 2011 military intervention in Libya). Locsin taunts and tests and, for me, inspires my curiosity.
– – – – –
Fascinating. I can’t stand Secretary Cayetano, his predecessor at Foreign Affairs, who I think tried diligently to give the Philippines to China. So Secretary Locsin’s defense of Cayetano on bloodline, effort, and accomplishment causes me to wonder if the Secretary is being diplomatic, culturally true to the Filipino sense of loyalty, or a bad judge of results and character. If we look at passports, Kuwait, and concessions to China, I don’t know how we judge Cayetano as competent or LOYAL to the nation on results.
But I think I’ll just forget about Cayetano for awhile. I hope he loses in his candidacy for the House and if he wins, I hope he gets mired in the mindless stupidity of the self-dealers who occupy that chamber and it drives him insane.
Oh oh. I can tell it is time for my calming meditation. Ohmmmmmmmmm. Ohmmmmmm.
– – – – –
This ought to be a brick upside the head to Philippine leaders. So the US is letting the Philippines fly free, but the nation is curling up with China for loving care? Brother! Idiots! How about standing up for the Philippines for a change? You know, consider yourselves competent and equal and represent your people firmly and INDEPENDENTLY.
I suspect that is the way Teddy wants it, too.
The other takeaway from this and other tweets is that Secretary Locsin believes the Philippines should be spending a lot more on upgrading the military.
– – – – –
I like this tweet for the deft use of “moron”. I don’t understand the root issue, but take it that the Secretary knows what he is talking about.
– – – – –
“Improve the quality of male singing.” I laughed for a full five minutes. This is Teddy pushing buttons. So far out of the box that we can’t really take him seriously, other than believe he thinks crimes deserve serious punishment. I wonder what he thinks about the Imelda Marcos impunity, versus De Lima persecution. Which is morally right and which deserves real punishment? How does he balance those out?
See . . . he inspires all kinds of thinking.
– – – – –
Ah, yes. Vocabulary building.
He is talking about contractual workers being used to speed up passport processing. He is acknowledging that money is being spent on the wrong things, useless conferences, and not the right things . . . upgrading passport services. I hope he quickly realigns those expenditures that are within his discretion.
– – – – –
Teddy likes nuclear power, but not resurrection of that leftover Marcos albatross. “Nuclear or nothing” is one of those argumentative fallacies I mentioned earlier. There are plenty of energy options within the Philippines if one can just get corruption and incompetence out of the way to tap them efficiently. I’m a little nimby on nuclear myself (nimby means “not in my back yard”). Kindly build them downwind. Or maybe build them upwind of Davao.
– – – – –
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
I’m missing the sarcasm, Joe.
You are free to supply it, if you wish. But do make a suggestion of whom you think might make a better Secretary of Foreign Affairs and discuss why he or she probably was not appointed.
Manny Pacquiao, Joe. At least everyone knows he’s got nothing up there. Ambâ Locsin is dangerous because he’s got the words to reinforce his dreadful opinions.
I’m sorry to ask for more information. I know it is easy to not like Secretary Locsin. Can you do a list, a sampling, of his “dreadful opinions” and identify if they are serious or meant to provoke/instruct, and indicate if they are material to the foreign affairs of the Philippines? I used the Nuke example in the article to indicate a statement that was extreme, that was half serious, and has little to do with foreign affairs. Or just list his dreadful opinions and we can pick one or two to parse further.
ps, nice sarcasm on Pacquiao.
A very balanced assessment of the man.
I think in terms of using expletives he tops Duterte online, but Duterte tops him on TV.
BTW
On the UN migration policy, I am not sure if he is calling the Swedish guy a moron or all those who did not sign the agreement because it will undermine their sovereignty or immigration policies, since it is not legally binding anyways.
Good point. Probably the latter.
This article made me think of Locsin as the “Willie Revillame” of the intelligentsia/chattering class- entertaining but beware.
I think I see a “tell” when he mocks the public or when he’s pulling our leg, (like when he reversed the issue on Chinese workers here when he said let’s accept only rich Chinese as visitors): his eyes smile.
Is he correct all of the time? Of course not. Despite that encyclopedic mind.
Is he a moral person ? Maybe 60% of the time. The Jewish Anti-Defamation League missed him when he justified the Holocaust.
Is he going to do the right thing for the Philippines? On China, no. On other issues besides West Phil Sea, probably.
In a private speech at Yale, he likens our foreign policy posture as ” embracing a giant bear tightly and dancing with it” . With all that strength and claws and fangs, good luck in breathing.
I say we put back Roberto del Rosario Jr back.
Del Rosario has baggage, too, if you listen to Senator Trillanes. Was he serving Philippine interests on Scarborough, or MV Pangilinan oil interests?
I think you read the man well. The point that he might not do well for the Philippines vs. China is interesting. He did not accept China’s draft MOU and wrote his own version, which was adopted. Had China’s been used, it would likely have raised objection on sovereignty. So Locsin tempered the language to recognize sovereignty, thus avoiding pushback and possible rejection. He honed a path forward. Is the path forward with close ties to China good or bad? Separate issue. It could be good if Philippine interests are well protected. Or maybe Sec Locsin opened a path to disaster.
But he did his job well.
So far I have not seen Locsin display much resolve on sovereignty- it has just been a series of wise-ass remarks (” note-verbiage” on diplomatic protests; “trivia” on the flag and walk protocol,etc).
But his volubility and wit distract us the way Duterte’s ” bread and circus” (distraction vs inflation, China telecoms by cursing priests and God) entertains the masses.
I’d like to see him display an affection for the country in the same way he adores food. 🙂
Interesting, speaking of Del Rosario, he agrees with Justice Carpio that the agreement with China is not a problem. Former SolGen Hilbay disagrees. He thinks it negates the arbitration win.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/217412-carpio-del-rosario-say-philippines-safe-with-china-oil-deal
*******
1. I don’t know Locsin. And, after reading this article and others, I don’t want to.
2. He seems to have the reputation of being an intellectual. To me, he seems to be the definition of a dilettante.
3. His tweets show insight but his consequent deductions have the character of impulsive thoughts.
4. I am torn between Carpio’s nod on the MOU and Hilbay’s rejection. Pragmatism vs. idealism.
4.1. Considering China operates in bad faith, I would not really classify Hilbay’s rejection as idealism.
4.2. Carpio makes sense in his interpretation of “service contract.”
4.3. However, I dislike the provision on confidentiality and this: “The MOU does not create rights or obligations under international or domestic law.” This might void, ab initio, Carpio’s interpretation.
*****
An acquaintance said that the late Hunter S. Thompson was more tolerable and admirable for being gonzo than Locsin.
On #3
That’s Locsin’s conceit – he has expressed a love of Twitter before – that wisdom and learning can be compressed into 280 characters and that he is always right.
I have met Locsin once. Gymnich Castle, official resthouse of the German Federal Government, during the Cory state visit in July 1989. Me, working as a student, helping out as a summer job.
1. He used to be Cory Aquino’s speechwriter. Rhetorically brillant as always.
2. He asked the Embassy driver and me to take him to the next village to buy stuff in a stationery store. It was a bit of a lull in the otherwise crazily busy official program.
3. On the way to the place he noted that the streets were just as clean as on the official routes. I told him yes, this is Germany, this place is for real. He was honestly surprised, I could see.
Already then, he made the impression of a person who is very intelligent and full of himself. Brillant and conceited. The lack of opposition in the Philippines (due to lack of training and subservience) can make such people schmucks. Big fish in a small pond. Few people to keep them in check.
Alan Robles vs. Teddy Boy Locsin was a classic exchange on Twitter, between powerful equals.
Further comment: the Philippines wastes a lot of (non-singing) talent by not having truly healthy competition. It is either one-upmanship or kneel before the master over there. Both backward and bad for the character.
Probably Locsin’s being on a bit of a roll since he was UN Ambassador, described by Joe, has to do with the lack of challenge his caliber might be getting in the Philippines. But then again, sensitive Filipinos often back down from such a sarcastic character’s put-downs. They are afraid of losing face somehow – in fact I am myself pretty reluctant to even get that man’s attention on Twitter, and I am one who can deal with quite a lot of characters rhetorically.
Ireneo,
On two occasions, one flight to and the other fro, I sat a couple of seats from Filipino domestic servants (of different Filipino families apparently).
The weirdly exact same thing happened, I’m sitting before take off , then suddenly , a woman apparently the servants’ owner, pops out from 1st class (i fly economy 😦 ) to hand over some crying child, which my skills of deduction conclude is the 1st class woman’s child given to the servant seated in economy for the remainder of the flight,
why exactly I don’t know (their kids would bother the 1st class passengers, the woman needs her beauty rest, it’s red wine time, etc.).
But I do know those kids (2 to 4 years old) pretty much cried the whole time. Ruining the flight from everyone. That is the extent of the injustice that befell me re Filipino upper class and economy class. But I know enough to know that I really hate those types.
So like Korina Sanchez beating her servant, allegedly or not. I already know the type. Here both Micha and I are of the same mind.
You could say he’s the male version of Mirriam Santiago. Both have the Ilonggo intellectual temperament – condescending, bombastic, arrogant. He comes from the haciendero class of Bacolod and Iloilo, that bastion of Spanish feudalism in the country where the wealth of the Montelibanos, Lacsons, Aranetas, Benedictos, and others came from.
Is he a patriot and loyal to the country? To the extent of protecting the wealth and established fiefdom of Philippine oligarchy, yes.
His kind detest the patriotism of the underclass.
“male version of Mirriam Santiago” another character in the Philippine tragicomic drama. What the Greeks had to offer in terms of tragedy and comedy pales before the 7000 isles.
“condescending, BOMBASTIC, arrogant”.. With potential to be a diplomatic Comical Ali.
I like this Teddy Locsin fella already , Joe. Thanks for a great write-up!
I share Andrew’s sentiments of the man. Words like Andrew’s “conceited”, Edgar’s “dilettante” and Irineo’s “schmuck” are fitting.
There is no doubt he is intelligent, and courageous in his verbal attacks on things that do not agree with him. Yet I have perceived cowardice in that he has always avoided verbal confrontational bravado with other alpha males.
I think he is easily one of the biggest egostical maniacs in the Philippines. As a civilian he has had platforms in tabloids and mainstream media to rain his plain speak bombastical views on any who can last 30 minutes of verbal torture. I think he makes a fantastic copywriter. But while loose lips may sink ships, loud mouths in the foreign ministry can cause wars. To put that personality in ambassadorial and chief diplomat position is like putting a square peg in a round hole.
If I’m not mistaken, this is what Ilongos over there are known for, chemp.
That they’d keep their car windows closed tight, even when w/out AC, just to make it look like they are riding comfortably in their cars in AC.
Off topic. I know you want to know more about Leni Robredo. This just came across in the news today.
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/171753/robredo-to-speak-at-intl-summit-in-nepal
I declined to publish your last comment. I’m not going there.
Columnist Boo Chanco weighs in on Twitter: “congrats to @teddyboylocsin … a fantastic choice for a tough job.”
All entitled to their opinions. I’m sure Bato and Calida n Harry Roque say the same.
Boo Chanco is hardly Bato or Calida or Roque. He writes earnestly, generally about commerce. I’ve argued with him in the past when he was dissing President Aquino. My point in making the insert is to show that reasonably reasonable people see something in Locsin other than his mouth.
American Ambassador Sung Kim: “Congratulations to SFA Locsin on today’s confirmation – I look forward to working closely to further strengthen our great alliance!”
If you were the American Ambassador, could you work with Locsin? For me, the answer is “absolutely”. I could not say the same about Cayetano, although my diplomatic station might require issuing some kind of public pap.
Chempo used profiling words on “Teddyboy” Locsin Jr. I will takeoff from there, repeat some words and add a little:
well-educated, intelligent
know-it-all [ref, JoeAm]
dilettante [ref, edgar]
full of himself [ref, Irineo]
conceited [ref, Irineo]
know-it-all smart-ass
Of the words above I find dilettante as most descriptive — tough talking/ writing dilettante, with the intent to impress.
We discussed Integrity recently in relation to Leni Robredo. Can we add that word to the list above?
But in the context of the times and the situation we are in, we may say that he is a fantastic choice for the tough job of Sec of DFA as Boo Chanco writes. Meaning general comprehensive effectiveness, especially considering the geopolitical reality of dealing with China. Although no less fantastic, in my opinion, an Antonio Carpio or a Florin Hilbay may not be as effective in that tough job.
Right, my mind fails when it comes to recommending someone who could do as the ‘yellows’ want, but work for Duterte.
“But while loose lips may sink ships, loud mouths in the foreign ministry can cause wars.”
The Commission on Appointments just confirmed him if not, all the members will be lambasted by the bombastic one.
Also confirmed were 47 DFA officials. I’d venture to say their morale is higher under Locsin than under Yasay or Cayetano. They are once again a legitimate agency.
Maybe as top diplomat he might temper on his behaviour or continue to behave with a high temper. Let us see if he delivers
That would be a positive hope and, indeed, we will see.
I’m 50/50 on Locsin. And I really hate him when I came across a screenshot of his reply to someone’s tweet or comment in Twitter when he said:
” I believe that the Drug Menace is so big it needs a FINAL SOLUTION like the Nazis adopted. That I believe. NO REHAB.”
Isn’t that an expression and affirmation that he favors duterte’s EJK instead of doing it in a legal way? Isn’t he espousing a genocide of the filipinos particularly the poor who are forced to deal drugs to be able to support their families for lack of jobs available for them?
Yes, that one is extreme. Is it literal or hyperbole, I don’t know. I don’t know if he has tried to explain what he meant or not. But he clearly views drugs as a menace to society. If he is talking about drug lords, that is one thing. Or peddlers. But small-time users? If that is what he means, then I agree, that is pretty horrible to say.
One of the more successful drug programs is in Portugal. Portugal tried massive rehab and it didn’t work. The successful effort mainly decriminalized drugs.
Portugal’s policy rests on three pillars: one, that there’s no such thing as a soft or hard drug, only healthy and unhealthy relationships with drugs; two, that an individual’s unhealthy relationship with drugs often conceals frayed relationships with loved ones, with the world around them, and with themselves; and three, that the eradication of all drugs is an impossible goal.
“The national policy is to treat each individual differently,” Goulão told me. “The secret is for us to be present.”
Here is an thorough review of the Portuguese program. Trust me, no one in the Philippine drug enforcement agency has any idea what the program is about or why the program works. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-radical-drugs-policy-is-working-why-hasnt-the-world-copied-it
I searched for that tweet by Locsin regarding Portugal’s policy but I did not copy the link because there is an expletive. (P.I.) And he was hard on Leni for suggesting it.
Found an article instead.
It is still rough but here it is.
http://politics.com.ph/teddy-locsin-calls-robredo-idiot-supporting-decriminalization-drug-use-lets-legalize-murder-rape/
Ouch on several counts. LP idiots, eh? The civil values of the Philippines are largely held by the LP idiots, so in that series, Locsin is being the major idiot. His point about China is good. Of course, under a different government, China would not be sending 20 billion worth of shabu to the Philippines.
I wonder if he was angry because VP Robredo was making his life difficult having to represent the Philippines when a top leader is suggesting killing citizens is not such a good idea. In other words, he was feeling embarrassed at what he stood for and lashed out.
As Irineo pointed out, Filipinos are sensitive. Locsin may have been embarrassed.
Could be. I imagine him to have very thin skin. A lot of bullies do, as we witness from the President.
Applies to the Philippine President and of course super-thin-skinned US President.
Both are circumscribed by their institutions: traditionally weak in the PH case and supposedly traditionally strong in the US case. Within those constraints, I am amazed at the behavior of President Trump — compared to President Duterte — who by his waking hour say fantastic things based on fantasy aka lies to merit the label “unhinged.” I hope President Duterte will allow me to say that Trump beats him by a mile in that area.
Trump is apparently a total nut case, ignorant, won’t listen to advisers or experts, knows nothing about laws or government, and spouts his own opinions as fact when they are not truthful. Duterte I think at least listens to his advisers. (That they are amoral whacknuts is beside the point.)
@joeam
Ahem, decriminalizing drugs was the subject of our discussion some two years ago which I advocated to be what we must be doing instead of the senseless bloodbath of the unwinnable war..
Ahem, well, there have been 128,718 comments to the 1,438 articles written in the blog, so please excuse my negligence in giving you recognition. I can’t even remember what I wrote.
What I remember is that most of those who were engaged in the discussion were against the idea of decriminalization. The conventional notion that using drugs alone is a criminal act is, in a way, a direct complicity in enabling the bloody and senseless war started by the maniac from Davao.
It is a huge emotional and intellectual step to think of decriminalizing drugs. I can get there by thinking about whiskey, which is totally debilitating after a couple of drinks, but it is controlled through enforcement mechanisms. One of those mechanisms would have to be to focus on not letting 20 billion pesos worth of shabu come into the Philippines unregistered and untaxed. So there needs to be a framework for decriminalization. Drugs are crimes one commits against oneself, in the main. Or not crimes, really, just bad caretaking of oneself.
Joe,
I don’t know if you’ve been back to CA since marijuana became legal , but it seems to be going well (so far so good).
I noticed a bunch of medical marijuana shops closed down , if you remember back when you had to have a medicinal prescription for pot (ie. glaucoma, cancer, etc.). Venice for example had quite a few of these medical marijuana shops, but they’ve been consistently disappearing.
In lieu , are more professional establishments. No Starbucks or Coffee bean & Tea leaf franchises I’m aware of as of yet, but I’m sure those small time shops folded as more big scale , professional, shops open.
Starbucks popularized the barista , now as marijuana is mainstreamed it is budtenders.
https://kivaconfections.com/ ( a bunch of drinks, chocolate, candy, are coming out as well)
The Las Vegas Paiute tribe is set to build one of the largest marijuana plantation (cultivation) just outside of Vegas (ironically, on the crap land they were shafted with when they traded it for their downtown land )
I think shabu as a drug is crap, if drugs are legalized Filipinos will opt for better drugs. I suggest pot (relax), then nootropics (get smart) . ‘Breaking Bad’ taught us that shabu can be purer and thus better, maybe that can happen once legalized,
but IMHO the best bet is just to keep away from shabu (pure or otherwise) , if you want the ‘Limitless’ feeling, then opt for cocaine , but for this I think nootropics is still the best bet.
I remember Aceh had the pot market cornered, while the Golden Triangle had heroine, maybe if the Philippines followed the LV Paiute tribe , then Filipinos can corner the legal marijuana market for Asia and SE Asia,
Making your MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES ad campaign a fact.
Las Vegas Paiute indian reservation.
(directly below)
……. ^ …….
Off topic
I could not find NH’s comment about Bersamin, I just know it is not in this thread.
With his decisions track record, Imelda can rest assured.
karl,
My comment is posted under edgar’s “Groupthink in the Supreme Court” with the link as follows:
https://joeam.com/2018/08/03/groupthink-in-the-supreme-court/#comment-264201
Yes, I agree: Imelda should take comfort in the appointment of Bersamin
Many thanks NH.
Unfortunately we cannot rest assured.
I was interested in reading about Locsin the son, the fruit, how distant it might had fallen away from the tree. So I started reading the piece to its finish instead of proceeding to the comments immediately. And I thought I was caught in the middle of a hailstorm, some hail big ones hitting my coconut. TML Sr was my number one socio-political opinon guro; never miss a piece in his Philippines Free Press; his sword of words was never dried from the blood of the miscreants; had also immensely enjoyed during martial law the no holds barred, no punches pulled kick boxing bout with Doroy Valencia. First time to read about TL Jr in TSoH.
As useful as a form of water from the sky falling as precipitation, sleet, hail shower, flurries or snowstorm or rains like cats and dogs, any person of intellect can only go so far as his close ecology.
I believe the usefulness and effectiveness impact, regardless the genius and competence of any cabinet member begin and end with the quality of the appointing power (the rotten or the diamond apple in the basket);
Any appointed cabinet member had surrendered his/her soul to his master for good or bad the rest of the journey. Pray just consider the alter egos of Monching, CPG, Cory. Fidel, and Noynoy. Don’t need anymore to think of the cabinet of Marcos, Erap, Gloria, etc. I cannot believe any cabinet member can carry the moral torch to illumine any dark presidency.
That last line is a humdinger.
Oy, Salamat guid TSoH.
“I believe the usefulness and effectiveness impact, regardless the genius and competence of any cabinet member begin and end with the quality of the appointing power (the rotten or the diamond apple in the basket);”
True … look at Cesar Virata. For all his brilliance and integrity, he is considered only as a lackey who helped prop up a murderous dictatorship (my opinion, of course).
Oh, the ironing( intended)!
https://businessmirror.com.ph/i-love-the-philippines/
The article by Locsin is headlined as “I love the Philippines”; but it seems like a pro-abortion rant.
At least he had a short explanation of why he use insults.
The comparison is with Paraguay where they are caught up in debate about the pregnancy of a 10 year old who was raped by her stepfather. He argues that in the Philippines, the stepfather would be dead already and the abortion would have been done by a local doctor right away. His point is that some things are not debated in the Philippines, they are taken care of. That’s why he loves the Philippines.
He writes: “But morals have to do with what ought to be; not with what already is: in this case what is, is a dead rapist.”
So Secretary Locsin was pro EJK before Duterte came on the scene. The article was written in 2015.
My own conclusion is, yes, he is Filipino, where Western values of due process don’t apply unless there is benefit to applying them.
Yes, true. I agree on all counts.
******
Add another profiling adjective — blowhard.
*****
Duly noted (all chronicled adjectives)👍
A spin Eh: Could be true to be preaching that Jesus Christ said; “Tell me who your(cabinet?) companions are and I will tell you who you are.” Abroad at a POE (port of entry) the border officer says: “You say you are a cabinet member? Tell me your President’s name and I will name your country.” Hindi puedeng tweeter di ba ang labo? Wannabe sa tweeter si popoy kaya paminsan-minsan naging tweeto, Eh.
On Nuclear power: Locsin says “Nuclear or nothing”. Perhaps he or some other brilliant guy has already figured out where and how to dispose of nuclear waste. Unless and until a safe and inexpensive solution to nuclear waste disposal is found, I’d say “nothing” is better.