Duterte is More of a Conversationalist than a Fiery Orator in his Speeches
Posted on Wednesday, 5 October 2016
DUTERTE IS MORE OF A CONVERSATIONALIST
THAN A FIERY ORATOR IN HIS SPEECHES
By Apolinario Villalobos
Marcos has been admired by many due to his
blazing speeches, most often, delivered extemporaneously, although, a
surprising exposế is about the late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s being his
ghost speechwriter. Other presidents use tele-prompters. But, Duterte has, on
several occasions, disregarded prepared speeches and the tele-prompter, and
instead would proceed “conversing” with his listeners, using even singular,
“…alam mo” (…you know), instead of the collective, “…alam nyo” (…as all of you
know) which is an indication of his innate tendency to sound genial and
personal.
It’s this “style” of expression that
perhaps will pose a hindrance to his close friends, in their effort to remind
him to be more refined and civil in delivering speeches. It is just not
possible because, sometimes in the middle of a delivery, Duterte would motion
to somebody to clarify something in Davaoeἧo dialect, or all
of a sudden he would interrupt his statement with what to the Tagalogs sound
obscene, such as “gaga”, but which a Visayan like Duterte can utter with
fondness. The call for him to be refine-sounding is possible if he will read
prepared speeches which he did with flying colors during the ASEAN summit
conference in Laos. As much as possible, however, he wants to be more personal
and cordial when he communicates with his constituents, a situation that is
expected to be peppered with colorful words.
Nevertheless, let us pray and hope that
someday, Duterte’s speeches shall be free of malodorous words, so that, he will
be illuminated more with brilliance as he holds his listeners in awe while
“conversing” with them. Some Filipinos may not accept him as their president,
but his motivation is generated by the GENERAL MANDATE to serve the Philippines
as a whole…and not in a segmented manner, despite the country’s archipelagic
state!
Discussion