The statesman and the courtier

The President once more missed the chance to exhibit statesmanship, and what a waste of a splendid opportunity it was! Some hangers-on had apparently floated the idea of a “term-extension” (and not without reason, wags have it that they first heard noises from the banks of the Pasig). Instead of seizing the opportunity to repudiate this brazen bid to sweep aside the Constitution, he had Edwin Lacierda and Abigail Valte mouth their now tired and really bedraggled populist line: The President listens to his bosses, even if the Constitution limits him to only one term.

One who takes orders and does exactly as he is told is a courtier. And while the days of royal personages may now long be over, those who obsequiously pander to popular fancy and seek popular acclaim ingratiatingly are no less courtiers! But when the people vote for a president, it is a statesman they install into such high office—one who does, not as he is told, but as his best lights tell him he should act, and as the Constitution he swears to defend bids him act!