PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte made history last Thursday by delivering the shortest inaugural speech of any Filipino President in 14 minutes, without uttering a single cuss word, which until then had punctuated all his public utterances. This leads many to ask, can he not fight corruption, criminality, dangerous drugs, and the breakdown of law and order without resorting to extra-judicial killing or the death sentence?
The speech, in English, did not contain everything we needed to hear. But it was nonetheless a class act—a tour de force, if you like. It was well written and well delivered, stamped with his personal conviction and style, with no doublespeak on any issue. He said what he wanted to say in exactly the way he wanted to say it, no unnecessary verbiage.
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