EDITORIAL - Put the money where the mouth is

Many people find it strange that Malacañang can keep a deathly silence over the Duterte punching incident in Davao despite the issue having gone viral on the Internet and has focused, yet again, unflattering global attention on Philippine style governance.

The incident may seem like an issue of local governance to us. But it has become a topic of intense and contentious international discussion. As a consequence, it can have far-reaching implications on our image as a nation and as a people.

In short, what started as a small fire has become a huge conflagration that requires nothing less than presidential intervention. It is not a situation that the president can stay away from, hoping it will die of its own accord and go away.

Of course it eventually will. But that is not the point. The point is that Malacañang needs to break its silence if only to reassure everyone that whatever issues may have arisen as a result of the incident, these will be dealt with with the best interests of the nation in mind.

Refusing to deal with the problem by playing safe will leave many questions unanswered, even if the flap in fact dies of its own accord. And leaving many questions unanswered is not good for a country struggling to maintain its credibility in face of global scrutiny.

It is bad enough already that the president is being perceived as a person whose work ethic leaves much to be desired, it is worse when he continues to refuse to seize opportunities for him to prove the perceptions are wrong.

And the longer he keeps his silence, the more difficult the issue will be for him to handle later on. The president must not forget that keeping himself uninvolved will not stop the situation from moving on.

Right now, while the Dutertes punch court employees and throw dirty fingers at detractors with seeming impunity, it is the victim of punches who has gone into hiding and police bodyguards who are bearing the brunt of the huge fallout.

The president is accused of singling out his enemies. Well, here is his opportunity to go after his friends. The president loves to talk in general terms, like putting his house in order. Well, here is his opportunity to fix something badly broken.