EDITORIAL - Bad boy vs. hypocrite

A human rights advocate got unsettled by the open threat of murder made by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte against alleged rice smuggler David Bangayan during a recent Senate hearing. And the same advocate was appalled that almost nobody, or at least no senator, raised a peep against what Duterte did.

There could be several reasons why the senators did not feel obliged to take Duterte to task for saying he would gladly kill Bangayan if he caught him smuggling in Davao City. One is that they were being polite. Surely they did not invite Duterte all the way from Davao just to scold him.

It was not the first time Duterte said what he said. So when the senators invited him, they knew he was going to repeat what he already said. Duterte himself  would not have flown all the way from Davao just to sing another song. So the senators must have invited him so they can hear for themselves what he said in Davao.

Besides, the senators are intelligent enough to know Duterte is not going to carry out his threat. Come on, does anyone in his right mind really believe that Duterte is too far gone as to actually shoot somebody in cold blood in full view of everyone?

Duterte was just playing to the gallery. He was just playing the role the senators wanted him to play. Sure, there have been a lot of  killings in Davao City that have been attributed to him. But that's it. The word there is attributed to him. But has he really killed anyone by himself?

If the human rights advocate has the goods on Duterte, then the right thing for him to do would be to file charges against the Davao City mayor and see if  he can make his charges stick, instead of just making noises so his bosses can say he is still doing his job.

There is no argument that summarily executing criminals or suspected bad elements is itself a crime and has no place in civilized society. Issuing threats is similarly a crime. But that is not what happened. Duterte did not threaten Bangayan. He was merely expressing an opinion.

Duterte was asked what he would do if he caught Bangayan smuggling, to which he replied that he would gladly kill him. That was no threat. It was an opinion. For it to become a threat, Duterte would have to turn to Bangayan, point a finger at him, and say "If I catch you smuggling, I will kill you." That did not happen.

In their frustration over unresolved crimes, most people would agree with Duterte, although they would never admit so in public. That's another reason the senators did not censure Duterte, because they would be lying. Sometimes it is easier to deal with a self-confessed bad boy than an inveterate liar and hypocrite.