Authenticity

Filipinos are a demented lot. As a cruel response to VP Leni's disgruntlement for not being invited by Malacañang to a diplomatic reception [Collective: Shameless], something she felt she had to broadcast publicly (perhaps in an attempt to induce sympathy), annoyed netizens circulated pictures of President Duterte's recent state activities in which Leni's posterior frame, cleverly cropped from a familiar photo, is digitally superimposed onto the images. Complete with the hashtag #PagbigyanSiLeni, these viral memes are absolutely hysterical. I almost died laughing.

These pictures say a lot. They showcase the Filipinos' infinite capacity for sarcasm, while perfectly expressing the public's disgust towards Leni's brazen duplicity and shameless audacity. That her cropped figure was taken from an old viral photo circulated by her own PR handlers, which shows her waiting for a bus along SLEX, a photo that has recently been revealed as staged, only adds insult to injury. She has been reduced to a cruel joke, much like her friend Leila De Lima who will go down in history as nothing but a curious anomaly [Collective: Goodbye De Lima].

Leni should have known when to keep her mouth shut. All her self-inflicted PR disasters have led me to one undeniable, inevitable conclusion - that she is, in fact, a dimwit. And an overambitious one at that. She opens her trap when she's not supposed to and offers her two cents worth on even the most pedestrian issues, yet she falls silent when something as damning as #lenileaks [Collective: A Sudden Conspicuous Silence] is thrown at her face. I'm not exactly sure if much of this is the fault of her PR handlers or she just can't help herself because she's just too stupid for her own good.

Leni has to learn how to calibrate her public statements, and choose which issues are worth commenting on.

This is where she needs to learn from the master. Who else but Rodrigo Duterte himself? Digong defies convention in every sense of the word. He eludes classification. He shuns hypocrisy and doesn't give a shit what people say about him, yet despite this aura of reckless bravado he is loved and supported by many.

Why? Because he is authentic.

Authenticity is the exact opposite of what Leni Robredo is. You can hire all the best and most expensive PR handlers in the world but at the end of the day people will see right through you, especially if your heart is in the wrong place. Prime Minister Abe's visit to Digong's humble abode in Davao is unprecedented. It shows us that even the most powerful beings in the planet can host each other with utmost simplicity.

The images of that visit are truly amazing. They resonated because of their authenticity. There were no makeup artists, wardrobe consultants or elaborate crews. No PR handlers directing the scene.

Only Bong Go taking a selfie.

Perfect.

Until the darned netizens put Leni in the background.