‘Liking and respecting a politician does not mean always agreeing with him or her on every issue and every position. I may not agree with his or her stance, but I need to be convinced that the stance is more principled than opportunistic.’
I’VE written about this before, but I think recent political developments give the story a new twist – or lease on life.
The story was told to me by my late boss, Don Enrique Zobel, who was a friend and critic (or friendly critic, or maybe critical friend) of then-President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
After Martial Law was declared, Zobel teamed up with several other business leaders to form The Makati Business Club as a way of giving voice (and some influence) to the business community as it faced “takeover” by Marcos cronies.
It was “critical collaboration,” which required engaging with the President. Under a modus vivendi of sorts.
Decades later, when both gentlemen were in the twilight of their lives, Marcos invited Zobel to meet in Hawaii a number of times to discuss the so-called “Marcos gold.” The meetings prompted a question from the businessman to the ex-president: “Mr. President, with all your cronies, why do you choose to discuss this matter with me?”
Zobel was given a lengthy answer – but I guess the real answer lay in a remark that Marcos made to Zobel during a meeting in Malacanang: “Enrique, I don’t like you but I respect you.”
Amid all the brouhaha around the Senate’s action on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, I was reminded of that “I don’t like you but I respect you” comment. And it made me realize that out of the 24 senators of the 19th Congress there is a handful I don’t know at all and have never met personally and about whom I have no opinion; a handful (including some whom I know) that I neither like nor respect; another handful I know whom I like but do not respect; and a (really small) handful that I like and respect.
Liking and respecting a politician does not mean always agreeing with him or her on every issue and every position. I may not agree with his or her stance, but I need to be convinced that the stance is more principled than opportunistic.
Sad though that some of those I used to lump in the “like and respect” I have now moved to the “But do not” category – and I use the word “sad” because these are folks I’ve known for decades and now feel that time and power and money indeed have changed them (and their principles) beyond superficial recognition.
Like and respect? Theirs is a dying breed.
