‘In a similar vein, two ex-presidents are under the gun: Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines and Donald Trump of the United States.’
THE last time I flew into the island once called “Formosa” was in 2010, I think. My purpose was to watch Gilas Pilipinas, then coached by Rajko Toroman, as it played against the opposition in the annual Jones Cup basketball tournament.
More particularly, then-Powerade Tigers coach Bo Perasol and I were keen on watching two potential draft picks play: JVee Casio and Marcio Lassiter. Our Coca-Cola PBA franchise was going to have the Nos. 1 and 4 draft picks in 2011 and we wanted to make sure that in Casio and Lassiter we were getting players with enormous potential.
I guess the run of the Tigers in the 2011-2012 season, as well as the careers that both players had after our team was disbanded, proved how right we were.
I was back in Taipei last week for all of four days and a half, this time not for basketball but for some R&R. I could no longer find the hotel we stayed at, which was I think previously owned by the late Filipino-Chinese businessman Tan Yu; but much of Taipei was still the same — all hustle and bustle and throbbing with the sounds of commerce and all. Except it was quite hot under the sun (though the cool mornings were perfect for short runs around a park next to my hotel) and my local Filipino-turned-Taiwanese guide Rodolfo told me it would have been better to visit from December to February.
But the sun’s heat was, I suppose, an apt analogy for the scorching political and military heat from the Peoples’ Republic that of late has been flexing its military might in and around the Taiwan Strait, a constant reminder to the island that “unification” can come at any time.
In 2023 as in 2010, Taiwan is under the gun.
But I didn’t feel any tensions in the streets of Taipei, among Taipei 101 visitors, or from hawkers in the night markets. They’ve lived this way all their lives and the four days I was there were no special four days for them. Never mind that four carrier battle groups, two from China and two from the USA, were patrolling the waters around the island as I was inside the high-speed elevator that took 30 seconds to raise me from level 5 to level 89 of Taipei 101.
In a similar vein, two ex-presidents are under the gun: Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines and Donald Trump of the United States. Both have been speaking out against the incumbent administrations in their respective countries: in the case of Duterte, it is no better a sign that the formidable Marcos-Duterte alliance that swept to power at the ballot box in 2020 is now an alliance in tatters; in the case of Trump, it is no better a sign that all the legal cases he is confronting are getting to him and robbing him of his “yabang” — that he is a successful businessman who made tons and tons of money because he was smarter than everyone else.
Duterte faces an inquiry from the International Criminal Court for which be hogtied and brought to Europe for trial. Trump, on the other hand, faces a civil case concerning the valuation of his properties, plus criminal cases involving, among others, the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol and attempts to manipulate the results from the State of Georgia. Both can go to jail for the offenses for which they are being investigated, and that’s perhaps they’re reacting far more publicly; they feel the pressure of being under the gun.
Maybe the Taiwanese could teach them a thing or two about mindfulness and calmness even under pressure!
