COMM 10: Module 2
Activity 2
On June 22, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte addressed the country regarding the concerns of COVID-19 and some other talking points. In his report, he raised awareness about the ongoing pandemic. Also, he gave warnings about disobeying safety protocols for leisure, primarily directed to the people of Cebu, whose province had rapidly growing cases at that time. Upon rewatching the said broadcast, Pres. Duterte exhibited all the four rhetorical strategies in relaying his message.
In his concerns regarding Cebu being a new COVID-19 hotspot, he made it clear that he avoided sides. “It’s not that I don’t trust your capability, but rather, I said it’s the penchant to go into a sort of a… ‘yang sisihan nga… and nobody would answer for anything.”, he said to the Cebuanos after telling his plan of sending Gen. Simatu to oversee the province. And when he pointed out the lax behavior of Cebuanos, he disregarded the fact that he had a lot of votes from them, and instead, asked the people not to mix politics with the concurrent situation. Although he knew where it went wrong, he refused to point fingers or pertain to someone and instead focused on resolving the concerns by laying out concrete plans and raising awareness. Moreover, he explicitly showed how upset he was about the situation as much as Filipinos are. He was establishing commonality with his countrymen, for them to know that he, too, can feel the wrath of the pandemic and sympathize with the struggles of his people. “I know your heart,” he said.
Furthermore, another rhetoric strategy was also employed. Duterte gave hope in light of the struggles by envisioning a country finally free from COVID. He talked about how the government is fighting back and how a cure, a vaccine, is underway. Especially in his takeaway about terrorism, he spoke of a change, saying “we might just bargain away, place in jeopardy the democratic values that the Filipinos have enjoyed” to address the issue that undermined the country’s national security. Lastly, the implicit displays of rhetorical alignment were also shown in his talk. When he addressed the threats to national security, he didn’t mention a person or a group but instead addressed them as “you”, the high-value targets, the communists.
Overall, I could say that the report was enough to persuade me. Duterte was able to show how severe the pandemic is. He laid out concrete examples and scenarios of what will happen if Filipinos do not cooperate with the government. The problems were made clear, and Duterte revealed plans that persuaded me that the government could be doing something. Especially when he voiced out his sympathy to his countrymen, that he knows their struggles, that he feels the same — it was convincing. It was convincing that he would do something because he knows the heart of his people.
SOURCES:
President Rodrigo Duterte addresses the Philippines nation | Monday, June 22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez1auNC9MPY
Transcript of the broadcast: https://pcoo.gov.ph/presidential-speech/talk-to-the-people-of-president-rodrigo-roa-duterte-on-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-11/
