WHEN a president or vice president talks, the various publics listen. But the publics of Mr. Marcos and lawyer Duterte are different and distinct from how they got to the totem pole of the political ladder. Male legislators and the Senate president have used the word 'unbecoming' to describe what the vice president said last Oct. 18, 2024. If it were a male leader, they would have probably said 'bold' and 'courageous,' right?

Another word used was 'meltdown.' Unfiltered and real talk is not unbecoming when tradition has been set aside by the very institution that honors it. 'Meltdown' coming from vociferous young guns is all hot air having been bridled to go every which way, depending on who pulls. And that is the nature of things in the House of Representatives. While in the Senate, we have a leader who readily contrasts himself to remain in the public eye for the purposes of 2028.