Having been primed to think there would be juicy stuff between the covers about our present leaders and more salacious stuff behind the scenes during their stewardship, I read this book in five hours.
In his Foreword, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte mentioned the reality of biases and the various perspectives a historian may have at the same time he said, this “turbulent period is a story in itself and needs to be told so the lessons it teaches would not be put to waste”.
Other than what we are told through the controlled media, hardly do we ordinary citizens know what goes on before, during and after decisions are made by government officials determining policies, how persons are appointed to government positions and the overall conduct of our highest elected officials after office hours.
The book is reader friendly because of the straightforward narration, the attractive layout of text and photos by Jun de Leon and copies of official documents as evidence of what is claimed by lawyer Victor Dayrit Rodriguez are in their proper places.
The book’s five chapters proceed methodically from laying the groundwork for its being and becoming — getting to know Rodriguez, the process of how he became a Kingmaker, the challenges he had to face and how he hurdled them, to finally breaking ties with the man he worked hard to be elected President of our country.
We all know about a King’s champion as the King’s protectorand now, we hear about how this familiar Kingmaker began with much enthusiasm and belief for a thankless job, pouring all his energies, knowledge and expertise in an uphill battle to get BBM elected as president until finally, his disappointment that in the end, BBM no longer listened to him because he loved his wife more, to put it mildly.
Such a first-hand narration is fraught with honesty and sincere tone between the pages and only a seasoned journalist, recipient of the Mc Luhan and Jaime V. Ongpin Excellence awards like Gerry Lirio could present, albeit often conscious in their telling at times. But, overall, Lirio did the Filipino people a favor by agreeing to write this book at a time of uncertainty and fear of the future with the threat of war and again, the shameless interference of a foreign power.
Ours is a democratic system of government and as such, leaders change every so often. This arrangement comes with changes of government’s directions whether in their political, economic, social and educational spheres.
The book emphasizes that good governance comes only when leaders have the grit, the integrity, the determination and honesty to do what is right for the people who elected them.
It is no longer surprising to learn about various individuals orinterest groups scrambling to gain power or receive financial rewards.The book gives details with names and necessary proofs that only a lawyer and a responsible journalist can put together.
Readers are convinced about how power and corruption can change people, and the book tells us dispassionately about them.
If there are dramatic moments in Rodriguez’s journey charting BBM’s ambitions to be President and as Executive Secretary when BBM was elected, they are not hysterically told. Instead, the tone is calm, getting even cerebral to what is revealed.
Having hindsight after he left the Palace and the events that unfolded in the last 79 days on the job, it is apparent that he came to terms with his experience within the corridors of power and this reader got the impression that Rodriguez turned calm, realizing that one man can’t change a riotous, corrupt system deciding to leave all that jazz behind.
Sure, we all want the truth and the truth we got from Rodriguez’s first- hand experience given in the book. There was no more logic in what was being done to him from the many attempts to destroy his integrity to other indignities he had to endure.
Add to this are the Filipinos’ love for gossip which made it worse because all the “Maritesses” in this country would rather believe untruths let loose to the winds rather than do some critical thinking — too difficult with all the self-interests driving this wedge between the thinkers and the uneducated among us.
In any society, where fear and uncertainty, poverty and corruption are common and widespread, books such as Kingmaker are written.
If Rizal’s Noli me tangere was banned, it would have been in the past. With much information swirling around us today, no one can stop the dissemination of Kingmaker, the book. It is a must read.
Editor’s Note: The author is a retired full professor of Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology. She finished AB English and American Literature and MA in Creative Writing at the Silliman University; Doctor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, DLSU-Taft; Director of the Iligan National Writers Workshop and Founding Chair of the Board of Directors, Mindanao Creative & Cultural Writers Group.
