Flattery will get you nowhere, Duterte tells gov’t execs

Good performance, not flattery, will impress him, President Duterte said on Tuesday night.

Mr. Duterte reminded government employees to follow his directive to stop displaying his portrait in their offices, and to instead put up pictures of the country’s heroes.

“Please remind them of that because they’re so hardheaded. You do not flatter me with my picture. My hair will just stand on end with that,” Mr. Duterte said in a gathering with reporters on Tuesday night.

The President said he’d be suspicious of government personnel insisting on displaying his portrait.

“Maybe this fool hasn’t performed well and is trying to make up for it,” he added.

Mr. Duterte said he did not need and did not like this kind of adulation. He’d rather the government workers did their job well so that he could be proud of them.

“You do not ingratiate yourself with flattery,” he said.

Then he added: “If you do your job, I would be happier with you, to tell you the truth.”

An identification card for overseas workers carrying an image of the President has drawn criticism, prompting Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to consider redesigning it.

Some observed that Mr. Duterte’s photo was the same size as the photo of the ID owner. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Mr. Duterte had not known about the labor department’s move.

“Didn’t he ask offices to take down his photos and replace them with that of national heroes?” Roque said.

The President said his order to stop displaying his portrait goes back to when he was Davao City mayor.

People should show a sense of loyalty to the country by displaying the portraits of national heroes, he added.

Malacañang in September issued a memorandum circular directing government offices to display pictures of heroes such as Jose Rizal, Lapu-Lapu and Andres Bonifacio, instead of portraits of government officials.

The circular, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, says that it is the state’s policy to promote and popularize the nation’s historical and cultural heritage.

“The state shall provide the means to strengthen the people’s nationalism, love of country, and respect for its heroes by emphasizing the importance of Philippine national and local history in the daily life of the Filipinos, with the objective of raising social consciousness and patriotism,” it said.