The seamless world of international diplomacy

By Jose Maroma Jr.

When world leaders gather, they speak in the polite but ambivalent verbiage of diplomacy.

In this rarified atmosphere of manicured conversations, diplomats address each other in the third person as His Excellency, downplay transgressions as “unfortunate incidents”, and mute anger by describing horrendous crimes as “unacceptable”.

This is the kind of wonderland the diplomatic elite live in. This is BBM’s turf, a platform for heralding pompous calls for peace, brotherhood and cooperation.

His predecessor, who rolled up his barong sleeves even during formal occasions, was of another breed. He did not care about diplomatic courtesy, disrupted treaty commitments for such a petty personal reason as avenging a protégé’s visa cancellstion

BBM is riding high on the wings of publicity attending summits, waxing eloquent on regional cooperation, and brandishing pledges of investment.

There must be some benefits to these PR blitzes, but the nation is awaiting results.

As an old proverb goes, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

Those familiar with American idiom will recall a famous Wendy’s Hamburger slogan, “where’s the beef?”

Jose B. Maroma Jr. is a retired civil engineer from Cabatuan, Iloilo. He likes to spend his time reading and writing on the burning issues of the day.