The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper
Duterte bashers, here's for you
THE RISE OF DAVAO CITY Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the presidential surveys does not mean it is a walk in the park for him. His enemies are watching his moves and listening to every word that comes out of his mouth. Cuss he has aplenty and because he is person who has no pretensions and has virtually nothing that we do not know that they can pry on they literally have to scour the haystack to look for something they can pin him on.
Pope Francis of course holds no rancor against Duterte and in fact gave his blessings for the slip he committed. His holiness knew, for maybe he was appraised, where Duterte was coming from and what prompted that utterance. Knowing the mayor, while he can really be very patient, he can erupt and gives no warning when he sees something irregular and patently inept.
The tirade against him by the black propagandists of (Mar) Roxas, (Jejomar) Binay and (Grace) Poe, like the most recent one on the Australian lay missionary who was gang-raped by inmates inside the police detention cell over two decades ago, is just one example of how the wrecking crew of the political enemies of Duterte is capable of doing.
The fault of the mayor was that he was retelling and explaining during a political rally in Quezon City about how he laid his life as hostage and succeeded to recommit the inmates. He related how the lady missionary who visited the detention cell was grabbed and raped and then later mercilessly killed by the gang leader named Pugoy.
The Mayor who was attending mass that time was tipped and rushed to the scene. A child hostage was also later murdered during the breakdown of negotiation and when Duterte saw this led the assault himself. His order was shoot to kill. He himself unloaded one magazine of bullets on the armed inmates.
I was there along with several media men to witness the event safely from the top of the Maguindanao Hotel how the fire fight was taking place. Only a tall cement wall divides the Metrodiscom headquarters from the hotel.When the gun battle ceased, we all rushed to the barracks and saw hostage takers dead and bathed in their own blood and several visitors in the detention cell who were saved.
I remembered how the hostages profusely thanked Mayor Duterte. It is so different how some quarter reacted today over the same gutter language used by the mayor in the fit of his anger when the media interviewed him.
For the same event, in a time lapse, Duterte was a savior and a hero, today at the height of election season, in the eyes of those who want to denigrate him, he is a villain. For Davaowenyos however, the City Mayor will always remain to be a hero. To put some biblical flavor to this I’d say: his staff and his rod guide us to the path of righteousness and his sharp admonition make a disciplined people of Davaowenyos.
The adversaries of Duterte will never cease from defaming him. They are good at that. Yesterday, for the first time I met a woman who said that she will vote for Roxas even if it is against her conscience because she is afraid that the 4Ps allowance she receives might be stopped.
She has children going to school and she has to feed them too. But yesterday too, I rode in a Grab taxi. He was wearing a Duterte baller. “Duterte ka pala?’’, I asked. Driver: “No sir. Sinuot ko lang yan, dahil may nagbigay. Pero ako sir, ang tutoo, sa Daang Matuwid Ako”. I was about to asked him why, but he cut me short. “Sa daang matuwid ako ni Duterte sir. Hinding-hindi kay Roxas”.
There will always be gullible in our midst. Sadly we find them too in the wellheeled society. Those who believe the scare tactic of the administration and ignores the issues about misuse of DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program), PDAF Priority Development Assistance Fund), Malampaya Funds and money donated for Typhoon Yolanda victims and the inefficiency and graft in DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communication) will go for Roxas.
Those who think that P2-billion for a parking building is fair, a hospital bed costing over P200-thousand is okay and making politics a family industry will no doubt support Binay. Those who think that “may sinimulan si FPJ at dapat isulong ni Grace Poe ang mga ito” will back her. After all Danding Cojuangco is backing her too, and who cares about the coco levy that belongs to the coconut farmers. Besides, also, some still have this wish that with Poe, the Philippines might still become the next state of America. Joke? No I am not joking.