Digong Duterte disarms crowd at Go Negosyo forum
I was at the recent Go Negosyo Presidentiables’ Forum of Joey Concepcion as a panelist, with Davao City Mayor
Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte as the guest. Like the previous presidentiables’ forum mounted by Go Negosyo in collaboration with TV5 and with Luchi
Cruz-Valdez as moderator, the affair was extremely successful with the ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel in Makati filled to capacity.
Many in the audience had only seen and heard Duterte on television during interviews and so they were eager to meet the tough-talking mayor, who was in a jovial mood probably because the Commission on Elections’ First Division had decided to dismiss the disqualification cases filed against him. Pretty soon, you could hear the ballroom erupting in amused laughter as the guests found themselves disarmed by the candor displayed by Duterte, answering questions in characteristic fashion — straight and no nonsense. Apparently, the crowd appreciated this “straight talk” from the presidentiable with some admitting that he came across as a breath of fresh air because he did not give safe, evasive and PC ( politically calibrated) answers to the questions thrown at him by the panelists and the members of the audience.
I have to admit that I was also surprised — albeit pleasantly — that the mayor has a wide knowledge of history especially on Mindanao where he hails from, and that he has very definite views about international relations particularly with China and the United States. Of course, he was adamant about his stand on crime (and punishment), having been a lawyer and prosecutor in the late ‘70s up to the mid-‘80s before he became a politician. According to his supporters, they expect the mayor’s survey ratings to go up now that the campaign season has been officially opened.