Rody guest in today’s big bike riders confab

BIG bike riders convene in Tagaytay City today to hold their national convention with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as their guest of honor.

As expected, Duterte will speak about governance and his advocacy for a shift from the current Unitary Presidential to Federal Parliamentary system of government.

Riders from Visayas and Mindanao are not expected to come with their big bikes, but those coming from Luzon and Metro Manila will fill the streets of Tagaytay City with BMWs, Ducatis, Harleys, Yamahas, Hondas and other expensive bikes on their way to the convention venue.

Duterte is himself a big bike rider. While Duterte seldom rides the big bike nowadays, he occasionally jumps into his collection of big bikes to enjoy his passion for riding.

Several years ago, Duterte joined a group of big bike enthusiasts who toured the country for several weeks, an experience which opened the eyes of the Davao City Mayor to the realities confronting the country and the Filipinos.

“I saw bustling communities, I saw sleepy towns, I saw neglect, I saw

poverty and I saw what so many other places needed to catch up with the rest of the country,” he once said.

Duterte said the scenes he saw all over the country in his travels on board the Big Bike made him realise that there is a need for government to reach out to the countryside to provide jobs and income opportunities for the people.

“Many of our overseas workers do not have to leave their families behind and suffer the pain of loneliness abroad if only government could reserve the set up and focus more on rural development to create more jobs and income opportunities for our people,” Duterte said.

The many other big bike riders obviously have seen what Duterte saw and understood what needed to be done. BOT