By Manny Piñol
Almost a month after he made a sudden decision to heed the call of millions to run for President, leading candidate and Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte is still at a loss over what brought him to the portal leading to Malacañang.
In a speech he delivered last night during the Christmas Party for members of the media at the Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City, Duterte recalled that he had always rejected suggestions for him to run for President.
“Manny Piñol here started talking to me about the Presidency two years ago and I always told him: “Hindi ako puede dyan Man,” Duterte said during the gathering which I and Friends of Rody Duterte (FoRD) national coordinator Rene Concordia also attended.
“I have never dreamed of this. Paano mag Presidente ang tao na 75% lang ang grade sa escuela?” he joked.
Sounding bewildered over why he is now considered to be six months away from becoming the 16th President of the Philippines, Duterte wondered aloud who should be faulted for making him accept the challenge to run for the country’s highest position.
“I don’t know if it is the fault of Manny Piñol. Please don’t be offended. Sige kasi sya daldal ‘Takbo ka, manalo ka. Mindanao will have it’s first President’,” Duterte said.
I almost choked when I heard him say that, even recalling the time when I would wait for him at the fairway of Hole No. 1 of the Davao City Golf Club where a small helicopter picks him up to bring him to his engagements in the outskirts of the city to remind him that “You cannot escape from your destiny.”
I did not have the chance to tell him whose fault it was that brought him close to the Presidency but through this page (which he reads daily, by the way), let me just tell Rody Duterte whose fault it is.
The Duterte Presidency is the fault of drug dealers who are raking in billions while destroying a whole generation of Filipinos making dangerous drugs a national security threat.
The Duterte Presidency is the fault of the criminals who operate with impunity without any degree of fear or respect for the law and the ineptness of the implementors of the Five Pillars of the Justice system.
The Duterte Presidency is the fault of the thieves in government who could not seem to be contented with the perks and privileges given to top government officials and could not resist the temptation of stealing millions in people’s money.
The Duterte Presidency is the fault of greedy businessmen who brag about the billions of pesos they earn every year but refuse to give the Filipino workers the opportunity to rise above poverty and live decent lives.
The Duterte Presidency is the fault of the systemic corruption in almost all agencies of government graphically exemplified by the “Tanim Bala” scam victimising mostly poor travellers and Overseas Filipino Workers.
The Duterte Presidency is the fault of government leaders who have failed to provide acceptable and doable solutions to the Bangsamoro Problem and the Communist insurgency in the country which has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
It’s their fault Mayor Rody. It’s neither mine nor yours.
But the good thing is their fault and their foolishness have resulted in the expected salvation of the Filipino and this nation from damnation.
Don’t feel guilty. Don’t be embarrassed by your frailties and your shortcomings, even your expulsion from Ateneo de Davao and your poor scholastic grades.
The Filipino people accept you for who and what your are.
All that they want is for you to correct the faults in this country and make the Filipinos proud of themselves again.
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