Duterte on the Presidency ‘IF IT IS GOD’S WILL, I WILL HUMBLY OBEY’

By Manny Piñol

Presidential prospect Rody Duterte, mayor of Davao City for 24 years now, last night assured the Filipino people that if it is God’s will that he becomes President of the Philippines he will “humbly obey.”

Speaking before the congregation of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ which gathered in Davao City April 25 to celebrate the 64th birthday of its leader, Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy, Duterte said he believed that the Presidency is a mission from God.

“I have never coveted the Presidency even up to this day but people are saying that I should run for President. That is not for me to decide. It is something which comes from God,” he said.

Pastor Quiboloy, who had been a friend of Mayor Duterte since the day he put up a small chapel near the Davao City Airport to start his religious congregation King of Jesus Christ which now has over 6 million members worldwide, exhorted Duterte during his address to the thousands who celebrated his birthday to “listen to the voices of the people.”

“You cannot turn your back on the people. You have to remember that the voice of the people is the voice of God,” Quiboloy told Mayor Duterte.

Duterte, who last year flatly rejected the idea of even considering the Presidency, is ranked 3rd in recent surveys which asked people who they preferred to become the next President of the Philippines.

His 3rd place ranking came as a big surprise to my political observers especially so because Duterte has continuously denied any intention to run for President.

While he has been moving around the country over the last few months, Duterte said he is only advocating a shift from the Unitary Presidential form of government to a Federal Parliamentary which would lead to the creation of at least 12 highly autonomous Federal States all over the country.

Duterte has maintained that the Federal System would result in the establishment of a Bangsamoro Federal State, considered both an excellent option and an alternative to the beleaguered Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) which is expected to be spurned by Congress and the Senate.

He has also continued on his advocacy against drugs and criminality which he said are the major social problems in Philippine society today.

The 70-year-old Davao City Mayor is credited for transforming the former “Killing Fields” in the Philippines where Communist assassins terrorised the community with almost unabated killings, to being one of the Safest Cities in the World to Live In.

He is also widely admired for having kept a clean image even as cases of massive corruption in government have led to the downfall of big name politicians in the country.

(Photos: Mayor Duterte sings “You Raise Me Up” for his friend Pastor Quiboloy who celebrated his birthday April 25; Mayor Duterte with Pastor Quiboloy, businessman Sammy Uy and several friends at the KJC.)