He is what he is HERE’S THE FINAL OFFER: ‘TAKE HIM OR LEAVE HIM’

By Manny Piñol

A few days ago, I received a pleading from a follower of this page begging me to tell Presidential frontrunner Rody Duterte to be careful with his language because his opponents are pouncing on every little misstatement he makes.

“Sir, please tell the Mayor to be careful with his use of words because we get so very tired defending him in the social media,” said the follower in his message.

Can anybody really tell Duterte how to talk or how to speak in public?

As a friend, I tried that two years ago after I heard him use profanities in a gathering with civic leaders in Naga, a city of deeply religious people.

I also tried to draft speeches for him because I noticed that he was jumping all over the place when delivering his agonisingly long discourses.

To the suggestion that he should refrain from using vulgar language, he said: “I can’t help it. It comes out naturally.”

To my attempt to write a speech for him, including his proclamation speech where he made the Papal gaffe, and use a teleprompter, his reply was: “Gagayahin ko sila?”

Admittedly, I also use foul language in casual conversations with friends or when I am upset but I cringe every time I hear Duterte utter his patented “gutter language” in public.

I had a sleepless night when I heard his recent narrative about the rape of the Australian preacher during the infamous Felipe Pugoy hostage taking which happened in 1989.

I feel weak when he jumps all over the place when delivering his rambling speeches which sometimes would last for about 2 hours.

But this is the real Duterte. He likes to talk to people and he talks to them like they were his childhood friends and drinking buddies in a language he is comfortable with, curses, profanities and all included.

So, four Catholic bishops and woman rights groups are now saying that Duterte should not be elected President of the country because of his discomfiting narrative on the rape and killing of the Australian preacher 27 years ago?

If we follow that, we are left with four choices: Senator Grace Poe Llamanzares, Vice President Jejomar Binay, former DILG Secretary Manuel Roxas III and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.

Poe Llamanzares does not talk like Duterte because her words and even pronouncements are controlled and guided by those who are financing her Presidential campaign, the Oligarchs and the business interests.

Setting aside questions on her citizenship and residency, Poe Llamanzares is still wet behind the ears and could not possibly handle the crisis the country is facing right now.

Binay, according to Duterte, is a “certified plunderer” and the only reason why the Ombudsman did not charge him with plunder along with his son, former Makati Mayor Erwin, is because he is still immune from suit as a sitting Vice President.

Once a thief, always a thief, they say.

Roxas, beyond the projection that he is a “disente” who comes from a very rich family and belongs a known political clan, is a man with an ugly behaviour.

You have to get close to him to know that he treats people around him like they were his drivers or housemaids yelling at them when he is upset, thus his pronouncements that he cares for the poor is nothing but pure bullshit.

Defensor-Santiago would have been a better option but her frail condition simply would not allow her to govern effectively.

Honestly, I and my brothers would have supported her had Duterte not joined the Presidential race.

So, we need to take a second look at Duterte.

Yes, he is foul-mouthed but the drug lords and criminal syndicates are shaking in their boots right now as he leads in the surveys and is expected to win the Presidency.

Yes, he curses but he is the only guy who could talk to the New People’s Army, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and other groups who pose a threat to the national security.

He is our best hope for peace and unity in this country.

Yes, he is coarse with his language but he is the only candidate who has a solid and viable plan for agriculture and food security, including poverty alleviation in this country.

Yes, he sometimes acts like a “barumbado” but he is the only candidate who talks about the welfare of the Overseas Filipino Workers and who has openly declared that he will stop the practice of job contractualization in the country.

Yes, he sometimes offends women with his sexist remarks but he is the only candidate who has a track record in passing and enforcing ordinances on Women Protection and Anti-Discrimination.

Most of all, he is the only candidate who is not funded by Oligarchs and who has publicly declared that he will not receive contributions from people who have business interests with government.

He is, in other words, the only Presidential candidate who truly represents the Filipino people’s interest.

So you find his language abhorrent and distasteful?

I have a suggestion – buy a lot of cotton balls and stuff these in your ears whenever he talks or turn off the volume of your television sets when he speaks.

Just look at his facial expression and watch his hand movements.

His face will bare his true emotions and his hand will point to the direction where this country is going – a nation where the poor have hope of a better life, where businessmen are not harassed and extorted, and where our children are free from drugs and protected from criminals.

Duterte has declared he will not refine his language or change himself just to please people.

Take it or leave it.

(Captions: Reed thin Duterte, then OIC vice mayor of Davao City, joins the late Zafiro Respicio, OIC mayor of Davao City in settling a tribal war; Duterte in an NPA camp to work for the release of a soldier held hostage; Duterte with the fugitive MNLF leader Nur Misuari; Duterte with members of the MILF Central Committee; Duterte working with the military and the police in the campaign against drugs; Duterte kissing a cancer-stricken child; Duterte crying as children with cancer sing a song of thanks for him; and the famous Davao City 911, the only one of its kind in the country. All photos downloaded from Facebook and Google.)