‘He is our last hope’ A TAUSUG FISH DEALER DREAMS OF A RODY DUTERTE PRESIDENCY

By Manny Piñol

Dumaguete City – The 4-hour ferry boat ride today from Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte to Dumaguete City, where my team will rendezvous with Mayor Rody Duterte who will speak before university students tomorrow, gave me a rare opportunity to hear a common man’s voice.

As I stood by the railing of the World War II vintage ferry boat enjoying the sea breeze gently slapping my face, I heard two rugged looking men speak in Tausug, the language of the people in the islands of Sulu, Tawi-tawi and parts of Zamboanga and Basilan.

When one of the men left, I engaged the other in a conversation and found out that he and the others were fish dealers who came all the way from Sulu to deliver to Cebu City at least 5 tons of the expensive groupers and other high value sea products caught in the vast Sulu Sea.

Ismael Brahim felt comfortable when I told him that I came from Davao City and was on my way to Dumaguete City.

“Ah Davao? Kay Duterte? Magaling na tao yan, pantay pantay ang trato nya Muslim man o Kristyano. Sana tumakbo sya bilang Presidente,” said the 49-year-old Tausug who has been involved in delivering expensive fish caught in the seas off the islands to Cebu City, Bacolod City, Cagayan de Oro City and other parts of the mainland Mindanao for at least 8 years now.

(Davao? Duterte? He’s a good man. He treats everybody fairly, Muslim or Christian. I hope he runs for President.)

“Ang daming isda sa dagat ng Sulu kasi takot ang ibang mga fishermen na pumunta doon. Kami lang nangingisda doon pero mahirap magdeliver kasi minsan nasisira ang isda namin dahil walang barko,” said Brahim, whose old Isuzu truck was carrying over P1-M worth of fish and squids.

(There’s a lot of fish in the Sulu Seas because the other fishermen are afraid to fish in the area. We are the only ones fishing in the area but sometimes are fish get spoiled because there are no boats in the ports to transport our catch.)

“Pero tiyaga lang kami. Mabuti na ito kaysa yong ginagawa ng iba na magkidnap at maghingi ng ransom,” he added, admitting that he once was a rebel who belonged to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) who was trained abroad.

(But we have to persever. This is better than what the others are doing, kidnapping people and asking for ransom.)

“Sana kung mag Presidente si Duterte, maisip nya na tulungan kami na mga Muslim na naghahanap buhay ng tama. Sana makaisip sya ng paraan na madala namin ang aming mga isda sa ibang mga siyudad tulad ng Manila para kumita kami ng malaki,” he said.

(I hope that if Duterte becomes President, he will remember to help us Muslims who are working right. I hope he will be able to think of ways to bring our catch to the big cities like Manila so that we could earn more.)

When I told him that as an unofficial agriculture adviser to Mayor Rody Duterte, I have discussed the very idea that he was proposing, Brahim became very excited.

“Kung ganoon, dapat talaga manalo sya na Presidente. Ako, pati mga kamag-anak ko sa Sulu, mag-Duterte kami lahat kasi sya lang naman nakakaintindi ng problema namin sa Mindanao. Sya ang huli naming pag-asa,” he told me.

(If that is true that Duterte should become President. I and my relatives in Sulu, we will support Duterte because he is the only one who understands our problems in Mindanao. He is our last hope.)

When we shook hands and parted ways as the ferry boat prepared to dock at the Dumaguete City wharf, I saw Ismael Brahim smile.

Perhaps, he was happy knowing that the problems he shared with me would reach the ears of the man who could be the next President of the Philippines.

(Photo caption: A photo with a new found friend, Ismael Brahim, a fish dealer from Sulu, while on board an Aleson Ferry Boat. Romirose Padin)