Month: June 2016

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s (“Pres. Rody”) speech at the inaugural held in Malacañang Palace at noon today (June 30, 2016) was terse, forthright and compelling. It actually centered in the core values of Pres. Rody’s advocacies against criminality, drugs and corruption. Indeed, it was a mere restatement of common sense aspirations of a sincere and unpretentious leader.

When Pres. Rody emerged as the front-runner in the Presidential race as the ballots were being canvassed, immediately after the May 9, 2016 election; critics virtually doused cold water on his suggested strategies to minimize if not totally eradicate criminality.

First among his suggested strategies was the imposition of curfew among minors especially the little children. Thence, Pres. Rody was labeled as a small town thinking executive as his capability to bring about the avowed change was belittled outright and thrashed as impossible to achieve.

But the unregimented reaction and the seemingly decentralized, in fact localized operations waged by police forces, which happened out of the blue, following the pronouncements by Pres. Rody against the drug menace and criminality, in general (even prior to his ascension as the nation’s leader); indicated the scare created not only among the drug personalities but among those rouge police officers, who patently appeared to be sort of “covering their tracks”. As of latest count, there has been 59 drug personalities who have been killed (mostly drug pushers, who were either resisting arrest or fighting it out via gunfight with police authorities) since the May 9, 2016 polls plus a swarm of drug-users-surrenderees. Thus, it has then clearly dawned that Pres. Rody has the capability to effect changes. For even though he has not as yet assumed office, the showing that he will force into his style of governance a strong political will, sort of pushed the previously lackadaisical police force into meaningful and fruitful action.

In a similar move, aimed at eradicating corruption at the BIR; incoming BIR Chief, Atty. Caesar Dulay, who has vowed to clean up the BIR,  spoke about suspending the implementation of LOAs (i.e. Letter of Authority). These LOAs which arm internal revenue agents with the authority to conduct investigations geared at determining whether a taxpayer has dutifully complied with the payment of tax liabilities, Atty. Dulay said actually breed corruption. The foregoing is so, as with the investigation conducted the taxpayer and the internal revenue agent would then be inveigled after a series of “negotiations” to come up with a tax paying deal patently detrimental to the government’s coffers .

But what is most riveting in the inaugural speech of Pres. Rody is his exhortation that would show the comprehensive panorama of the extent of his political and economic programs, in a quote which he attributed to US President Abraham Lincoln, which goes as follows:

“You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

“You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

“You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.

“You cannot further brotherhood of men by inciting class hatred.”

Truly, Pres. Rody has championed a “common sense” espousal of realities that are easily discernible; plainly understandable and stripped of the bombast and prolixity of traditional politicians. It was a call for support and cooperation from the people that he has vowed to serve….a common leader’s aspiration and a very sensible one.

In my more than sixty-six years of living here in the Philippines, I never did experience the same level of expectation, anticipation and suspense as what is now being professed, felt and seen  on the eve of the inauguration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (“Pres. Rody”) which is set tomorrow, June 30, 2016 in Malacañang.

Even the menu which was planned out for the  ceremony became the subject of a seeming clothesline rumbling between the pro-Duterte and anti-Duterte myrmidons. Those who picture Pres. Rody as uncouth felt that serving mere “maruya” (i.e. some kind of “banana fritter”) and coconut juice during the affair is “unpresidential”. While those who ardently idolize  Pres. Rody would certainly aver that the “maruya” and coco juice combination is only fitting to pointedly foist Pres. Rody’s advocacy for simplicity and of shunning ostentatious gatherings embellished with sumptuous meals.

Eventually however, the menu was changed to some kind of a lentil soup with fish and a retinue of dessert featuring Davao’s famous durian tartlet.

And as the inaugural nears, I cannot help but ponder and focus on the emerging “common sense” panache of the incoming Duterte Administration which now seems to have carved out the controlling hallmark of Pres. Rody’s style of governance.

One of Pres. Rody’s oft-repeated utterances is his absolute detestation to what he has referred to as all kinds of  oppression which weigh down upon the suffering poor Filipino people. Pres. Rody made public his disgust and repugnance to the long lines of Filipinos in most government offices seeking to get a copy of this and that. And as he took to task this matter, the case of the NSO where long lines of people abound almost every day just to get a copy of one’s birth certificate, Pres. Rody promised and announced that this has to stop. Pres. Rody said that he will issue an edict setting a 72-hour deadline to set a standard for the release of government issuances. As regards the NSO-issuances, the common perception that has formed in the minds of people is that these NSO-authenticated certificates have an effectivity/validity term  of 6 months ONLY.  Despite the NSO’s disavowal of this predominant perception that NSO-issued birth certificates only carry a 6-month validity period, the NSO seemed to have acted as an accessory to the demands of government offices too, such as the NBI, etc. to color-code their issuances just as, purportedly, to forestall the supposedly flagrant faking of those NSO certificates. And this color-coding eventually gave that undeniable perception that the NSO birth certificate has as short term validity.

In a masterful stroke however, Pres. Rody has announced that this practice of according short-term validity unto those government issuances particularly the oftenly needed NSO issuances, specifically the birth certificate (knowing fully well that birth dates are permanent as they do not change),   must stop and that all government offices have to follow his 72-hour rule. Thus, passports would now be renewed every 10 years and not just every 5 years. Driver’s licenses which now carry a 3-year validity; may have to be extended to 10 year-validity too. However, the idea of perpetually-valid driver’s licenses is also being considered to stop the long queues forming every month in the country’s LTO offices.

In a similar move, Pres. Rody lamented  the incredibly long period of waiting time for the SSS to process death claims of members. And to poignantly deliver his message, Pres. Rody injected his spiel with a jocular note, that at times, a death claim is released to a widow after that widow has already kicked the bucket. With this, Pres. Rody has insisted in including the processing of the SSS death claims (which invariably gets released after years of waiting) to his now famous 72-hour deadline which Pres. Rody proudly brags as having been very successful in Davao City’s bureaucracy.

In the field of secondary education, having publicly acknowledged that he went through high school matriculation reaping grades barely skimming upward the 75 passing mark,  Pres. Rody promised to delist from the high school curriculum the subject on TRIGONOMETRY. Frankly, I myself cannot understand why TRIGONOMETRY is being taught in high school when it really does not appear applicable to daily life in both social and business interactions of people. A lawyer-friend of mine, whom I naughtily suspect to have suffered a failing mark in TRIGONOMETRY in high-school, disgustingly remarked that: “MUKHANG SI DIGONG LANG ANG MAY “COMMON SENSE”, SYA LANG ANG NAKAKITA NA DAPAT TANGGALIN ANG TRIGONOMETRY SA HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM.” [English translation: “IT SEEMS ONLY DIGONG (an informal appellation ascribed on Pres. Rody) HAS THE COMMON SENSE TO PERCEIVE THAT TRIGONOMETRY MUST BE SCRAPPED OUT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM.”]

Indeed, as has been repeatedly said, COMMON SENSE SEEMS UNCOMMONLY COMMON!

[Left panel shows President-elect Rodrigo Roa Duterte (“Pres. Rody”) with the seal of the President of the Republic of the Philippines shown in the background. At right panel is the photograph of the former Philippine strong-man, President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos (whom Pres. Rody acknowledged as the best President of the country), as he announced the declaration of martial law on September 21, 1972.]

I am a senior citizen who has lived in our beloved country for THREE (3) scores and almost SEVEN (7) years now. Based on my experience, I could doughtily assert that a Filipino leader who wants success in the country’s governance, ought to instill fear in the hearts and minds of the ordinary Filipino, to make things happen.

When martial law was imposed, and fear was instilled in the minds of the Filipino people, the first years thereof (except that a lot of my more militant and progressive friends would perhaps raise their hands in protest) was pleasant and delightful.

Though I participated in those unruly and violent demonstrations and rallies of the 70s, being a UP Diliman student myself (as in fact I was a participator in the 1971 Diliman Commune, except that in deference to my father’s edict for me not to enlist as a card-carrying member of either the KM or SDK), I never got fully brainwashed and/or indoctrinated in the ways of the left. The left then would laudatorily label their teachings under the jargon of being arising from NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC aspirations of the plebeian poor and not outright, as ideals of COMMUNISM.

Indeed, criminality was reduced by reason of the imposition of curfew and the widespread presence of the military in the streets. In fact, civilian-clad marshals were employed to insure that in every bus plying EDSA  then, there is at least one armed soldier who will guard the commuters to thwart the then prevalent pickpocket heists. Food sufficiency was achieved through the Green Revolution and the Masagana 99  as well as the Biyayang-Dagat programs.

Truly, the martial law era gave priority and accorded much of its thrust to the more tangible freedoms and rights (i.e. freedom from want and hunger, right to a livelihood, etc.) as against the supposedly-perceived amorphous and chimerical concepts (in the eyes of the holders of powers then) such as the freedoms of speech and of the press.

The streets especially in Metro-Manila were so neat, tidy and clean through the ubiquitous presence of the Metro aides. There was order too in the bus terminals as well as in jeepney loading stations, as commuters started to learn how to queue in an orderly manner. Simply stated, discipline was re-instilled in the minds of the Filipinos, as even the sporting of long hair was banned, making the barber shops’ businesses even more lucrative. What is more, wives and parents were ecstatic, as their husbands and children will all be neatly tucked in their beds at home just before the midnight curfew.

The martial law years also made remarkable leaps in the field of housing as in fact I worked for more than a decade in the Tondo Foreshore Urban Renewal Program from 1974 to 1986.

During my stint in that Tondo Foreshore project where homelots were sold and awarded to poor residents of Tondo Foreshore area at Php 95.00 per square meter, the poor people of Tondo Foreshore felt very much elated as the renewal program and the concomitant award of homelots which they can then call as their very own,  accorded them much dignity and self-esteem.

By way of a cursory aside, martial law has been pictured as a monstrous contrivance enacted by former Pres. Marcos which was then continuously covertly demonized with the help then by the militant, nay radical underground media, and the opportunistic oligarchs of the country. In truth, martial law derailed the aspirations of the leftist movement to triumph in the continuing psy-war scenario and eventually wrest control over the government’s political power. What could be stressed as the principal accomplishment of the Marcos era, was its monumental strides that it waged that kept the country totally shielded from a communists’ takeover. Those who would regard martial law as evil are usually those who are identified with the left and those others who feel so proud to be labeled as militant, radical, feisty and young turks, on the one hand. On the other hand, those politicians too who have felt that Marcos would perpetually reign supreme thereby depriving them the opportunity to rule themselves, have vilified martial law as depraved and iniquitous.

I would undoubtedly join President-elect Rody Duterte’s (“Pres. Rody”)  acknowledgment that Pres. Marcos was the best President that our country has ever had as he had grandly announced in one of his campaign spiels.

In a virtual redux, particularly on the matter of instilling fear in the hearts and minds of the Filipino people, I got re-affirmed on this issue by a good friend of mine. This good friend of mine and my next-door neighbor who exudes much more wisdom and maturity, categorically told me that he also steadfastly believes that fear must be instilled in the hearts and minds of the Filipino to instill discipline into their subconscious minds.

We, myself and my aforesaid friend, are in fact sharing in the commonality that the martial law experience   has given much affirmation to the perception that to instill discipline in the Filipino, fear must be fostered in their pugnacious minds.

Thus, in our trek towards a better and a favorably changed Philippine society, we, myself and my friend and next-door-neighbor, Jimmy Zambrano, are one and certain, in our common yearning and aspiration that Pres. Rody must wield an iron-hand and must sow terror against the few who are evil, so that the great majority will be able to live in peace and contentment in our beloved country, the Philippines.

Along this line therefore, the trek that should now be trod is towards the healing of the nation after that divisive electoral exercise and for us, to now wholeheartedly support our elected leader, Pres. Rody!

[In one of his campaign spiels too, Pres. Rody revealed that his father Vicente Duterte served in Pres. Marcos’s cabinet. Pres. Rody also mentioned in another media interviw that the reason why he has opted not to appoint Vice-President-elect Leni Robredo is thap Pres. Rody does not want to offend a friend, in the person of Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos.]

[Left panel shows President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s photo juxtaposed with the quotation which reads as follows: “A LEADER MUST BE A TERROR TO THE FEW WHO ARE EVIL IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE LIVES AND WELL-BEING OF THE MANY WHO ARE GOOD.” At right panel is the portrait of Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli with his quote collocated to his right which reads: “IT IS BETTER TO BE FEARED THAN LOVED, IF YOU CANNOT BE BOTH.”]

Niccolo Machiavelli once said that: “It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.”

Perhaps, the foregoing has emerged as the apt catch-phrase, albeit the exemplar slogan of President-elect Rody Duterte (“Pres. Rody”) as he enters the threshold of his providential Presidency.

Some among those who portray Pres. Rody as uncouth and so plebeian in his ways, cannot accept the fact that with his 16 Million win as the new President of the Philippine Republic, Pres. Rody has  already earned the mandate of the people. By proving their point, these doubting thomases  would quickly do the calculation and would state with seeming confidence and pluck, that at 16 million votes, Pres. Rody does not yet possess the majority vote that would entitle him to arrogate power as the country’s chief executive. This perception is clearly not tenable as there is no constitutional provision that requires a majority vote to become President.

By way of laying the premise to some kind of parallelism, English historian Lord Acton (1834–1902), in his famous observation on power, concluded that: “great men are almost always pictured as bad men”; and, in identifying with a personality which is most apt to be put up as paragon of leadership in an Asian setting, it ought to be  Mao Tse Tung.

Mao Tse Tung was a romantic visionary who set himself with seemingly impossible goals. But, Mao had the necessary qualities of leadership, persistence, and ruthlessness to reach them. Mao was uncouth who lacked personal polish, even criticized as a dictator, and who was almost always vulgar in his choice of words, and (even in his declining years) overly enjoyed the company of women.

What Mao did which has brought her much closer to the hearts of the masses in Red China, was his dream and initial but crucial efforts to modernize China and his similar efforts to remove the elite in Chinese society.

On the other hand, Pres. Rody has vowed to modernize the Philippines with his determined push for a stronger and more robust steel industry. Though, he may be uncouth and vulgar, it is with a very essential cause. It is because Pres. Rody has pledged his life to fight crime and corruption as he had in fact earned the reputation of being a crime-buster especially when it comes to drugs and acts of fraud and debauchery in government and that he has similarly vowed to stop all kinds of oppression against the Filipino people.

And it could be Pres. Rody’s  perception that it is required, for him to achieve his committed goals to put up a fearful image to instill trepidation and dread among the criminal and malevolent elements of society.

Deepak Chopra, an Indian-American author and prominent advocate of the NEW AGE MOVEMENT, listed a number of positives when a leader goes tough and ruthless, and here is his list:  toughness provides sharper focus; the leader quickly knows who is an ally and who is an enemy;  intimidation can be used as a competitive tactic; if people fear you, they will respect you; weaker people will submit to the leader’s will; time is not wasted making friends as what counts are the results; the leader will be labeled as a winner; and the leader would not have guilty feelings  about hurting others, as it is war, after all.

Looking back, the elite of yesteryears was successful in bringing down the leadership of one of our national heroes whom the elite then felt as uncouth in the person of Andres Bonifacio. And the elite then was also triumphant in eradicating a national hero deemed as vulgar and ruthless, in the person of Antonio Luna.

Amidst this interplay of historical facets and the riveting electoral contest that has just passed, let us all now stop in prayer for Pres. Rody’s success. As his success will be the nation’s success. Let us all therefore supplicate God’s intervention and intercession for guidance and blessing that Pres. Rody’s unintended efforts to displace and unsettle the elite would not be taken to mean as a rebuff to those members of the elite who have remained to be cooperative, righteous and upright members of our society. With this, we would rightfully be giving hope and inspiration to the lowly members of our society who have identified with Pres. Rody (who invariably refers to himself as “trabajante sa gobyerno” aka “government worker”) as they feel oneness for their being similarly uncouth, unwashed, plebeian, and more so, for being proletarian.

[Left photo shows President-elect Rody Duterte in one of his campaign rallies stressing a point. Right photo shows a page of the DURIAN POST, a community newsletter being circulated in Davao City with its top-left portion showing an article entitled: “DAVAO CITY INCOME SEEN TO BREACH PH6-B IN 2014”] 

For over two decades,  President-elect Rody Duterte (“Pres. Rody”) reigned as Mayor of one of the richest cities of the Philippines in terms of the yearly revenue that seeps into its coffers. Shortly, after Pres. Rody assumed office as Mayor of Davao City in 2013, Davao City’s financial people prognosticated that the local government unit could almost breach its targeted Php 6 Billion mark in 2014 in terms of annual income. Admittedly, Davao City has emerged as the richest city in the whole of the archipelago outside of the Metro-Manila area.

But, despite the richness of the city which Pres. Rody has governed from being the most crime-ridden city in this part of the globe during the mid-1980s, to its current label as one of the safest cities in the whole world today, Pres. Rody has opted to stay in his modestly simple house stripped of the elegance and rococo of the rich and the famous.

In a Filipino setting, that kind of narration would ostensibly be considered as a joke. It would be deemed as a joke as it would seem that Filipinos, a predominant number I am sure, would espouse the customary belief that if you acquire political power, it must automatically translate to quick financial aggrandizement, meaning a majestic home and flashy cars, to boot.

I have heard a lot of my countrymen cracking that same old joke, in fact parodying a scenario where a soul is given the opportunity to land into some government posting that is usually perceived as a money-making post like the Customs or the Bureau of Internal Revenue; his kith and kin would simply be very angry at him if at the end of his posting, he would remain to be poor.

And he could eventually become the butt of jokes and the subject of a humiliating tirade from relatives and friends in the following fashion: “PUTANG INA MO, BINIGYAN KA NA NG PUWESTO SA GOBYERNO PARA KUMITA KA, HUNGHANG KA, DI KA PA NAGPAYAMAN![English translation: You, son of a bitch, you were given a government post with the opportunity to make money, but you FOOL; you ignored it, you could have been rich by now!] 

But that kind of perception (which may have unfortunately flourished due to the stark impoverishment of many Filipinos)  must now be made a thing of the past under Pres. Rody’s administration.

Truly indeed, the Filipino has a very strange, nay bizarre type of a sense of humor.

In the usual run of things, the men on the streets would almost always be sparked into boisterous laughter even if the joke would contain ribald connotations. In the Filipino lingo, this kind of a joke is labeled as a GREEN JOKE. And the ribaldry could be some talk on sexual matters in an amusingly rude or irreverent way or could even take the form of an ultra lewd, gross or lascivious joke complete with pornographic gestures. And in a Filipino setting, these are the kinds of jokes (i.e. GREEN JOKES) that sell to the Filipino audience more than anything else.

The foregoing serves as a backdrop to the now famous RAPE JOKE which earned Pres. Rody a lot of flak. Without however passing judgment as to whether that RAPE JOKE is unsavory or not, the thing is that it was delivered by Pres. Rody in a political campaign rally.

In a political campaign rally, which is mostly attended by the hoi polloi or the masses, those kinds of GREEN JOKES are the most applauded and the most awaited. The hoi polloi among the Filipinos would not be much interested in the campaign platforms, as they would usually yearn and look for entertainment. But the elite among the politicians would not dare be a purveyor of these kinds of jokes as it would be contemptible in a manner, as the same jokes would seem to be way out of the league of the ELITE.

But Pres. Rody is a man of the masses, he grew up with the poor people of the Visayan and Mindanao regions, and he has continuously assimilated himself daily and nightly with the men in the streets (in fact hearing the same type of GREEN JOKES in the nooks and crannies of the city) as he had in fact shunned the ways of the ELITE. Indeed, Pres. Rody truly knows the tastes of this aggrupation of people for the seemingly lowly type of JOKES (which however typify their way of life and aspirations) and that Pres. Rody wants to be identified with them in JOKE and in POKE.

[Photo shows the teenage President-elect Rody Duterte (sporting a polo-shirt unbuttoned at the top) in his mysterious askance gaze with his gracious mother, the Late Soledad “Nanay Soleng” Roa Duterte, who seemed to look as though making out a hesitant smile.]

In one of his talks delivered while the media people was still a welcome entity into his fold, President-elect Rody Duterte (“Pres. Rody”) admitted that he does not want to be adulated, kowtowed and fawned upon like a personality cult leader. Indeed, Pres. Rody would want to live through life, even now as the incoming President of the Philippines, as just a simple man. 

Pres. Rody was a run-of-the-mill playful and naughty elementary pupil and all through his high-school and college student days.

Born in the Year of the Rooster, on March 28, 1945 in Maasin, Leyte where his family briefly resided; the family’s relocation ensued thereafter to the town of Danao in Cebu. In 1951, Pres. Rody’s family eventually resettled in Davao.

For Pres. Rody’s elementary education, he spent a year at the Laboon Elementary School in Maasin, Leyte. The rest of his elementary days were spent in Davao City as a pupil at the Sta. Ana Elementary School where he graduated in 1956.

As he would casually narrate during his campaign spiels, Pres. Rody would oft-repeatedly refer to his low marks in GOOD MANNERS AND RIGHT CONDUCT (“GMRC”). GMRC is actually part of the values education program in Philippine elementary schools and teachers are required to rate and/or grade pupils on the basis of their observable behavior. Indeed, Pres. Rody was then considered as a “problem child”, nay an adventurous child who was always out of their house, and who would endure beatings from his disciplinarian mother, the late Soledad Roa,  a school teacher.

Standing up to his “problem child” image, Pres. Rody was kicked out of the Ateneo de Davao High School for misconduct. By way of punishment, Pres. Rody was “exiled” upon the direction of his father, the then governor of the undivided Davao province, Gov. Vicente Duterte, to a far-flung high school at the Holy Cross High School in Digos, about 60 kilometers south of Davao  City.

Pres. Rody despite the beatings which he received and endured from his school teacher Mom, whom he endearingly refer to as Nanay Soleng, considers himself however as a Mama’s boy.

With his Mama’s boy insight, the mother-and-son kinship got so much etched in Pres. Rody’s subconscious mind that Pres. Rody keeps a memento of his mother, Nanay Soleng, and brings it every day to bed to induce sleep. This memento is an old ramie blanket given to Pres. Rody by Nanay Soleng when he was still a toddler. And Pres. Rody would bring it everywhere he goes and would mend and patch it up whenever it breaks apart.

As Pres. Rody went through some kind of a formal flying course, the 14-year old Pres. Rody, in one of his playful antics,  flew a small plane above his neighborhood without his parents’ knowledge.

Also, as he harbored bitter feelings then for having been castigated by the school dean in high school in front of his classmates, Pres. Rody flew the small plane too over his old high-school and threw a rock at the school’s roof. Days after however, he apologized to the school administration. Even in college, as Pres. Rody made clear that he is against all kinds of oppression, it has been bruited about that he shot a co-student who was bullying other studes at the San Beda Law School.

As a person who was born in the Year of the Rooster, Pres. Rody is considered as VERY OBSERVANT, HARDWORKING, RESOURCEFUL, COURAGEOUS and TALENTED.

Roosters are also talkative, frank, honest and loyal individuals. Roosters do not get sick very often as they tend to fight illness well. Even when they are ill, they recover their good health quickly. Also, roosters are a polygamous lot.

Indeed, roosters, as part of the FOWL species, would often sit on a high perch to serve as a lookout for his group (hence the term “rooster”). And the assigned rooster will sound a distinctive alarm call, if predators are nearby.

Pres. Rody has now sounded an alarm against the growing menace of drugs, criminality and corruption. And it is now up to us, who want our children to experience a NEW PHILIPPINES, to stand up to the challenge to support our soon to be ruling rambunctious and romantic ROOSTER.

[Left photo shows the cover of the book entitled DEVELOPMENTAL DICTATORSHIP AND THE PARK CHUNG HEE ERA with the photograph of South Korea’s revered leader Park Chung Hee displayed at the bottom-left portion of the book cover. Top right photo shows Singapore’s venerable Lee Kuan Yew’s image  juxtaposed with his popular advice given the Philippine leadership in 1991: “THE PHILIPPINE NEEDS MORE OF DISCIPLINE THAN DEMOCRACY.” Bottom right photo shows President-elect Rody Duterte in a pensive mood, collocated with his public announcement: “I AM A DICTATOR, SO WHAT?”]

At this early morning’s radio broadcast aired over DZMM, news anchor Gerry Baja revealed that based on an A1 intelligence report, the drug lords now serving time at the New Bilibid Prison have drawn up a plan to bank-roll the assassination of President-elect Rody Duterte (“Pres. Rody”) and Incoming PNP Chief Ronaldo Dela Rosa (“Chief Dela Rosa”).

In an apparent move to counter the marching order of Pres. Rody  which pegged a reward money of Php 5 Million for every head of a drug lord; the drug lords have reportedly upped the ante and had set a more attractive budget of Php 10 Million each for Pres. Rody’s and Chief Dela Rosa’s heads.

Indeed, not one among the past administrations has laid out such a concrete plan to fight the drug lords and the drug menace, except perhaps during Pres. Marcos’ time during martial law when Lim Seng, a former struggling restaurateur who turned into being a notorious drug lord, was executed via musketry witnessed by the Philippine citizenry in national TV.

There were even talks then that at one point in the 2004 elections that the country was almost put unto the brink of an abominable regime of narco-politics. It was good that it did not happen as the perceived narco-politician was not elected.

It is however my firm and steadfast belief, shared perhaps by his 16 million voters, that the Duterte Presidency is the country’s one final chance to make our nation great again. And this trek to greatness was first pursued by President Marcos; also, the country’s first trek to the seemingly elusive economic growth and prosperity.

It is an undeniable fact that the early years of Pres. Marcos’ martial law brought pleasant benefits such as instilling discipline into the minds of the citizenry, less criminality due to curfew and a tractable and urbane peace with the use of the army which dismantled criminal syndicates and all other forms of belligerency, among others.

It was lamentable however that the military hierarchy started to commit abuses thereafter and that Pres. Marcos’ deteriorating health put a toll on his resolve and competency to efficiently govern the country and the bureaucracy.

The era of the supposed return to democracy under the Cory Aquino regime however brought about a rambunctious press (as aptly described the the late Lee Kuan Yew)  which never however  contributed any to check the resurgence of corruption. What is worse,  the more unruly media people who felt that they would look more macho, and impressively bombastic, went to the extent of castigating and even scolding government personalities as well as police officers on air, in national radio or TV as though they are supreme. And this led to the breakdown of discipline among our citizenry, who in concert felt that if the likes of Ted Failon and the Tulfo brothers can dress-down a police officer on air, they can on their own, scold and even slap a lowly traffic aide.

What we need now is an era of “developmental dictatorship” and that I firmly and most sincerely believe, and perhaps the 16 million voters who elected him,  that Pres. Rody fits to a TEE, the label of a DEVELOPMENTAL DICTATOR. We ought not to be surprised for such a label as Pres. Rody himself, in his speeches before the polls, described his regime as veering into some kind of dictatorship.

Developmental dictatorship, in fact, served as the core concept which integrated the South Korean experience of extreme modernization under the authoritarian tutelage of Park Chung Hee. Under the South Korean experience of economic growth and prosperity, developmental dictatorship was simply defined as a regime implementing a powerful economic development policy.

I distinctly remember that in one of Pres. Rody’s talks during his electoral campaign, he was the only Presidential candidate who openly advocated the putting up of steel mills in the country, an industry  which has not been accorded topmost priority by past administrations. In fact, in an interview done by the country’s leading daily, the Philippine Star, Pres. Rody made this statement:

“In any country that has progressed there has to be industrialization. To create jobs we must create factories, we have to build industries.We have to realize our long dream of having our own steel industry…the mother of all industries…the backbone of industrialization…It’s about time we have our own. ” – Duterte

Indeed, with the capacity of Pres. Rody to effect changes even before he has assumed the Presidency of this Republic, I truly believe that he is the Philippines’ man of the hour and that we must not lose this chance to bring back greatness to our country once again. LET US CONTINUOUSLY SUPPORT THE INCOMING DUTERTE PRESIDENCY THROUGH AND THROUGH!!!!

[Top-left photo shows Radio and TV news anchor Karen Davila (“Karen”); while a photo of the duo of Vic De Leon-Lima and Karen is shown at the top-right portion. At bottom is the photo of Incoming NBI Director Dante Gierran (“Dir. Gierran”). At yesterday’s (June 6, 2016) edition of “PASADA SAIS TRENTA” over Radio Station DZMM, which is hosted by the duo,  Dir. Gierran was asked by Karen about President-elect Rody Duterte’s proclivity to habitually utter cuss-filled words in public. Read below, how Dir. Gierran elucidated it.]

Upon hearing Incoming National Bureau of Investigation (“NBI”) Director Dante Gierran’s (“Dir. Gierran”)  elucidation at yesterday’s radio interview conducted by DZMM’S early afternoon duo, Karen Davila (“Ms. Karen”) and Vic De Leon-Lima (“Mr. Vic”), about President-elect Rody Duterte (“Pres. Rody”) pronouncements; I was stirred into thinking that perhaps, those off-the-cuff pronouncements of Pres. Rody ought not to really be taken literally.

Indeed, this was the gist of Dir. Gierran’s explanation when Ms. Karen pressed him into answering a question posed as some kind of a “lighter moment” digression from her sort of serious earlier line of questioning. The question posed by Ms. Karen was about the supposed marching order given by Pres. Rody to Dir. Gierran to “personally kill” any NBI agent who would eventually turn out to be involved in the illegal drug trade.

And this was the essence of Dir. Gierran’s reply. According to Dir. Gierran, the oft-repeated spiel which speaks of a command to kill invariably verbalized in the vernacular by Pres. Rody as: “PATAYIN YAN”,  should not be taken literally.

Dir. Gierran said that in his many years of working  with Pres. Rody as NBI Regional Director for Davao, the use of the words “PATAYIN YAN” is actually Pres. Rody’s way of stressing and eagerly emphasizing the need to give topmost priority to the directive. Plainly, this flair on the part of Pres. Rody towards exaggeration and hyperbole is plausibly Pres. Rody’s resort into proving a point CLEAR and SHRILL. On another note, this togetherness, nay working affinity, between Pres. Rody and Dir. Gierran particularly with respect on how to really understand Pres. Rody’s actuations, gestures and body language becomes all the more enhanced with the fact that Pres. Rody and Dir. Gierran are fraternity brothers of the LEX TALIONIS Fraternity.

Dir. Gierran actually stated that one should exert utmost efforts to read between the lines every time an order or a directive is blared out from Pres. Rody’s oral cavity.

Truly indeed, as my father, Daddy Max, is a Cebuano, the acknowledged regional aggrupation to where Pres. Rody wants to be classified and to where he said he belongs (though he is now a Davaoeño), I have had ample chance  to relate and interact with a lot of Cebuanos. And I know for a fact that the phrase: “PATYON TA GAYUD” which translates into English as “KILL HIM” or “KILL IT”, is a usual Visayan utterance, regularly and habitually used and uttered by the Visayans, and that it is customarily said in a manner which is laced with jocular tones.

Dir. Gierran further elucidated that the invariable use by Pres. Rody of that kind of spiel: “KILL HIM” or “KILL IT” (“PATAYIN YAN” in the vernacular), is actually resorted to just as to make the impression that the order and/or verbal directive, requires topmost priority and that it should be done as quick as possible.

What is more the Filipino term “PATAY”[English translation: DEAD] or “PATAYIN” [English translation: KILL IT], has an ambivalent meaning because the term is used and would also refer to the act of turning off some kind of a home appliance or even actually the electric lights. Even to extinguish a fire, the term customarily used is “PATAY“, as in “PAKI-PATAY MO NGA ANG SUNOG. [English translation: PLEASE PUT OUT THE FIRE.] 

Also, with respect to the cuss-filled pronouncements of Pres. Rody, it has become a habit actually of the more macho-type of the male species of the Filipino nation to spew out those cuss-filled interjections as though they are necessary part of one’s declaration but without actually meaning it to be so. Thus, you can hear people especially the males, starting their statements, as though an unavoidable prefix-phrase with the introductory cuss-words such as: “PUTANG-INA” or “PUTANG-INA MO” which literally translates into English as: “YOUR MOTHER IS A WHORE” or “SON OF A   BITCH”. Most Filipino males would even utter this cuss-filled word to express delight such as: “PUTANG INA, ANG SARAP!” [English translation: Son of a bitch, it is DELICIOUS!]

As a President of the Filipino people, Pres. Rody must appeal to the preponderant masses, the hoi polloi. And the Filipino masses, the country’s hoi polloi are a peculiar brand of listeners as they have too, a somewhat weird sense of humor (that is typical of the Filipino) which goes for the prurient, the ever-green jokes and the ribald tales heard only in barbershops and in the wet markets. Every time Pres. Rody cracks a joke whether it be that famous RAPE JOKE which elicited scathing censure and adverse remarks from those trying to be “politically-correct” segment of our society (most especially the elite); we ought to bear in mind that Pres. Rody is just connecting with the majority of our country’s people. For indeed, and I still believe that in a democracy the rule, rue, drollery and fun of the majority is still priority.

What is more, I actually have an ultra-macho friend who would habitually talk and relate to his endearing and gracious wife, a respected lady physician, in this manner: “PUTANG INA, HALIKA NGA RITO AT HALIKAN KITA, “MISS” NA KITA KASI!” [English translation: “YOUR MOTHER IS A WHORE, COME HERE AND I WILL KISS YOU, I AM MISSING YOU SO MUCH!”]

 [Top-left photo shows a portrait of the world famous seer, Nostradamus; while the top-right photo depicts a lean stack of tarot cards. Bottom photo shows President-elect Rody Duterte with his prominently large nose and his equally large ears described by Fengshui Master Hanz Cua as Buddha’s ears which augur well for all of us, as it supposedly denotes a forthcoming vibrant economy for our country via President-elect Rody’s strong-willed type of governance.]

It has been persistently brandished about nowadays that the renowned seer Nostradamus predicted the victory of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte on the basis of the hereunder quoted quatrains in his internationally acclaimed book entitled Les Propheties (i.e. The Prophecies).

As it may sound too presumptuous to believe that Nostradamus indeed referred to the Philippines and to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte in those quatrains, it may do well perhaps for the readers to make their own judgment on the matter.

It has been said however that certain academicians maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus’ quatrains are largely the result of misinterpretations or mis-translations.

In any case, the subject quatrains in Nostradamus’ aforesaid book with parenthetical annotations/explanations cranked into it are hereunder quoted:

“The Peace and Justice and the Blood of Love from the Blessed Land Of Promise of the South Eastern.

(supposedly referring to the tri-color of the Philippine flag with the white color symbolizing  PEACE; the blue, JUSTICE and the red, the BLOOD OF LOVE and that the reference to the South Eastern pertains to the Philippines as a South Eastern nation)  

“The SUN of divinity holding the 8th fire will burn all nations having the power of the 3 stars. (again, supposedly referring to the Philippine flag)

“Blessed are you Land of Promise, the golden 8 sunbeams shine (i.e. reference is made again to the Philippine flag which displays a figure of the SUN with eight rays) as noon day will shine from you.

“At the Southern area he (i.e. supposedly referring to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte) will be born in the Year of the SERPENT” (i.e. 1989 is the year of the serpent when President-elect Rody started to show his exceptional style of leadership as he exhibited his political might via a strong-willed type of governance in Davao City).

“And will start his work at the year of the TIGER (i.e. 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, and this was the year when President-elect Rody started to become all the more well-known all over the Philippines)

“Land of Promise! (i.e. reference to the Philippines) the place where the Greatest Lover will arise, Glory to the Moon who became SUN!” (i.e. supposed reference to Davao City which has been transformed by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte from being considered as the murder capital of the Philippines  to the now acknowledged safest city in the whole Philippine archipelago)

“This is the Glory of all Glory, the Hope of all Ages is born at the City of Eagle (i.e. supposed reference to Davao City, as city of eagle)…and will end his final mission at the Largest City.

“Blessed are you Land of Promise! (i.e. reference again to the Philippines) the restorer of the Universe!

“Thanks of all Thanks to you, SUN OF MEN (Son of Man) Thanks for your light.”

Contemporaneous to or previous with this  posting in the INTERNET is a YOUTUBE posting by a certain  Joanna Allas about the Tarot Card reading done by Mr. Felix Fojas which predicted  President-elect Rody’s win in the polls. However, it was also said that the DEATH Tarot card appears to be lurking amidst President-elect Rody’s win, which could mean that assassination plots may have already been hatched or are in the offing which are aimed at quickly exterminating President-elect Rody.

But all these talks of a possible assassination plots have been blotted out through the face-reading of President-elect Rody’s facial features via the science of physiognomy which was done by the now famous Fengshui master in the Philippines, Mr. Hanz Cua.

On the basis of this face-reading, with President-elect Rody’s prominently large nose and brownish eyes, Mr. Cua said that President-elect Rody will face up to the challenges and aspirations for real change in the country via his own brand of strong-willed leadership towards an emerging vibrant and progressive economy. Also, per Mr. Cua, with President-elect Rody’s large ears which denote long life, the possibility of those assassination plots being hatched by malevolent elements will hopefully not succeed.

Let us all join our hands together in prayer for the continued safety of President-elect Rody and a sustained prosperity for our country, the Philippines.

[ Red tape is an idiomatic expression that usually refers to excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules mostly observed in government bureaus that is so redundant as it hinders quick decision-making. In my more than 60 years existence in our country, the Philippines; President-elect Rody Duterte has seemingly loomed to be the only would-be President who have personally tackled this problem with much passion and dedication. Critics have described President-elect Duterte as some kind of small-town-thinking leader; but undeniably, the basic things which a small-town-thinking leader would work on are those that are close to the heart and to the purse-strings of the common people.]

In one of those cuss-filled press conferences called out by President-elect Rody Duterte, President-elect Duterte lamented that in most instances particularly with respect to dealings with both the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS), claims for monetary benefits would usually take as long as two (2) years to be released. For which reason, he has announced that this practice of a long and uneasy wait for benefits, mostly death benefits for lowly employees being followed up by their surviving heirs, must end. 

President-elect Duterte even narrated about the usual tale of a widow following the death benefits of her husband and at times, the unfortunate death of the widow would even precede the release of the death benefits for the husband.

Thus, President-elect Duterte announced that he will shorten the processing period to at most ONE (1) month and that he would reduce the number of signatures in the processing of the claims to a maximum of FIVE (5) signatures ONLY.

President-elect Duterte also said that he will institutionalize a system whereby government processing for the release of needed and customarily much-sought-after documents, to a maximum of 72 hours.

And that if the government functionary would be unable to beat the 72-hour deadline, an explanation must as a matter of course, be appended to the applied-for-document that will eventually be released.

President-elect Duterte also deplored the nasty practice which has seemed to still be de rigueur in some bureaus of the  government particularly the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). It would appear that in most instances 48 signatures are being required for the processing of claims for payments. President-elect Duterte has planned to reduce the number of signatories to just FIVE (5).

Indeed, President-elect Duterte has emerged to be the only would-be leader of the Philippine bureaucracy who has called the attention of government bureaucrats to this kind of a loathsome case of bureaucratic red-tape.

Also, and most importantly so, President-elect Duterte appears to be the only would-be leader who has shown much passion and who has mustered all the courage to confront the drug menace head on.

What has indeed loomed is that past administrations did not even flex its muscle to show some political will to rid the country of the drug menace. Now, with President-elect Duterte at the helm of government by noon of June 30, 2016 more changes and not mere the cutting of the detestable red tape, are expected to happen. Indeed, on hindsight, the leader of the past administration never ever uttered any pronouncement against the illegal drug trade. This has been espied in the past administration’s full 6-year term as it reigned supreme with seeming nonchalance displayed by the country’s chief steward. Once again, this, despite the fact that the illegal drug trade has grown to be some kind of an insurmountable and colossal problem.

Let us all support President-elect  Duterte and let us continuously pray for his Divine guidance, for his safety and for his good health.

Long live the Philippines! Long live President-elect Rody Duterte!

[Despite the rift between prominent Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines and President-elect Rody Duterte; influential members of the clergy has expressed support and strong belief that President-elect Duterte is the Philippine’s man of the hour who will save and rid the country from criminality, corruption and the curse of the drug menace. Among these Church leaders are Fr. Bel San Luis, SVD, who is  a popular media personality and a distinguished academician in the person of Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ, current President of Ateneo de Davao.]

Last night, as I cruised through EDSA from a meeting with my clients at the Gloria Maris Restaurant, I happened to listen to a prayer being implored by Fr. Bel San Luis over the radio. Fr. San Luis is a member of the SVD, a radio personality and is also a columnist in a leading daily. Fr. San Luis was praying for President-elect Rody Duterte and was fervently wishing for his success. I believe this supplication of Fr. San Luis acknowledges the common perception that indeed President-elect Duterte will effect the needed change in our country. Truly, despite the fact that President-elect  Duterte has not yet assumed the post as President of the Republic of the Philippines, magnificent and remarkable changes have been spotted by laymen on the streets.

My watch-repairman friend was so ecstatic when he told me that the street where he lives in Cubao, Quezon City, Metro-Manila, Philippines; which has previously been the venue of pot sessions of unabashed drug users at night has become a thing of the past. Now, he said, he can lie in sleep at night without the usual fears haunting him, that his daughters who regularly do night-shift work would be harassed by those junkies and freaks.

My Daddy Max also recounted to me that the streets adjoining our ancestral home has now become deserted at night, a far cry from the usual scene with the nocturnal roaming kids would be cavorting in gay abandon up to midnight.

In a metro-wide operation the Philippine National Police, has since Pres. Duterte’s accumulation of a commanding lead in the elections, conducted regular operational missions/campaigns. These missions/campaigns are meant to rid the streets with liquor drinkers and minor children aptly labeled as OPLAN RODY (i.e. Rid the streets Of Drinkers and Youths). As has been customary in most places in the metropolis, minors would be playing in the streets through the night while their parents would either be quaffing liquor or wagering their bets on gambling tables in those dimly-lit barangay nooks and crannies.

In a TV interview, Incoming PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa cited that most drug lords have supposedly called out a virtual CLOSING OUT SALE, a bargain where all of their unlawful products were declared as “must go” items.

Days ago, in an apparent move to transfer bulks of seeming packages of TEA bags but which eventually turned out to be high-grade SHABU contraband, a van was abandoned in a district in Manila after checkpoints were set up in most streets of the metropolis.

In another raid, Php 1 Billion worth of LIQUID shabu was seized in a rented house located in an upscale subdivision in Angeles City, Province of Pampanga.

In truth, even if Pres. Rody Duterte would only be able to address this drug menace, it will be an auspicious development as our children and our children’s children could by then be freed from this horrible drug menace.

Most critics of President-elect Rody Duterte has labeled him as a small-town-thinking leader. But, a second-sober thought perception would show that those basic things such as curfew for minors, a stricter  liquor ban and an acknowledgement that a sense of discipline must be re-instilled in the minds of the citizenry, are the ones that would spell success in the country’s drive against criminality. And these basic things would also bring back civility, responsibility and decency in all of us.     But the main ingredient which would hopefully bring the much needed change in our country today is the paramount show of political will. Truly, after the Marcos era, no other President has wielded much political will and the hope of an enhanced and stern political will, appears to be beaming in the horizon with the coming Duterte Presidency.

As Ateneo de Davao’s President, Fr. Joel Tabora said, the common people, the multitude of Filipino masses, have seen in President-elect Duterte a special caring for the poor. In countless speeches, President-elect Duterte made clear that he is against all kinds of oppression against the hoi polloi. For which reason, I am sure Fr. Tabora is also praying for President-elect Duterte’s success.

Let us all give President-elect  Duterte the  chance to prove himself worthy of our mandate even just for a year. It is my steadfast belief, and shared I am sure by those 16 million people who voted for him, that he is the only living soul  who could bring real change to our country now. Let us all pray that President-elect Duterte would live long to make his dreams and aspirations for our country come true. Long live the Philippines! Long live President-elect Rody Duterte!

“DAVAO. National Bureau of Investigation Regional Director Dante Gierran looks at the artist sketch of suspects in the ambush-slay last month of Mayor Reynaldo Navarro of Laak, Compostela Valley that has become embroiled in the case against Sr. Supt. Leonardo Felonia. (King Rodriguez)”

[Left photo shows Incoming PNP Chief, Gen.Ronald “Bato*” Dela Rosa who announced that the purge that he will implement within the ranks of the PNP will be “BLOODY”. Right photo shows Incoming NBI top honcho , Dante Gierran, who also received the marching order of President-elect Rody Duterte to “kill” any officer or agent from the NBI who would turn out to be involved in the illegal drug trade. (*”Bato” denotes being as HARD AS ROCK.)]

An old man once told me that the reason why our country, the Philippines, has not developed into full maturity and nationhood as well as into a brisk economic progress for so long a time now is that our country never experienced a full-scale civil war. As I got so intrigued with the old man’s stance and as I pressed him more as to what he really meant, the wizened and bent-over old man, grotesquely told me that our well-loved land must first be drenched with blood for it to metamorphose into a great and prosperous nation. Thereafter, he offhandedly ticked off some names of prosperous countries, nay great nations, which went through the horrors of a civil war, notably Great Britain, USA, China and South Korea.

I actually shuddered at the thought of our country going through a despicable civil war, but the thought of drenching our native soil with blood could now actually come with the incoming Duterte administration.

Indeed, macabre and bizarre it would seem, I would rather choose our native land to be drenched with blood of drug lords, gambling lords, war lords and all kinds of criminal syndicate lords. I would rather choose the foregoing instead of the innocent youth to die. To die due to some kind of adventurism-instinct urge etched in the youths’ subconscious “id” yearning to taste and experience some kind of “recreational” hallucination via those well-known party pills/drugs. And I would rather choose the blood of all kinds of evil lords instead of the blood of the young and the relatively good citizenry of our country to be poured and drenched unto our native land.

Incoming PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has described the purge that would take place upon the assumption of the new administration which he said is principally aimed at ridding the ranks of the police force of our country, as “BLOODY”. In one of his TV talks, Gen. Dela Rosa declared that he was supposedly  given the marching order by President-elect Rody Duterte for him to personally kill any police officer who is involved in the illegal drug trade. Also, incoming NBI Director, Dante Gierran, was given the same marching order to personally kill any NBI agent who is involved in the illegal drug trade.

Indeed, with the rabid infestation of the illegal drug trade in the whole of the Philippine archipelago, drastic and draconian measures really have to be adopted to effect the needed drastic change. Verily, I feel that the advocates and champions of human rights should at the moment bow down and let the rights of the predominant majority of our people who have yearned and pined for long to have a drug-free country,  be now allowed to hold sway.

As I am a Roman Catholic, I got so intrigued with a slogan which I read in one of President-elect Rody Duterte’s campaign posters, which reads something like this: “I would rather choose to stay and suffer in HELL just as to insure that the Filipino people would enjoy their stay in our country as though in PARADISE.”

Though I did not vote for President-elect Rody Duterte, I now feel that I have been transformed into a 100 per cent Duterte supporter. I also feel that his election into the Presidency was providential (amidst the grave drug-infestation in the country which would seem to be almost in the brink of Colombia’s Pablo Escobar days). Indeed, I am now sure that President-elect Duterte is the only one among the candidates for President in the 2016 national election who could truly effect the needed CHANGE, and certainly no other.

I now believe that our country, the Philippines, has gone down to the level of the most serious case of having become a haven of drugs and criminality and those ultra-drastic measures must now be adopted. And we all have to save our children from the drug menace!!!!

Long live the youth of the Philippines! Long live the Filipino family! Long live the Philippines! Long live President-elect Rody Duterte!