Butch Bagabuyo “We demand that big business give the people a square deal.” – Theodore Roosevelt AS long as greed are embedded in the hearts and minds of those in governance, our country will never attain peace and prosperity. The culture of impunity of today and yesterday will continue to reign despite a well-meaning presumptive President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. As I’ve written only the other day, it is therefore imperative that we, the 90 million poor Filipinos, hold on together, hand in hand and cement our newly discovered and proven formidable force--warm bodies as opposed to the wealth of the filthy rich, even as big business are cracking their heads in applying activities, if not scheme after plans designed to divide us once again as in the excruciating past. Undoubtedly, big business has got what it takes to find their greedy ways. No wonder even before the presumptive president could take his oath of office as President of our one and only Philippines, the trapos who are now among the richest in our country, want the biggest cut of the pie as it were. In fact, they want everything, the whole pie, as they have done so easily ever since our country came to be. As an early wake-up call even if we have just begun, permit me to remind us, the 90 million poor Filipinos, that in 1986, the so-called People Power revolt, what we thought was ours actually transferred to big business even before we could reap the sweet fruit of our toil. At the very start of her six-year administration, we easily forgot that the late President Cory Aquino, a devout Catholic and quite known for her religiosity, was herself a big part of giant business in our country. Because deep in her heart, I would like to believe, she wanted a swift radical change in our country, she willingly shelved the Marcos constitution and imposed her own revolutionary government, not unlike what I dare suggest. Undoubtedly, our beloved President’s intention was super grand but, as the saying goes, “Hell is full of good intentions.” Hence, the world acclaimed People Power became a misnomer right there and then. Giant business sprouted overnight, not unlike mushrooms in a stormy night. Before anyone from the PDP-Laban, including the founder himself, former Senate President Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., could do anything for the teeming millions of the poor, the brother of our own cherished president, who was only accommodated--meaning, he did not go through the proper process of becoming a member of the PDP-Laban--solidified the LDP, and started PDP-Laban’s longest slumber in the political arena dominated by political butterflies of the so-called Liberal and the Nacionalista Party, the truly big league in Philippine politics since time immemorial. But wait just a minute! We have learned well and good the sad past. The few die-hard remnants of the PDP-Laban are now focused in “morning the night,” as it were. By so doing, we believe we could derail if not, stop all the tracts leading to a sad and pathetic history repeating itself. Now that the fresh and stunning landslide victory of Super Digong came to be, I dare say, the 90 million poor Filipinos who dared to fight for the once impossible dream of having a president from the paradise-like islands of Mindanao-Basilan-Sulu-Palawan-Tawi-Tawi, are now here and focused to stay. We are determined to right the wrong of the past. And because God is good, we firmly believe that the next Speaker of the bigger house of Congress as well as the Senate president will come from the largest and most potent political party in our country today, the PDP-Laban of the presumptive president, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, and Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.  But this will happen only if the duo and their growing, nay, multiplying members from Mindanao strongly resist the temptation of becoming greedy, if you know what I mean. In order to ensure unity in diversity, we will continue the 24/7 BMS (Basic Membership Seminar). In the meantime, we, the small-time but die-hard members of the PDP-Laban, will continue to fight, with all we’ve got, the insidious and creeping attempt by big business in Imperial Manila to make a repeat of the 1986 fiasco. As I keep on repeating: with God on our side, we can make miracles happen as what we’ve just done in the contest for the presidency. Ergo, permit me, to suggest the following:
  • Start a determined campaign to have an exclusive bus caravan (every poor individual contribute what little we have to hire, at discounted rates, buses) from all points in the paradise-like islands of Mindanao-Basilan-Sulu-Palawan-Tawi-Tawi and converge at the freedom park in Davao City for the Independence day celebration this June 12th.
  • Every participating bus must be headed by a non-politician Mindanaoan, and the names of the head of every bus as well as the participating members in that same bus should be submitted not later than June 6ththis year to the Cagayan de Oro council of the PDP-Laban, care of Gangging Pimentel, Jobags Bagabuyo or Welvert Cuenca at VIP Hotel, Cagayan de Oro or by e-mail to bagabuyos@yahoo.com or by phone or text to me (Atty. Rogelio “Butch” Bagabuyo, 0918-803-0197/ 0928-434-5041) and/or to our Facebook account to be opened Wednesday.
  • No bus should travel faster than 60 kilometers per hour, and to ensure absolute compliance of this unique rule, only the participating bus that submits to the coordinator the exact time of departure from the originating place as well as the exact time of arrival at the designated area, and the name of the leader and the members, will be considered as part of the caravan.
  • Every participating member should provide himself with his own provision plus one other with enough paper bags to ensure the area be cleaned after the event.
This kind of discipline will prove to one and all that the real strength lies not in wealth and machinery but in well-disciplined warm bodies. This is the kind of power that prevented and sent chilling if not, freezing effects to the illegal operators of the Smartmatic’s counting machines:  clearly designed digital “dagdag-bawas” machines known as VCM (vicious count for Mar, formerly the OMR or Oplan Mar Roxas, and all indicating cheating in favor of the Liberal Party standard bearer). Trust me, the big business, the very few ruling elite and the trapos of the filthy rich will, without fail, put up the roadblocks one after the other but, we, the 90 million poor Filipinos, are all solidly behind our Super Digong as we are confident he knows the best of the thousand and one ways of skinning a cat. Gets mo? Duterte pa more! Tsada, di ba?