Butch Bagabuyo “Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age.” -French Proverb?” “In youth we learn; in age we understand.” –Marie Ebner, Eschenbach THAT the presidency is providential is the compelling belief that moved Davao Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte to accept the challenge by the young and the old of our country to be our savior and rescuer of the fast sinking ship of state caused by the culture of impunity spawned by debilitating greed by those in government from the highest echelons to the lowest employee. And, looking back, I am inclined to believe that our young as well as our seniors heard and knew all along that Duterte loves his country and people so much so that he could not afford to fold his hands akimbo while our country is mercilessly buffeted by strong winds and tsunami-like forces of evil. Because love is indeed the greatest of all virtues, on their own, all walks of Mindanaoans were--as they still are--confident that the feisty “Super Digong” Duterte, had no choice but to find out for himself what lies ahead. And because Duterte is a tried and tested winner all his life, he took pains in hopping from one island to the others crisscrossing the cities, provinces and the municipalities, including the big and small barangays, to feel the pulse of the Filipino people behind the prying eyes of the trapos and media. While espousing federalism in every nook and cranny, Duterte came to know that our country is ready, willing and able to elect a Mindanaoan president come May 9, 2016. Even as Mayor Duterte is known by a few as an aging womanizer and fond of cussing in public, a common habit and behavior among the poor all over the world, he, like most Christians all over the world, finds time to talk in prayer with his Lord, God and master every now and then for guidance, strength of character and mercy, without fanfare. And, lo and behold, just when most Filipinos lost hope in trying to convince Duterte to run for president, the latter came forward all of a sudden and accepted the once “impossible dream” to have a president from Mindanao despite his utter lack of money and the logistics to run a presidential race. Consequently, the country woke up with a pleasant surprise, when they heard loud and clear Duterte saying: All of you knew all along that I have no money but because of your ‘never-say-die-insistence, I am running for president of our country but you have to provide me warm bodies using your own resources. By so doing, Duterte stressed: real and a truly meaningful change to our country shall come to be. And because God is good the dawning of a new day--the real change for the better--is coming. Here is my take:
  • Despite the billions of pesos spent by Vice President Jejomar Binay, Mar Roxas and Grace Poe-Llamanzares on their nefarious trending activities to the delight of the two giant survey takers kuno, both of which are owned and managed by the superrich Aquino and Cojuangco political dynasty, Duterte has consistently won all mock elections in practically all universities and colleges all over the country, especially in our paradise-like islands of Mindanao-Basilan-Sulu-Palawan-Tawi-Tawi.
  • All throughout the second presidential debate in Cebu City, Poe-Llamanzares, Roxas and Binay callously veered away from the issues at hand most of the time in order to take potshots at their rivals, prompting our topnotch debater Duterte to bring them back to the issues at hand.
  • Because pictures don’t lie and the youth in our country are fascinated at the speed and power of social media, OFWs who are in our country because of lent are agog over the undeniable bayanihan spirit – the kind of feeling in wanting to contribute whatever little one has just to be a part of a success story of landslide victory despite lacking in money and logistics. Mind you, what is happening almost daily in our country today is the encouraging little miracles at every which way.
Take the case of the PDP-Laban in Cagayan de Oro and the province of Misamis Oriental. The locals are well aware that for over a decade now, the PDP-Laban existed only in name. The money politics of the Padayon Pilipino was so rampant and all - encompassing that Kagay-anons and the voters of Misamis Oriental were in near unanimity in believing that the aforementioned political party known as Padayon Pilipino was like the KBL of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos at the height of Martial Law. It had all the trimmings of invincibility. But all that feeling of superiority vanished into thin air and has now become a myth, with just one act of faith by a few living heroes of the PDP-Laban in the likes of barangay chairperson Marlo Tabac of Gusa, and his newly recruited barangay chairpersons of of both Districts 1 and 2 of our City of Golden Friendship, all of whom have personally asked this writer to keep their identity a secret momentarily for obvious reasons. Without asking any financial contribution from any businessmen in our city and province, the likes of Atty. Ike Naduma, Willie Cuenca, Roel Lavictoria, Roel Regalado, Gangging Pimentel and Jobags Bagabuyo were able to re-organize and strengthen the city council of the PDP-Laban despite short notice and spending their very own limited scarce resources. And the above-mentioned present-day heroes, as they truly are no less, made Pastor “Jun” Tenorio, the interim president of the Iligan City PDP-Laban, scratch his head, and he bewilderedly asked them individually and collectively: How did you do it? Undoubtedly, what Ka Marlo, the newly and unanimously elected city council president of the PDP-Laban, and his bunch of Duterte-Cayetano die-hards, did will be multiplied in the days to come. And, to put things in its proper perspective, Ka Marlo and Co. have proven that in the City of Cagayan de Oro and the province of Misamis Oriental, it is safe to say that 80 percent of the leaders are determined to ensure the landslide victory of the Team Duterte-Cayetano. Duterte-Cayetano pa more! Tsada, di ba?