Duterte and destiny

Butch Bagabuyo

“We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny. But, what we put into it is ours.” – Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961), Swedish statesman, Secretary General of UN

NOW that our man, Davao Mayor Duterte, has granted our earnest plea for him to run for president, we owe it to him to start since yesterday to really work hard and good for the attainment of our dreams, mainly to wipe out the culture of impunity and restore peace and order.

Undoubtedly, foremost in this gargantuan task is having the right frame of mind. But based on my humble experience in the electoral process in our dear country, the PDP-Laban, the newly resuscitated political party born out of Martial Law, is given the daunting challenge to give everyone his proper role in converting euphoria into counted votes considering that the group has a lot of extra baggage, if not zombies.

I can only hope and pray that Sen. Koko Pimentel asks his benevolent statesman father to take leave from his retirement and act as the compelling bridge between our candidate and his personal choice in his team on the one hand and the eager beavers or the so-called young Turks who may be filled with visions but utter lack of the necessary experience which is compelling in ensuring victory rather than mutiny and shipwreck.

Bear in mind that the four compelling security measures in the PCOS were whimsically discarded in the 2010 and 2013 elections. Until today, there is no definite assurance from both the Comelec and street smart Smartmatic, the owners of the PCOS machines, the perceived digital “dagdag-bawas,” that the aforesaid major security measures would be put in place in the May 9, 2016 elections. What more, the touted biometrics will not be available at the polling places (as insurance to the infamous Comelec operators). Instead, there will be OMRs (Oplan Mar Roxas?).

Paging the few good men at the Comelec!

All sorts of dirty tricks, blitzkriegs and juggernauts are now on its fine-tuning stage, and the nauseating natuwad nga dalan of the Liberal Party and the UNA (sa pangurakot) of VP Binay are raring to put the sound bytes. This is not to mention the group headed by street-smart Senator Chiz with Senator Grace as its figure-head and the Hyatt 10, its active fundaisers cum magicians.

Never has it happened but now that a substitute candidate has immediately if not, miraculously changed the landscape of the presidential derby just by the mere filing his certificate of candidacy. In fact, another unbelievable first that occurred is the unexpected withdrawal from the presidential race by a popular and a clearly favorite speaker among the intellectuals.

As I’m writing this column, Cancer 4-striken Sen. Mariam Defensor Santiago willingly withdrew her candidacy, so I was told. And I would not even be surprised if a leading “senatoriable” from Mindanao would be swept out from the winning column. After all, his popularity ends in boxing; he was even knocked out by a little congresswoman named Darlene. Remember?

From all indications, “Super Digong” Duterte is not only the man of the hour but God-sent to save our country from the culture of impunity spawned by debilitating greed propagated by the filthy rich and the Imperial Manila mentality which has repeatedly raped without mercy Mindanao’s abundant natural resources and everything else.

Is Duterte destined to be president of our country? Or is it providential that Super Digong will be the first Mindanaoan to become our president?

Duterte pa more.

Tsada, di ba?

• •

“Every man meets his waterloo at last.” – Wendell Phillips

Most of the Plazans, especially the nitizens-savvy, are insisting that the recent fiasco at our city hall is comparable to what the immediate past mayor mercilessly did to the hundreds of bloated corpses drowned by typhoon Sendong. Finding the comparison murky, the Plazans quickly asked me if I were absent when our Jesuit historians discussed the heart-breaking end of the once long reigning emperor of France named Napoleon Bonaparte.

On the allegation that dismissed Mayor Oscar Moreno would be a goner after the lapse of the 60-day restraining order precipitately issued (no notice and hearing was conducted) by the Court of Appeals, here is my take:

• Most, if not all, of the 113,760 voters who hesitatingly voted for dismissed transition Mayor Moreno mercilessly kicked out of our city hall the immediate past strongman because he was widely known as the all-knowing ignoramus, and worst, he never listened to anybody but himself. However, instead of using the upset victory as guidepost, dismissed transition Mayor OSM arrogantly defied our laws.

Just to mention a few blatant ones he did:

• Upon assumption to office, OSM immediately rearranged and repainted the City Executive Building using private funds of his business cronies from outside of the city.
• On the compromised agreement–from P2.9 million to only P300,000 in the Ajinomoto case which is the very case that brought about the dismissal of transition and hambuguero Mayor Moreno by the Ombudsman, former Supreme Court Justice Conchita Carpio Morales; briefly––Ajinomoto sued before the RTC dismissed transition Mayor Moreno and (his bagman, according to many but I would rather momentarily use the words “imported OIC”) City Treasurer Glenn Banez. What is shocking and nauseating is that dismissed Mayor Moreno had the gall to shamelessly shout that he had no knowledge about it.

Lawyers know there can never be any compromise agreement in court without all parties agreeing to it. But even granting arguendo that OSM did not authorize anybody to enter into any compromise agreement, how come dismissed, transition, hambuguero Mayor Moreno did not file a case against his own “imported OIC” City Treasurer? Why did he not contest the compromise agreement as well as file a criminal case against his own “imported OIC” city treasurer until now?

• If I were Oca, I would have immediately effected citizen’s arrest on his own “imported OIC” Glenn Banez and instantly regained respect and standing ovation from grateful Kagay-anons. Period.