Challenges ahead

Butch Bagabuyo

“Unless a man is given more than he can possibly do, he will never do all that he can.” – Samuel McClure

NOW that our once impossible dream has been achieved, permit me to remind us all about what Will Durant said once upon a time: “Rome remained great as long as she had enemies who forced her to unity, vision and heroism. When she had overcome all her enemies, she flourished for a moment and then begin to die.”

I am reminded of a quote by Roy B. Zuck who wrote: “In Villadolid, Spain, where Christopher Columbus died in 1506, stands a monument commemorating the great discoverer. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the memorial is a statue of a lion destroying one of the Latin words that had been part of Spain’s motto for centuries. Before Columbus made his voyages, the Spaniards thought they had reached the outer limits of earth. Thus their motto was ‘Ne Plus Ultra,’ which means ‘No more beyond.’ The word being torn away by the lion was “Ne or no,” making it read “Plus ultra.” Columbus had proven that there was indeed “more beyond.”

As for me, a dreamer, it is time to pursue the dream for all the poor but was put on hold for a while due to the more compelling dream to have a President from our paradise-like islands of Mindanao. But, that is of no moment to us all.

Now that you and I have proven to the world that money and political machinery are no match to warm bodies, I pray we continue to unite and provide our next president the necessary tools to have what we, Mindanaoans, have been dreaming of: equality for all Filipinos of all walks and ages under a federal system.

Of course, the first task ahead of us is making our streets safe for all of us, our friends and visitors.

It is high time we prove to the world that nothing is impossible under God. And since our incoming president Duterte has made a campaign promise to rid our country of drugs and the culture of impunity within six months, let us all unite to help our president fulfill his promise which is not an impossible dream.

Now, that everybody knows that the so-called “impossible” is a misnomer with God on our side, permit to suggest the following simple and doable task, to wit:

• The world envies us for our unique hospitality and friendliness. Using, therefore, this God-given talent, it is safe to say that all of us, especially those called by Imperial Manila as “probinsyano,” know and are friends of our neighbor. This being so, all us know who are the drug lords and queens in our neighborhood.
• Undoubtedly, the PDP-Laban, will be the largest and most potent political party in the country within the month of May, this year. This being so, let us, therefore support the president of the PDP-Laban in his program to continue what we, the original and die-hard members, have done – conduct the 24/7 BMS in our respective local councils primarily to organize a task force to monitor the drug menace in our neighborhood. Trust me, within this month, we would have a strong monitoring task force on anti-drug lords and queens.
• Please take note that the task forces will be limited to the drug lords and queen, not their victims. By so doing, the drug lords and queens will either be dead by due process of law or simply out of our country. In the meantime, our President Duterte could set up what he did in Davao for the rehabilitation of the victims of drugs.
• Simultaneously, through the PDP-Laban, we could set up an effective anti-drug lords and queens within the country; ergo, by June this year, we could already celebrate our distinct privilege of being the only country in all of Asia without drug lords and queens and having the best possible drug rehabilitation facilities.
• By end of June this year, we could break our own world record of having the most number of people singing their National Anthem simultaneously all over the country.
• During the whole months of May and June this year, the PDP-Laban should be able to convince all public officials, especially Congress, to assure our President that the salaries of the PNP, the Armed Forces, school teachers will be doubled in a year’s time on a staggered basis, a task that could easily be done, minus the culture of graft and corruption.
• The President, in collaboration with the PDP-Laban and the best minds on federalism, create a task force to study within May and June this year the best possible way of adopting the federal form of government in our country.
• Create an independent truth commission on the PDAF and DAP as well as an independent commission for the reorganization of a truly independent, transparent and dignified members of the judiciary.
• Hopefully, the president creates a commission to reorganize the BIR and the Customs, the lifeblood of a decent country.

All these and more could be done within the months of May and June this year and on a voluntary basis without any expectations in return just as what we – the various volunteer groups – have done during the campaign for the presidency.

Everybody knows by now that our newly elected president, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, made it to the presidency without money from his own pocket nor from the pockets of Imperial Manila, the ruling elites and dynasties and the trapos of the filthy rich.

And, to date, the PDP-Laban Cagayan de Oro council is one such organization which has not asked nor accepted any cash donation from anybody else. Of course, there were a few mercenaries from various so-called volunteer groups. But the country can rest assured that they would be exposed soonest and be made to explain to the own volunteer groups.

We are proud to have done a miracle of sort – creating groups of all walks and ages to help make the first-ever president from the paradise-islands of Mindanao-Basilan-Sulu-Palawan-Tawi-Tawi.

Because of what all the various volunteers groups supporting the presidency run of “Super Digong” Duterte have done, we now have high hopes of having a truly political parties in our country, unlike today, where political parties are created solely for debilitating greed of a few pretenders.

And I cannot end this without asking our next President, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, of finding the best way of having a truly independent, transparent, corrupt-free Comelec by the time he starts his presidency.

President Duterte pa more!

Tsada, di ba?