By Chito A. Fuentes
VALENCIA CITY – It will be a homecoming of sorts for federalism and Mayor Rodrigo Duterte Wednesday.
Duterte will be in Bukidnon’s most populous city on April 15 to speak at a forum on peace and order and federalism.
Gov. Jose Zubiri and Mayor Azucena Huervas are expected to welcome Duterte, the emerging political star of Mindanao who surged out of nowhere to a tie for third with Manila Mayor Erap Estrada in the last Pulse Asia survey.
Duterte, who garnered the support of 34 percent of those polled last March 1-7 in Mindanao, is a virtual neighbor to the people of Bukidnon which shares a boundary with Davao City.
Moreover, Zubiri is one of the pillars of the contemporary federal movement in Mindanao who unanimously chose Duterte to speak for federalism on the national stage.
The motorcade which is the first leg of the city’s welcome for Duterte will traverse the main streets before proceeding to the Valencia City gym.
At the conclusion of his talk, Duterte is expected to field questions not only on federalism and peace order but on the hottest topic in Mindanao these days: the possibility of finally sending one of its sons to Malacanang.
Duterte is fresh from his whirlwind Luzon sortie that included speaking engagements before bikers in Tagaytay City, cooperative members in Calamba, Laguna, billboard advertising executives in Manila, his fraternity brothers in Lex Talionis Fraternitas and an audience with Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla of Cavite’s second district and Bacoor Mayor Strike Revilla.
The rockstar reception for Duterte in Mindanao and the Visayas was expected due to his biological and personal connections but the surging support for him in Luzon is evident.
The mayor has been welcomed by relatives in his visits to Cebu, Tagbilaran, Ozamiz City and Iligan. He has standing invitations to clan gatherings in many parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.
Duterte, however, is not just about the big political and economic clans that are proud to welcome him in places where they have a significant number of members.
His numerous achievements in the 23 years that he has been city mayor of Davao have attracted national attention at a time when the country needs a strong, decisive and credible leader.
Duterte’s two main assets – law enforcement and disaster response – just happen to be the areas where the country is weakest.
The breakdown in law and order and the emergence of powerful crime syndicates is one concern that almost always leads people to look to Duterte.
On the other hand, the failure of government agencies to prepare for and address the damage wrought by calamities particularly “Yolanda” which broke the record for the strongest typhoon ever to make landfall makes Duterte even more attractive.
Duterte has also remained as the most – if not the only – relevant voice in the aftermath of the Mamasapano debacle when he continues to champion the cause of peace while most Luzon-based politicians play to the gallery with their “all-out war” rhetoric.
“If the (Bangsamoro Basic Law) fails and violence breaks out, Mindanao will be the battleground,” Duterte almost always emphatically declares in every federalism forum he has graced.
This is common sense to every Mindanaoan who knows the horrors of war.
And this is one thing that separates Duterte from all the others who claim they have what it takes to lead this country.
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