by Chito A. Fuentes
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s mere presence during the testimonial dinner of the Liceo de Cagayan University College of Law was enough to guarantee a “record-breaking” event.
This was revealed by Jose Pepe Abbu Jr., Law Students Organization president, who organized the event.
“Even non-Liceo lawyers have inquired whether they can attend the testimonial,” Abbu said.
The testimonial in honor of the alumni who successfully hurdled the 2014 bar exams was slated at the N Hotel in Cagayan de Oro
Abbu disclosed that based on the advanced booking, this testimonial would be a record-breaker in terms of the number of people who have already signified their intention to attend the activity.
The mayor has attracted increasing interest as a possible presidential timber after turning Davao City around as from the killing fields of the 1980s to safest city in the country.
Despite his consistent denials, his supporters have continued to grow in numbers which was proven when he placed a strong third in the last Pulse Asia survey behind Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay.
While Poe, Binay and the recently proclaimed Liberal Party bet Secretary Mar Roxas have all waged national campaigns, Duterte until recently had limited himself to Davao which makes his impressive showing even more significant.
The country’s longest serving city mayor after Edsa, Duterte was prompted to go around the country to promote federalism which he described as the country’s “last card” to prevent a fresh outbreak of violence in Mindanao.
While the mayor had expressed opposition to certain provisions of the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law, Duterte has declared his support for it “to buy time and to bide time”.
The mayor’s soaring popularity was proven when he guested on “Gandang Gabi Vice” on ABS-CBN which debuted on second place on world-wide trending behind only the Wimbledon tennis championship.
This proved that the Duterte magic has captured people from all walks of life particularly OFWs now based in different parts of the world.
Duterte arrived in Cagayan earlier in the day to grace the baptism of the child of Glenn and lawyer Aimee Torrefranca-Neri.
From Cagayan, Duterte will proceed to Camiguin where he will address a forum on federalism in Catarman.
He will also pay a courtesy call on provincial officials led by Vice Gov. James Ederanga.
Surveys show that Duterte enjoys almost a cult-following in his Southern Mindanao base with a mind-boggling 93%.
Pulse Asia gave Duterte a 37% approval rating, the highest received by any of the top presidentiables but Mindanaoans insist this is still very conservative.
If Duterte changes his mind and caves in to the tremendous pressure to run, he is poised to make history not only as the first Mindanaoan president but also the first local official to jump straight into Malacanang. (CHITO A. FUENTES)
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