by Chito A. Fuentes
If I do not get the cooperation and support that I want from Congress within six months to one year, I will declare a revolutionary government.
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte never fails to issue this declaration in every speaking engagement: in Catarman, a small fishing village in Camiguin; before Jaycees from exclusive villages in Makati; Muslims gathered in Marawi to state university students in Iloilo City; local government workers in Valencia, Bukidnon; parents in Balanga, Bataan; local politicians in Pagadian to the most revered or feared (take your pick) journalists inside the hallowed confines of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The reactions have been varied: a blank stare from a stevedore in Cebu City, enthusiastic clapping from relatives in Maasin, nods of approval from members of business people in Iligan City, and a gasp from a lady executive inside the PDI editorial office.
Among other things, PR practitioners sympathetic to Duterte shudder every time they hear him declare this warning emphatically. It is a gamble that no other politician would risk at this time. That Duterte does so recklessly - or so it seems - separates him from the rest of the pack.
Duterte insists on this because he is aware of the land mines.
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| An ailing nation might just need a surgeon, someone who can cut cleanly the cancerous tentacles gripping its growth and energize its full potentials |
When he was asked by PDI editors what he will do with the traffic problem in Metro Manila, he gave a brief reply.
“Under the present set-up? Wala!”
No one bothered to pursue the issue. Any further discussion would be pointless. Duterte is right: with the five pillars of justice in bad shape, the present set-up is a straight jacket to any reformer.
Duterte insists he does not find anything attractive in the presidency. He rattles off the reasons why he thinks so: the Mindanao powderkeg, the communist insurgency, illegal drugs, criminalities, the Chinese incursions, graft and corruption… the gestures on his hand delivered the rest of the message.
Indeed, at his age, and after all the sacrifices he has made, he deserves to ride into the sunset. For one who has evaded luxurious lifestyle like a plague, the perks of the position does not appeal to him.
“Aanhin ko pa yan?” he asks. It is a question that needs no answer - because it is obvious.
“I have all the accolades to last me a lifetime,” he adds. Duterte is right: transforming Davao City from the virtual killing fields into the safest city in the Philippines and the fifth top economy among cities is a feat that has assured him of a place in history at least among Davaoenos.
Duterte needs the presidency like a hole in the head, as the tired cliche goes.
And yet, Duterte himself is aware that the clock is ticking. He himself warned that if the drug problem is not addressed, the Philippines will become the next Mexico.
With the traffic gridlock worsening every day, criminals getting bolder and bureaucracy disintegrating - among other pressing concerns - more and more people insist Duterte must rise to the occasion.
Are Filipinos ready for what Davaoenos have gotten used to: out-of-the-box solutions to what other executives consider hopeless situations? That remains to be seen.
There are those who fear that a revolutionary government will give rise to a new dictator. The fears are not unfounded. And yet Duterte has shown in Davao that he can be a firm and decisive leader without suppressing civil liberties and compromising common good.
“I swear on my mother’s grave..There is a lesson to look at” he replied, when the specter of another dictatorship was brought up. Only those who know how his mother marched against dictatorship, and how he respects his mother, can fathom the depth of that oath.
“You just have to trust me,” was all he could add. The answer is a no-brainer to Davaoenos, 80% of whom approved of the presidency for him in a recent poll. But will the rest of the country settle for that?
No patient requiring surgery relishes the idea of going under the knife. But when refusal is no longer an option, the patient knows the next step is to choose the surgeon to entrust his or her life to.
No one else among the present crop of presidentiables is capable of performing surgery on an ailing nation. There is no need to go into specifics because the facts are obvious.
Duterte cannot escape the reality that if ever the nation entrusts the leadership to him, he will have to take extreme measures and painful choices along the way.
The mayor will have to replicate a feat he has accomplished in Davao on the national scale. It is daunting, but it can be done. He will need all the help that he can get, but Duterte has experience on his side.
If there is anybody who can get it done, it is Duterte.
Make way for Duterte the surgeon. (CHITO A. FUENTES)
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