A “highly-spirited” group from the country’s various regions recently issued a manifesto supporting President Rodrigo Duterte’s platform for “genuine reform,” particularly his anti-poverty programs and the fight against corruption, illegal drugs and criminality.
The Solid Duterte Supporters Group, now referred to as the SDSG D’Originals, are organized and led by Mar Masanguid, who was also elected as its national president.
It supports Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao “as a means to quell the clear and present danger of terrorism in the country.”
Masanguid, a barangay captain in Davao and a close ally of the President, is remembered as the organizer of the Rodrigo Roa Duterte for 2016 President Movement, long before Duterte ever contemplated running for President.
The movement subsequently generated popular and overwhelming nationwide support for the longtime Davao mayor’s presidential bid.
Launched a week ago at the Shangri-La North Edsa in an event attended by local and national government officials, the private sector, students and ordinary workers, SDSG issued a manifesto of support for the President during the organizational meeting of its Marikina chapter on June 18 at the Marikina City Hall.
The manifesto was signed by more than 50 pioneering members of its Marikina Chapter led by Greg Conde and Harry FM Singh, chapter chairman and vice chairman, respectively, and city councilors Bojie Bernardino and Jojo Banzon.
Quoting the manifesto, Masanguid said: “The thirst of the Filipino people for genuine reform has not been quenched. . . Amid these trying times, we rally behind (the President) in the war the government wages against poverty, against illegal drugs… against lawless elements, against grave and imminent threat of terror…”
The manifesto also stressed: “We strongly adhere to your position to place Mindanao under the state of martial law to effectively quell the uprising by Muslim extremists. The threat of local and foreign terror is a clear and present danger to the security of the country.”
Masanguid said SDSG also concurs with the President’s foreign policies and the “bid to rid every street in the entire country of the shadows cast by criminals hardened by illegal drugs, so that families will feel free and secured.”