News reports of controversial Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte mulling a run in the 2016 presidential race has thrown the political landscape wide open. A reluctant candidate a few months ago, Duterte is now listening to a clamor for him to run to pose the strongest challenge to Vice President Jejomar Binay’s presidential bid. The political strategists of Mar Roxas and Grace Poe, the two undeclared but presumed presidential candidates, did not figure Duterte in the 2016 equation after the Davao mayor said he would “shoot anyone who nominates me.”
But Duterte also listens to wise counsel and the call of duty. A group of businessmen who feels the region has been neglected by the central government in Manila would like to see a son of Mindanao in Malacañang. One of the biggest problems plaguing Mindanao is the recurring power shortage which has not been addressed by the present and previous governments.
Mindanao is not only rich in natural resources. It also packs voting power. Before Duterte came into the picture, pollsters were conceding the region to Binay who has a head start in putting his political machinery in place.
So, who’s afraid of Duterte, aside from his political rivals? Some people are afraid of the tough-talking, no-nonsense mayor who made Davao a progressive, peaceful city by putting to rest all criminal elements. You can take that literally or figuratively. But the people of Davao are not complaining. Duterte is good for business and Davao residents don’t have to worry about robbery-holdup gangs, kidnap for ransom syndicates and drug traffickers.
Duterte has made a lot of enemies, particularly among members of Congress which he wants abolished if elected president. His jaw-dropping announcement to abolish Congress must have jarred the usual suspects of pork barrel operators. For sure, they will now dig in to stop Duterte at all costs. But abolishing Congress will find approval with many people who are sick and tired of their congressmen misusing taxpayers’ money to line their pockets. These are the voters Duterte is courting as he knows he will never gain support from the traditional politicians who want a status quo.
Duterte was once a member of Congress and he knows how the system works. He is careful though that he does not scare away voters by making clear that he wants replace the present Congress with a parliamentary system –federalist type government so the whole country is not ruled by an imperial Manila.
A war without borders
To say the peace agreement between the Aquino government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is not working would be an understatement. The last time we checked, a provision in the framework peace accord said the MILF would help keep rouge factions like the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in check to contain hostilities from spreading.
Last Sunday’s attack by the BIFF in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that left dozens of police security officers dead has placed the peace agreement in serious doubt. Mistrust on both sides can only fan a bigger conflagration. The police forces went into a BIFF-claimed territory in search of Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Har who was sighted in the area. They were met with gunfire and survivors reported that MILF elements even supported the BIFF forces in attacking the outnumbered PNP personnel.
The worst part was that the embattled police force called for reinforcement from a military contingent stationed nearby but never received any help. The commanding officer of the military brigade said they could not go into the scene of the gun battle because they were afraid to violate the provisions of the peace agreement which designated the area as MILF territory. That’s what happens when the government concedes too much territory to the MILF who cannot or do not want to enforce the law against their Muslim brothers.
The tension in Maguindanao is sure to spread to other areas under the ambit of the MILF after this latest bloodshed. It can only harden the resolve of Christian communities to resist the Basic Bangsamoro Law.
Where have all the children gone?
Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky’ Soliman knows the answer to that one. She herded 495 street kids and loaded them in seven buses to a Batangas resort to keep them out of sight during pope Francis’ five-day pastoral visit. This is like sweeping “dirt under the carpet.” I don’t really relish using the word “dirt” but that’s what it looks like no matter how Soliman and Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Valte explain to massage this cosmetic solution to the problem of street children.
Soliman claims the DSWD-paid for vacation is part of the modified Conditional Cash Transfer program and was long planned before the papal visit. Yeah, right and that’s after the abysmal condition of street children housed at Manila’s Reception and Action Center (RAC) came to light.
For sure, the homeless urchins and their families had a grand time in the resort’s playground and swimming pool. They slept well and were fed well on comfortable beds under clean sheets in stark contrast to the cold, hard pavement they are used to spending the night. We are not one to begrudge the poor a break from the daily struggle to survive life on the streets. But sadly, they are back on the streets as soon as the pope boarded a PAL plane for his flight to Rome. It would have been more compassionate if the government had addressed the problem on a continuing and long- term basis. The palliative band-aid solution is unconscionable considering the funds allotted by government to our legislators’ pork barrel funds. Yes, Juan, there is still pork barrel embedded in the P63-trillion national budget under the guise of “savings” and allocations for listed public works projects submitted by congressman to the President.Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Party List Representatives Jonathan de la Cruz and Emmie de Jesus want Secretary Soliman to explain fully the use of the Conditional Cash Transfer funds and payments made to the Chateau Royal resort for the five-day out of town camping trip.