It was on Jan. 8, 2015 that I met Rodrigo Duterte in Davao City to try to convince him to give the presidency of the land a try.
After a dinner of inihaw na manok Bisaya, tinowang imbao (clam soup) and a good dinuguan at un-airconditioned Conching’s, we hied off to the executive lounge of the Marco Polo Hotel.
We started our conversation at 9:40 p.m. and ended at 2:30 in the early morning of the 9th. By then, he agreed to move around the country on a “listening tour,” peddling his advocacy of a shift to federalism.
To be sure, the idea of revising the present Constitution in order to pave the way for a shift from a highly centralized unitary system to one where power is shared more generously and more responsibly to the periphery is not new.
In 1988, I was appointed secretary-general of Unladbayan, a political movement preaching the merits of a federal system. The group was spearheaded by then-industrialist Enrique Zobel de Ayala and then-Vice President Salvador H. Laurel. At about the same time, Mindanaoans led by Reuben Canoy, Senator Aquilino Pimentel, Homobono Adaza and others such as Dr. Jose Abueva of the state university were already advocating the same.
But as fate would have it, Zobel had an accident which left him virtually paralyzed, and the nascent movement ground to a halt. VP Laurel continued to advocate a federal system, but his quarrels with then-President Cory colored the advocacy into the partisan.
I have always believed that the country would be better off with regional “states” competing with each other in the field of economics, but united in political vision and purpose. I have studied the systems of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Federal Republic of Germany, Canada, Australia, the United States, even the hybrids that are France, Spain, China and Switzerland.
Which was why there was a commonality of vision with Duterte since that meeting in Davao. I volunteered to help.
The first visit was to Butuan City, my adopted hometown. Like Duterte’s family, mine moved to this Northeastern Mindanao city, then enjoying a logging boom, to seek better economic fortunes back in the early 60s. Duterte’s father was a native of Danao in Cebu, while his mother had roots in Cabadbaran, Agusan, and they moved to Davao del Sur for the proverbial greener pastures after the war.
That was the earlier “diaspora” of people from Luzon and the Visayas going to Mindanao, the proverbial “land of promise” because of an abundance of fertile soil and gentle climate. Now the diaspora is outward and international, borne more out of despair than challenge.
Duterte’s listening tours caught fire. Not a political wildfire, but a regulated blaze that caught a substantial voter interest. More than just interest in this raw diamond from the South, there was fierce loyalty.
I have written several articles about the man, and so I shall end the description of his current political odyssey here.
* * *
When it was becoming clear to me that he would decide to run for the presidency sometime towards the end of September, I asked him about his choice of a vice presidential teammate. He intimated that it would be either Bongbong Marcos or Alan Cayetano.
I have worked with Cayetano in the past, particularly in the failed impeachment attempts against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Bright and upright, passionately committed to causes, that is what Cayetano is.
My “punto de vista” is always the presidency, and whatever would help promote his victory, not in the narrow arithmetic sense of politics being addition, the conventional wisdom of South plus the vaunted “solid” North which clearly sympathized with the late dictator’s son, was what got me to weigh in for Alan.
Sure, the instant numbers show Marcos ahead of Cayetano, but the latter is “yang” to the Duterte “yin.” He complements Duterte, both in temper and language. He is humble, and he sees himself as part of a larger vision and a noble purpose, which, in his own words, is about bringing to this benighted land and its despairing people—“tunay na pagbabago.”
Not the “pwede na” and undefined change of Grace and Chiz. Not the continuity peddled by Mar and Leni. And certainly not the “happy days are here again” of this campaign’s quintessential trapo, Jojo Binay.
I have cast my lot.
* * *
I first entered the political scene when after a series of meetings and intellectual encounters with Ninoy Aquino in Boston in 1981, I was inveigled to help the above ground opposition to the authoritarianism of Ferdinand Marcos. Ninoy “assigned” me to Doy Laurel, who had in 1982 forged together a loose political alliance called the Unido (United Nationalist Democratic Organization). I became Unido’s Deputy Secretary-General until Edsa Uno materialized.
Before Ninoy came back on Aug. 21, 1983 (the original date was Aug. 7), together with the son of Senator Rene Espina of Cebu, we coined “Hindi Ka Nag-iisa” for the homecoming that turned into bloody tragedy, but sparked a popular emotional revolt throughout the land.
The change of leaders through the last three decades have been characterized by cycles of economic mini-booms and not-too-deadly busts. But due to lack of vision, bad implementation and a clear lack of political will, the people are mired in almost hopeless poverty. It gets worse and worse. The gap between the haves and the have-nots gets wider and wider.
The chasm cannot be bridged by the “stateside” rhetoric of the popular Grace Poe, nor the razz-ma-tazz perorations of Chiz. Having learned of the magnitude of the unanswered corruption charges against the former mayor of Makati, now the vice president, I cannot support a “happy days are here again” scenario. Continuing a failed “daang matuwid” which began with so much promise of “pag walang korap, walang mahirap”, yet now ends with more poverty caused by the sheer incompetence of many of the trusted and close allies of the leader, and a pre-disposition to cold insensitivity towards the people’s simple needs, also simply leaves me cold.
Duterte-Cayetano, to be sure, is not without any faults. And the presidential candidate is, as earlier described, a raw diamond, who prefers to be uncut than polished. Still, I would take a leap of faith, on a team that promises real and meaningful change, and on a president with clear political will—“tapang at malasakit.”
Being the consummate political technician I have always tried to be, I have weighed the tandem from my preferred metrics of Character, Competence and Compassion. They pass with flying colors.
Because of my voluntary commitment to their cause, I have written our publisher, the highly esteemed and respected Rollie Estabillo, and sought leave from writing articles for The Standard, until such time that my writing shall not be construed as propagandizing. He has graciously accepted.
And so, goodbye for now.