Why I Voted for Duterte

He has already been voted to office and has taken his oath as the 16th President of The Republic of the Philippines. Not even a week after his election and the country turned into a boiling pot of  mixed reactions from objective criticism to disappointed skepticism to downright antagonism.


But I hold firm in my faith. And this is why.



This is something I posted on my wall right after I cast my vote in a strange country for the first time.


Should you want to read on, please bear in mind these words from a wise man, the Dalai Lama: “Although I speak from my own experience, I feel that no one has the right to impose his or her beliefs on another person. I will not propose to you that my way is best. The decision is up to you.”

Allow me this. This is my wall. And this is what I believe in. I have already voted, so if you have reservations, do your own research, do your own reading, and stop relying on Facebook memes.

Below is a letter—revised in parts--I sent to a good friend with whom I have a difference of opinion regarding our choice of leader:

Dear--

There are a few people I truly admire and respect. This admiration and respect is not because of their status, achievement, or even because of their intellect, but because of what they believe in and what they have done to stand for those beliefs. You are one of these people.

In deference to the value you accorded me by honestly challenging my choice, I am writing this to you. My stand stays the same. I am going to support a presidential candidate you abhor.

I understand that you are an idealist at heart, you know what is right and what should be done right. This very idealism is what made you do so much for the poor in my town, in my province, much more than I--and many powerful people for that matter--have done or are willing to do. In this respect, I will not challenge anything you believe in. It is you and it is what I respect in you.

I am not going to apologise for voting for a man you deem a criminal—though I have a different opinion. I am choosing in absolute rage at the position the system in my country has placed me in. I have had enough of brilliant and intellectual-sounding propaganda complete with statistics and figures telling me that the officials in charge of my country are doing right.

If they were, then you wouldn’t be breaking your back to build homes for the underprivileged and doing far more than my government is, even when we know we have resources.

If they were, I wouldn’t be afraid a daughter I worked hard to send through college won’t be hired because she is of a different party color, or because we don’t know the right people.

If they were, I wouldn’t feel sick every time I read about public officials going on a jaunt, spending millions, suspecting they’re squandering people’s money without fear of accountability.

I’m tired of convoluted excuses the bottom line of which is—they’re not doing things right because of their own political ends. In the meantime—people have no food, no homes, no jobs, no protection. In the meantime, we thank God there are altruistic people like you to lend a hand. And this will go on and on and on with the kind of leadership we have right now--all wanting to glorify themselves and using the name of the poor and the masses when convenient BUT NOT REALLY CARING beyond the oligarchy they have built for themselves—the oligarchy of rich, powerful business and political names whose clans have been in position for so long they now consider this country their private chessboard.

I have now lost track of all the incompetent and preposterous government responses to several massacres, scandals, obvious corruption and extortion issues that made me speechless with outrage. This is the kind of leadership that allows criminality and exploitation to flourish because it has no moral fiber thus NO SPINE—it’s all about money and position. No one is afraid to steal with impunity, lie to the people they are supposed to protect, push drugs, rape and kill heinously, because the leadership is looting and raping and killing the country all the while anyway, in more ways than one, with hardly any accountability.

No wonder then that after decades (yes, decades!) of enduring this kind of governance, of patiently hoping only to be disappointed, disillusioned and disgusted over and over again, I would feel a renewed sense of hope and a way to fight back in a presidential candidate who is the complete antithesis of everything that I found contemptible and revolting in our traditional politicians.

No, I have no sob stories and personal dramatic testimonies extolling the kindness of Rodrigo Duterte. No, I don’t believe I will finally stop being an OFW once he becomes president--I understood a long time ago, when I first wore a black shirt in protest of the massive election fraud in 1986, that NO single presidency can unshackle us from the economic debts the Marcoses had chained us to. Not for years and years. No, I don’t for a single moment believe that all the ills of our third-world country will miraculously vanish when Duterte wins. No, I don’t believe he is a demi-god or a superhero or a miracle worker.

But I do believe that here is a leader who finally feels—and acts—not only for the ordinary Filipino citizen, but also for the oft-forgotten indigenous communities. I do believe that his desire to serve the people stems not from what he can gain for himself and his family but from a sincere compulsion to act, to lead, to provide solutions, to maintain order, to achieve common aspirations. This statement itself is nothing new. All politicians would say they have those very interests at heart, too. But Duterte has something others don’t—he has the record to show for it, and this is not a fairy tale. What Davao has become under his leadership used to be a source of collective Filipino pride long before this presidential circus began. The country did not just suddenly know Rodrigo Duterte because he ran for president. We did not just suddenly support him or believe in him because of the Facebook memes. We have heard of him before this; we have known about his leadership before this; we had hoped for a leader like him for a long time, long before this. And long before this political farce, we already heard of this man who has a reputation for refusing vainglorious awards offered to him for doing well the job he’s been sworn to do! So why should I allow slimy political maneuverings, mud-slinging, and black propaganda to distract me from the one thing that is a true testament to his credibility as a leader--his track record and reputation?

Supposedly brilliant minds would accuse people like me as gullible fools and would liken us to cult fanatics. I will not even deign to answer that, as I speak only for myself. But that reminds me of that time when I could not yet vote but joined marches and campaigns for the first Aquino, way back when even the ordinary middle-class pinoy finally grew tired and wanted to be heard for once. People were mostly scared at that time, though, I recall. Our local cinema incessantly showed ‘The Killing Fields’.
“This is what our country will become when Marcos loses,” the powers-that-be hissed.
I was thirty years younger then but I hadn’t been that gullible to believe such hogwash.

But what about the values most Filipinos hold dear which Duterte seems to have no respect for?

The question is—doesn’t he?

Is it really the values he is disrespecting with his inappropriate jokes, his one-liners, his exaggerations, his shocking statements? Or the hypocrisy of the sanctimonious fakes who flaunt these values for votes? Look again at his track record and to his life. In “judging” a person’s character—as in loving—actions speak louder than words. Words can be sugar-coated, can be manipulated, can even be used to turn half-truths to truths (review your propaganda techniques!), but actions never lie. For instance, here is a man who made my blood curdle with his rape joke (unforgivably crass), but who, throughout the decades, has made sure that women and children in his city are protected by law and sheltered from violence.  I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how the Davao women councilors were the first to defend him as an advocate for women’s rights after the rape joke debacle! Actions speak louder than words, that’s why even in communication, only 7% is verbal and 93% is non-verbal.

Duterte is no wishy-washy politician terrified of showing every-other-Filipino’s flaw because of 'image'. If you haven’t noticed already, it is his very refusal to conform to the image of a traditional presidentiable that’s causing him all his campaign grief. And his cunning adversaries are capitalising on what they perceive as the Filipino’s adoration of a Mr Clean & Perfect Idol to try to bring him down. Here again, I see how these trapos underestimate the “masa” as they call us. But not this time. it is precisely because he is the antithesis of the traditional politician most Filipinos are so sick of that he is popular. He may have a personality that is quite difficult to package and market, but it is at least as authentic as his character—the very character (and spine!)  that made Davao what it is today and compelled his constituents’ loyalty and love.

But he advocates killing!

Like you, I’ve read the allegations such as those published in Human Rights Watch, seen Al Jazeera’s “Guns, Goons and the Presidency”. Killing is never right, though at times, it is just. Killing young people is inexcusable. I will not even try to explain that or justify that. But I will ask—how do we wrap our tidy, righteous minds around a system that lets thieves, addicts, murderers, pushers and rapists run around and ruin lives because we follow a rule of law that also allows many loopholes? What happens when children get beaten and raped by children, then killed and buried by the river bank of Canturing, like what happened in our own city last year? Why was our law enforcement unable to detect these children’s addiction and violence and warned them or watched them?

Yes, it would be right for the mother of an under-aged fugitive to cry foul should her murdering son be killed by vigilantes for beating and raping and killing a child. But more than a few will admit in their hearts that it will be just. Absolutely unequivocally wrong, but just. Yet I would rather these brutal acts and tragic consequences be prevented by FEAR of a law enforcement (a law enforcement that only works with a leader like Duterte) that will crack down on criminals righteously and ferociously so that there will be no need for the vigilantes that so many people are seemingly terrified of (but are constantly applauding in movies and TV shows!). We have a human right to be protected by the very law we hold dear, too. Human rights have sides. Third world countries are thriving grounds for human rights issues that run far deeper than what’s right or just.

If I had a choice, I would rather that my president not be shadowed by such issues. Like I would rather I had stayed in my own country and worked happily like I used to before I became an OFW. Like most people would rather sail into the sunset. But—we make choices based on the principles we keep in spite of--and because of--life’s painful realities.
Keep yours when you decide who to vote for. In rage, in protest and in hope, I have kept mine.

#partnerforchange



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