Rody Duterte, people’s favorite for DILG post

Eid’l Fitr, the Muslim holiday that we have observed every year since the time of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Then there is the death anniversary of Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

And National Heroes Day, the celebration of which is redundant because we already have Araw ng Kagitingan on April 9.

These holidays made up two long weekends this month.

Think of the hours and days the country has lost because of those holidays.

We are a country of lazy people, fond of fiestas and good times.

We could have inherited our katamaran (sloth) from the Spaniards who ruled us for centuries.

For most of them, the best times are spent at the dinner table and in  the toilet. That’s why we have Spanish language-based words like “lamierda” which, roughly translated could mean   “having a good time inside a toilet,” in our vocabulary.

You still wonder why we have been left behind by our neighbors in the march towards economic progress?

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Who is the people’s choice to replace the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo?

Let’s take a look at the results of an online voting survey conducted by ABS-CBN’s Anthony Taberna in his “Punto por Punto” segment of the very popular “Umagang Kay Ganda program”:

Davao City Vice Mayor Rody Duterte got 44 percent of the votes from viewers who called, texted or posted their votes on Facebook or Twitter.

Duterte was followed by former Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca, with 22 percent; Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas, 9 percent; Manila Mayor Fred Lim, 7 percent; Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, 6 percent; Vice President Jojo Binay, 5 percent; Sen. Ping Lacson, 4 percent; Cavite Rep. Emilio Abaya, 2 percent; and Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa, 1 percent.

I called up Rody Duterte Tuesday to ask whether he would accept the DILG post if it was offered to him.

His answer: No!

Here’s a guy who’s very much qualified for the most powerful Cabinet post because of his experience and expertise as a local official, yet, he’s rejecting it.

If I were President Aquino, I would do everything short of kneeling down before Duterte to convince him to accept the position.

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I have witnessed man’s brutality to his fellowman as a police reporter for many years and as host of a public service program on radio that helps the oppressed and the downtrodden.

But nothing comes close to the indignity and oppression suffered by housemaid Bonita A. Baran, 21,  reportedly inflicted on her by  her employers, Reynold and Annaliza Marzan of 75 Las Villas del Cielo, Visayas Avenue, Quezon City.

Bonita told me the Marzans beat her up every day for small mistakes she made for five years.

The Catanduanes native, who is not even a grade school graduate, has gone blind after her eyes were allegedly gouged by Annaliza.

She showed my staff and I at my radio program “Isumbong Mo Kay Tulfo” scars on her face, scalp and back allegedly inflicted by the Marzan couple.

The scars were caused by being hit on her lips with a vase, struck with the butt of a gun on her eyelid, hit with hard objects on her head, or a hot iron pressed on her face, she said.

Bonita added that the Marzans made her eat cockroaches a few times.

I thought some employers in the Middle East were brutally cruel—yes, I’ve received many complaints from former maids of these households—but the Marzans are far more cruel.

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Persida Acosta, head of the Department of Justice’s Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), told me that charges of serious physical injuries and serious illegal detention have been filed by her office against the Marzans.

The charges are nonbailable.

Those are not human acts, and if the Marzans are proven guilty, they should rot in jail.