Duterte urged: Run

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte: Not interested. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The Center for Enterprise Advancement (CEA) has launched a nationwide movement to collect signatures and convince Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to run for the presidency in the 2016 elections.

In a recent forum at the Rembrandt Hotel, CEA executive director Dave Diwa said his group initiated a search for the most trusted leader who should run for president and that search led to Duterte.

Diwa said that instead of conventional face-to-face interviews to gauge public sentiment, he said they conducted focus group discussions (FDGs) in about 20 locations in Metro Manila with the participation of the youth, labor and business sectors.

Diwa said the use of FGDs provided a more intelligent read of the public mind and satisfied the need for a critical basis in arriving at the final choice. Identified candidates were matched with participant-listed criteria on what makes a good leader.

According to Diwa, Duterte stood out as the first pick for president in majority of the discussions. The Davao City mayor was actually not on the list of political personalities already active on the campaign trail like Vice President Jejomar Binay, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.

He was picked from the list of personalities disinterested in the post but eyed by the public as the best choice to succeed President Aquino.

In choosing Duterte, most participants cited his success in bringing peace and prosperity to Davao City—a city smack in the middle of strife-torn Mindanao.

“I’m not interested, I do not like it and I have no money” has been Duterte’s consistent reply when asked about his intentions to run for president in 2016.

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