Duterte on 2016 presidential bid: I’m waiting for ‘divine signal’

DUTERTE

BUTUAN CITY — Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he was just waiting for “divine signal” before formally making his much-awaited announcement for a presidential run.

“I am a Christian and I have a deep love and faith in God. I know life is governed by the rules of God. I go now and I die tomorrow. I should know, because in the past, that’s what I did, I direct my prayers to God and asked for guidance,” Duterte told the Inquirer.

Duterte came to this city on Thursday as part of the Mindanao leg of the consultation on federalism. He is a known advocate of federalism and preaches its merits as against a highly-centralized unitary system of government, which has been described as “Manila-centric.”

Also included in Duterte’s itinerary were key cities in the Visayas and Luzon, such as Metro Manila.

He said he was constantly praying to God for guidance and enlightenment because becoming a president is “shaped by destiny and God’s will.”

The divine signal he was waiting for, he said, could come “at any day and in any form.” It could even be “a woman,” Duterte said, adding that he didn’t want to enter Malacañang without a First Lady.

Duterte was legally separated from his wife, Elizabeth Zimmermann, mother to Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and former Davao City mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

During his speech here, which supporters took as a clear sign of his openness to run for president, Duterte said there would be “swift and immediate reforms” if he get elected president in 2016.

Duterte also said he would rule with “common sense and a good heart” if God allows him to be the next leader of the country.

“I do not have the brilliance of (Ferdinand) Marcos nor the smartness of (Fidel) Ramos, or the abilities of Miriam (Santiago). But if I become president, I will rule with common sense and a good heart,” he said.

Duterte always claims a close affinity with Butuanons because his mother, the late Soledad Roa, was born in Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte.

But Duterte also clarified that when he throws his hat into the presidential derby, his motivation would not be ambition but a burning desire to realize his vision of “genuine good governance” and “peace and order” in the whole Philippines.

“I came here with a vision; I am not motivated by ambition, but this I can promise — if God wills that I become president of the Philippines, there will be swift and immediate reforms that will bring about genuine good governance and there will be peace and order throughout the land,” he said. — With a report from Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao