Lacking funds for campaign, Duterte says he ‘won’t be like other presidents’

LISTENING TOUR. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte (second from right) is on a nationwide caravan to promote federalism. He is joined by Zamboanga del Norte Vice Gov. Senen Angeles (left) and Gov. Roberto Uy (right). SAMUEL AMATONG/ZN PROVINCIAL INFORMATION CENTER

DIPOLOG CITY, Zamboanga del Norte—Amid calls for him to run for president in 2016, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said he lacked funds to run a nationwide campaign.

“I am not a candidate for anything. Just forget it. I don’t even have the money to launch a three-day campaign,” Duterte said on Thursday during a forum on federalism in this city.

He said one needed P10-15 billion to win an election. He didn’t have the money, he said, and he would not ask for it. “Di ko ugali yan. So kung tatakbo ako, manghihingi ako dun sa amin? (That’s not how I am. So if I will run, I will ask for money?) No way!” he said.

Though not yet making any declarations about his plans for 2016, Duterte laid out his plans should he be seated in Malacañang.

“If you elect me as president … I will not be like other presidents. If you want me to be like them, then forget me. You do not need me,” Duterte said.

“[I]f God would put me in the position … I will just personify (Senator Grace) Poe, (Interior Secretary Mar) Roxas, (Vice President Jejomar) Binay, (Senator) Chiz Escudero. But if God would put me in the position, God decides. It could be Poe.”

Duterte added: “I have never lost an election since 1988.”

Infamous for his strong political will and disciplinarian leadership in Davao City, Duterte is in this city for the Zamboanga Peninsula leg of his nationwide caravan on federalism which he calls a “listening tour.”

He said he cannot stand the thought of spending six years doing “good governance” without changing the government system and retracting to the “ineffective one.”

“If you elect me, in six months to one year, I will try to fix [the] government. If I cannot get the reforms that I want, I will declare a revolutionary government. Then I will fix the government, I will close the congress. I was once a congressman. Then I’ll fix everything.”

Addressing some 800 people including the local officials, he declared promises like removing taxes for workers earning less than P20,000, better compensation for government workers who perform vital social services and subsidizing mass transportation and oil price through the Malampaya fund.