DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte LITO TECSON/CEBU DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTO
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday slammed the door shut on a potential run for the presidency in 2016, offering profuse apologies to the assembled crowd of businessmen, supporters, staffers and media at the Asia CEO Forum.
Speaking to an audience of a few hundred, the outspoken and hard-charging local executive expressed his regrets for deciding to stay away from the national political race.
“I’m sorry but it really won’t happen,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino. “Like I said, it is really no longer my time. I really don’t want it.”
Duterte—who gained fame and notoriety for running Mindanao’s largest metropolitan area with an iron hand, imposing tough restrictions on vehicle speed, littering and fireworks, among others, as well as being linked to vigilante groups—has gained a small but growing following among Filipinos who are frustrated with the nation’s problems and government’s perceived inability to deal with them decisively.
Political watchers were expecting Duterte to throw his hat into the presidential derby at Thursday’s event, despite his earlier statements expressing his hesitation at running for a job that would entail managing a massive national bureaucracy that is significantly more complex than his experience with his own local government unit.
Duterte’s political adviser and strategist, Angelito Banayo, sat stoically at the VIP table—occasionally taking gulps of water—while the mayor repeatedly professed his desire not to contest the presidency.
Asked for his reaction after the forum, Banayo replied: “I don’t know. I was stunned myself. It looks like his word was definite.”
Banayo noted that Duterte was always hesitant about seeking higher elective office but said he hoped that a greater public clamor would make the mayor change his mind.
Respond positively
“We were hoping that he would respond positively to the clamor,” said Banayo, who was also the campaign strategist of the similarly themed 2004 presidential bid of former Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
“I think there is enough clamor. I’m happy that the survey ratings have been gradually increasing all over the country. I’m surprised that the increase [was also] in the other parts of the country, not just in Mindanao,” Banayo said.
Asked if there was a window for Duterte to change his mind, he said: “We still have, how many months? Three months?”
Despite Duterte’s announcement, questions put to him during the open forum almost exclusively dealt with the hypothetical scenario of how he would tackle pressing issues “if he were elected President.”
Replying to a question about his management style, the Davao City mayor noted that dealing with both chambers of Congress as the head of the executive branch would be a bureaucratic headache that would require radical reforms.
“Then everyone should reform, including myself…if after one year nothing happens,” he said, painting a theoretical picture of his early days as Philippine President.
Duterte also said that his first priority in a hypothetical presidency would be to push for the exemption from income taxes of those earning P25,000 a month or less.
Increase wages
Secondly, he said that he would also work for an increase in the wages of the members of the police and military, since he believes their salaries are not commensurate to the sacrifices they make to maintain peace and order.
He said the low wages of police personnel were to blame for the rampant corruption among law enforcers.
Dr. Josiah Lim Go, president of Doortech System, said he believes the Chinese-Filipino community would support a Duterte presidential candidacy.
“One [thing going for him] is his work on the peace and order situation. That is very important for the Chinese-Filipino community,” Go said in an interview.
“But I feel I need to get more information about him, I didn’t see that today,” he said.
For Jose Cheng Costales, executive vice president at Sunly Properties Inc., Duterte offers a compelling choice for Filipinos. But he has concerns about the mayor’s age and “extreme” stand on issues.
“I would rather that he retire as a statesman. I think someone younger, with his vision. But we are not ready for someone that extreme,” Costales said.
But Ricky Agana, a retired investment banker, said Duterte should run for President. Moreover, Agana believes the mayor, despite his denials, would pursue the country’s highest office.
“I think with all his pronouncements, that people earning P25,000 or less should not pay taxes, that he will increase the salaries of police and everything, his revolutionary government, that is a platform of government. When you hear that, even if he denies he is running, I presume he will declare one of these days that he will be running,” Agana said.
Very inspiring
“I’d like him to run. I think the speech that he gave was very inspiring. If you need change in this country, you have to look at these kind of people,” Agana said. “If you look at the bigger picture this fellow is very sincere, he will be a good candidate for the presidency.”
Nonetheless, Duterte pointed out that “the opportunity to become President is a window that’s very, very small.”
“Let me tell you, it’s no longer my time,” he repeated. “Give it to somebody else.”
At the end of the forum, Duterte apologized to his supporters who may have thought that Thursday’s event would be a miting de avance or political rally.
“I hope that I did not disappoint you,” he said. “I’m not up to it. There’s always a time in your life when you know that you’ve reached the limit of your purpose. I believe that this is not for me. It belongs to somebody else.”
And then he offered one final apology to the assembled crowd, many of whom exchanged surprised looks as Duterte peppered his statements with cusswords and jokes about having several mistresses.
“I apologize for the things that I have said,” he said. “I hope you understand. That’s really how I am.”