AGRI TALKS Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte meets with Alyansa Agrikultura chair and INQUIRER columnist Ernesto Ordoñez (left) and other agricultural leaders after 4 a.m. at a hotel in Quezon City on Saturday. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
All they wanted was to know presidential candidate Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte’s plans for agriculture and how he would try to improve the lives of the country’s farmers.
The mayor of Davao City, now the front-runner in the race for Malacañang, had agreed to brief the leaders of the country’s largest agricultural groups on his plans at a hotel in Quezon City on Friday night.
But instead of appearing at 11 p.m. as had been agreed upon, Duterte showed up at 4 a.m.
Those who waited for him for five hours were Ernesto Ordoñez, chair of Alyansa Agrikultura and Inquirer Business columnist; Bob Amores, Pablito Villegas, Emil Javier, Elias Jose and Elvira Baladad who represented the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc., Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines, Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (PKKK) and Agriculture Fisheries 2025.
Baladad, representative of the PKKK, left after being told that Duterte would arrive at 1:30 a.m. She said she could not stay longer, as she had commitments for Saturday.
Opportunities for women
Before leaving, Baladad made a pitch for women in the countryside to be given an opportunity to engage in small farm activities, which she would have pressed on Duterte.
She also said the government should look into the needs of farmers, pointing out that for years there have been disagreement on what the farmers need and what the government provides for them, such as farm implements.
Reporters pull out
Those who stayed chatted among themselves, hoping Duterte would come.
They had been told that Duterte was campaigning in San Pedro, Laguna.
At 3:30 a.m., after learning that Duterte’s camp could not say where exactly the mayor was, this reporter and Inquirer.net reporter Nestor Corrales decided to pull out.
Ordoñez tried to convince the reporters to stay, telling them that coverage of the meeting meant a lot to the agricultural sector, which planned to meet with the other presidential candidates for briefings on their plans for agriculture.
The Alyansa Agrikultura leader called up an aide to Duterte to ask whether the mayor was already on the road to the hotel.
He was told Duterte would arrive in 10 minutes.
Twenty minutes passed. No Duterte.
The Inquirer learned from Ordoñez on Saturday that Duterte arrived at 4 a.m. and the discussion with the mayor pushed through.
Jose, spokesperson for Alyansa Agrikultura, said Duterte gave the impression that he considered the meeting with the agricultural leaders not unimportant.
“There was no intent to treat us shabbily. In fact, he was the first [among the presidential candidates] to show interest [in meeting with us],” Jose said.
He described the discussion with Duterte as “productive.”
Duterte, he said, spoke about spending for “scholarships for farmers and fishermen,” among other plans for the sector.
Long day
Christopher Go, Duterte’s longtime executive assistant, explained that Friday had been a long day for the mayor’s campaign.
Duterte, he said, campaigned in Mindoro, Batangas and Laguna, and the event in Laguna ended at dawn.
‘No definite time’
Go said Duterte had another meeting before the appointment with the agricultural leaders in Quezon City.
“It was a long day for all of us, but because it was a commitment, the mayor had to show up. He stayed for more than two hours,” Go said.
Go explained that the meeting with Ordoñez’s group had “no specific time.”
“Ordoñez told the mayor that he was willing to meet with him anytime and as soon as he was free. There was no specific time. Ordoñez was apprised of the hectic schedule and he volunteered to wait,” Go said.
He said it was unfair to criticize Duterte for arriving so late because Ordoñez insisted on waiting for the mayor.
Duterte, however, has gained notoriety for showing up late at his own campaign rallies.
In Muntinlupa on Sunday, for example, he arrived six hours late. For his campaign in Marikina City on Tuesday, he was four hours behind schedule. With a report from Nancy C. Carvajal
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