Faces of the News: Ronald Cardema

Exultant after the face-off with Jim Paredes, Duterte Youth later joined thousands at a pro-Duterte rally at Rizal Park on that same day.

It turned out that the young men who mounted the in-your-face lightning rally at the Edsa People Power Monument were led by Ronald Cardema, himself the chair of Duterte Youth.

“Why should we be afraid? We’re only supporting the President,” Cardena was quoted as saying in some reports.

Naturally, they were treated like heroes by the Duterte crowd, with Solicitor General Jose Calida calling them “defenders of the Republic,” and awarding them with “Republic Defenders” pins in his office.

Calida also taunted Paredes to face him instead.

“You call them cowards. You try telling me I’m a coward,” he said.