by RMiguel Gomez
It took awhile for me to come to terms with the incessant reports of our mayor, Rodrigo Duterte, considering the presidency. I had no love lost for his anti-smoking law. And I had long disdained being made to stick to a speed limit or be compelled to fasten my own seatbelt, having driven for the better part of 35 years. I thought it to be draconian.
Of course, all that is subjective. And whether I like it or not, such sentiments have no place in appraising the man as a potential leader of the nation.
I believe Mar Roxas has what it takes to be president. Between Roxas, Binay, and Poe, I think the former’s broad experience in governance is formidable, his record of integrity beyond reproach. But between Roxas and Duterte, the latter has the edge.
My obvious and selfish reason, of course, is that he hails from here, my hometown. But far from being subjective, this is a statement borne of objective truths.
Here’s why:
In the Ramos Administration, Duterte was a consistent Mindanao advocate. Ramos’s brand of leadership bordered on the activist, partial to policy reforms that favored the island-community. Throughout the six-year campaign to give Mindanao her due, Duterte had been a quiet, steady pillar of support. It was acknowledged then, as it is now, that Mindanao’s full development would result to the acceleration of the nation’s progress. That premise was never lost on progressive leaders like Duterte.
That he is “progressive,” in fact, is an understatement, considering his close ties with the Left and the hierarchy of the Moro insurgents.
Some may wonder, what must one make of a mayor who enjoys an overseas chat with Joma Sison, on one hand, and tells the NPA to “stay out” of the city during gaming events? Or a mayor who goes a long way with the likes of Nur Misuari and other latter-day MILF chieftains, on the one hand, and puts his foot down on certain provisions of the controversial BBL?
The answer to these seeming paradoxes can only be explained not only by Duterte’s fierce independence of mind, but by his deep appreciation of postmodern politics.
He has been known to work for the safe release of captive soldiers from rebel strongholds. Yet he takes to task the same rebels for refusing to accept socioeconomic opportunities in Paquibato. He has betrayed a strong environmental bent, not the least being the passage of an anti-mining ordinance in the city. Yet in 2010, at the height of an intense tug-of-war between the Davao City Water District, which was fighting for the protection of Tamugan River as the city’s last source of drinking water, and the Aboitiz-led Hedcor, Inc., which was eyeing the same river for commercial purposes, he had helped broker a compromise.
Some have scored the agreement as a capitulation to the Aboitizes, whose conglomerate is among the Philippines’ most influential. But a more sober analysis could be that he had sought, and found, the elusive common ground between business and the environment, and in so doing facilitated a partnership to be emulated in the name of the common good.
But what “common good” is there to speak of, some may ask, when accusations of extrajudicial killings have been leveled against him for years? I make no pretenses at condoning such allegations under the romantic notion of vigilantism, if at all it applies here. But I do believe our own concepts of due process, nay democracy itself, are unabashedly Western and, in many instances, unsuitable for struggling nations like ours.
Civil liberties may be equally accorded to all citizens in a developed country whose judicial institutions have stood the test of time. But in societies where the systems don’t work, where corruption is a way of life and criminals roam the streets without fear, what must a true leader do to protect his people? From what legal or philosophical reservoir must he draw from in order to rationalize his impotence in the name of democratic ideals?
Such are admittedly hard questions with moral and political implications. Yet while the rest of us are locked in debate and Rome proverbially burns, the true leader must rise above the din. And then he must summon his courage to do what he believes is right for the community.
In more ways than one, Duterte has led us in Davao with impartiality, humility, and purpose. I hope the rest of the nation can benefit as well from his guidance, if for nothing else than to challenge the way we think about ourselves and the future.