by Chito A, Fuentes
Even before the doors at the tightly-guarded building housing the Pangilinan media empire, it was obvious that Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s reputation had preceded him.
Employees including members of the respective news teams betrayed their excitement by the non-ending inquiries on the exact time of the mayor’s arrival. Everyone who knows Duterte knows it would take a prophet to predict that.
Nearly half an hour before he eventually did, the hallway leading to the boardroom where the round table discussion for “Happy Hour”, ABC 5’s early afternoon program was already filled.
“O, ba’t andito kayong lahat?” inquired a male anchor who smiled broadly as he walked his way past the crowded hallway. His query elicited giggles and restrained laughter.
“Di ba dapat nasa loob tayo?” a lady anchor muttered, obviously as a reaction to the observation of her peer earlier.
The line only got longer and thicker, and the noise louder even though the members of the undeclared welcome party tried to keep their voices down.
Duterte’s staff gently raised the matter of the mayor’s colorful language, prompting the crew in charge of the live program to prepare a disclaimer which would come in handy at certain points.
By the time Duterte walked in, the applause, the cheers and the flashing of cameras made one forget that it was raining cats and dogs outside the building.
Duterte stuck to his earlier pronouncement that he was not running. And yet those who listened and especially those who asked questions including, among others Luchi Cruz-Valdez, Martin Andanar, Erwin Tulfo, Raffy Tulfo, Cheryl Cosim, Danton Remoto and Ted Abad did not appear to be convinced.
It was vintage Duterte with his brief historical perspective on the Mindanao situation, his philosophical mind set on the prevailing peace and order situation, his firm grasp of the problems confronting the country and his indictment of the existing political order.
“Ang dami nyang alam!” a lady reporter whispered to another reporter beside her inside the board room.
The mayor effortlessly shifted from his emphatic and passionate warnings to criminals to witty responses every now and then.
The biggest hit was undoubtedly when he mimicked his nemesis, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima when he was investigated en banc over alleged extrajudicial killings.
The laughter that erupted in and out of the board room was such that it was immediately met by instinctive motions for silence.
At the concluding portion, he was asked again whether his decision not to run next year was final. The mayor replied in Tagalog: “masama magsalita na tapos”.
A male anchor gently tapped the table, a woman reporter gently clapped her hands while a few responded with subdued glee.
Somehow, the exchange ended on a positive note.
From there, Duterte was whisked off to another studio where he was interviewed one-on-one by Cruz-Valdez, the award-winning executive.
Duterte was at his best, however, weaving in and out of difficult questions with ease. Like all his previous media interviews, the mayor left little to the imagination.
Pressed to elaborate on his parting statement earlier by Cruz-Valdez, Duterte explained that it is all in God’s hands.
What if God told him He wants him to run? Duterte did not waste a second: “Gusto mo akong patakbuhin? Saan pera mo?” he snapped, his right palm turned upwards.
Nearly everyone laughed heartily, and everybody had to be reminded that the show was being taped.
As soon as the director shouted “cut!”, the ritual of selfies and groupies commenced.
“Ganito ba talaga palagi?” the guard was asked.
Predictably, he answered with a shaking motion of his head, “hindi Sir ah!”.
Usually, it is only the crew in charge of the production who would be present. That day, there were kibitzers not only from other shows but also from other departments.
The way they held their mobile phones, one need not be a sociologist to know what they were there for.
It was more or less the same scene when Duterte moved into still another studio for the taping of a show for Bloomberg with Tony Abad. While the air was less charged as Duterte was less fired up, understandable after two straight shows, the excitement building up among those who were waiting for their time for the pictorials with the mayor was there for all to see.
It was still raining hard when Duterte walked out of the media complex into a waiting van but few people seemed to notice.
The exhilarating experience with the mayor left an impact that would be a difficult act to follow for his rivals. The man who said he would not run for president obviously just gained more admirers and supporters than he previously had.
To say that Duterte was a hit on ABC 5 would be an understatement (CHITO A. FUENTES)
