Recently, Mayor Rody Duterte of Davao City has been making rounds both on tri-media and social media for, apparently, badmouthing Pope Francis. At first, it left a sour taste in my mouth upon reading the news, as it flooded my Facebook newsfeed, but I had to get deeper on why in the world would he curse the head of the Catholic Church, knowing that the majority of the Filipino people are, yes, Catholics.

What circulated the social media, mostly are transcripts of what he had said. You know how easy it is to get misquoted if your message is just being read (that’s why I hate texting). So, I searched for the full video on the internet, while waiting on the local TV channels for a report about it. The excerpt was taken off of his speech as he was being formally announced as the PDP-Laban’s standard bearer. A lot was said in that speech: him as a person, him as a leader, his past, his programs and platform, and a lot of expletives.

Apparently, what’s being shown on the local news is the same transcript, but this time, Digong, as he is fondly called by his local constituents, is in the flesh saying those words. It can easily be taken out of context if you’re going to take it from that excerpt. But still, the statement is in the bad taste, and he already expressed regret over that remark on the Pope. As he said on an interview, “It was never intended to be directed to the person of His Holiness Pope Francis, who has his utmost respect. It was out of exasperation at the inutility of the functionaries in government not only during that historic visit of Pope Francis but at the daily sufferings of all citizens in Metro Manila up to this moment.” – See more at: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/546399/news/nation/duterte-expresses-regret-over-remark-on-pope-francis#sthash.sk0D2XuR.dpuf

Though, a bit disappointed, Duterte still has my vote. And here are the same top-ish reasons as to why he is still the best guy for me to lead us:

• He is not the traditional politician (trapo). Ever since the time that I rooted for Miriam Defensor-Santiago to win the 1992 presidential elections, I have always have the same picture of politicians in my mind. They are all the same, all trapos! They’ll promise heaven, earth and everything in between just to get your vote. They’ll shake hands with the shirtless, they’ll share the only food on your table, and do anything they can think of just to show that they are masa, that they are like you. That they are with you and know what you are going through, though, not. And once seated, they’ll keep their promises to families and friends first, and if there is still enough time on their term, they’ll do an early campaigning to promise you again the same shit they should have prioritized in the first place. Duterte is brute in his words. He’ll tell you that for us to move forward, everyone should do their part. If he gets elected, you must follow his leadership for it to work. He is not into sugar-coating. It’s either you vote for him or not. Simple as that.
• He is not epal (attention-seeker). After the devastation of typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas region, he was one of the early respondents that extended help to Tacloban, Leyte. The relief goods were printed with words of encouragement and to whom it came from, THE PEOPLE OF DAVAO CITY. He is not a credit-grabber.
• He is a man of action. Instead of yapping around, blaming people on the alleged laglag-bala scheme in airports, he acted right away and doubled the security of Davao City airport, made himself visible as to assure that there is no place for hullabaloos in his turf.
• He imposes discipline. Ever since I could vote, I was always rooting for someone who shows toughness and gives regard to discipline. I, myself, can admit it that I need to be disciplined. Ping Lacson always had my vote though he didn’t top the surveys, because he promised discipline. Admit it, Filipinos are not ready for total democracy. We, as a whole, are spoiled brats.
• Federalism. The current government system that we have, which is centralized in National Capital Region, is just not working. Federalism fits our country perfectly because we are all divided, literally and figuratively.

These are just on the top of my list, but definitely there are more reasons why I pick Duterte over the other presidential aspirants. I know, he is not perfect. I am an explicit type of person, and I understand that a leader should be careful on his words, but that’s just a little thing that can be fixed in a matter of months, if not days, before election comes. If you liked him before, but then changed your mind due to this ‘badmouthing’ incident, then you should do a research on your new candidate. Perhaps, when you chose Duterte before, it was superficial and you just joined the bandwagon. And if you didn’t really liked Duterte even before he decided to join the race, then it’s one more reason for you not to vote for him. Let’s just not force our opinions into others. As much as possible, let’s leave the dirty politicking to the politicians. Anyways, it’s their job.

***Credit to the owner of the photo.***