Rodrigo Roa Duterte, ‘The Donald’ of Davao

THERE IS a world of difference between Rodrigo Roa Duterte of Davao City, and Donald Trump of New York City. It is their similarities that serve as the attraction for many of their countrymen.

Duterte was born in Maasin, Southern Leyte, a few months after the Leyte landings that brought back Gen. Douglas MacArthur who left the Philippines in 1942 with a promise to return.

The son of a lawyer-politician and a public school teacher, Rody or Digong, as he is better known, is a San Beda law graduate who served three terms as mayor and one term as congressman of Davao City. His father Vicente was governor of Davao province from 1959 to 1965. He is separated from his first wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman.

So far, he has been sending mixed signals about whether he intends to run for president. But for one who is still testing the waters, his interviews with different groups and media outlets, including Esquire Magazine, indicate an inclination to join the caravan of candidates.

Trump was born in New York City in 1946 and finished at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of science degree in economics. His father was a wealthy real estate developer whose ancestors came from Germany.

His official biography, issued by the Trump Organization, reads: “Donald J. Trump is the very definition of the American success story, continually setting standards of excellence while expanding his interests in real estate, sports and entertainment. He is the archetypal businessman—a dealmaker without peer.”

Last June, Trump formally announced his candidacy for president of the United States, unfurling his slogan “We are going to make our country great again.” Shades of Ferdinand Marcos! He promised to become “the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”

Trump has been married three times. It was his first wife Ivana, a Czech, who referred to him in an interview as “The Donald.” The moniker has stuck since then. His distinctive hairstyle is a carefully combed-over hair, although he recently said that if elected president he would just comb his hair backwards since the present style takes too much time and effort.

Forbes has pegged his net worth at $4 billion. Bloomberg Billionaires estimates his net worth at $2.9 billion while Trump himself claimed, after announcing his candidacy, a net worth in excess of $10 billion. He has never held public office.

Similarities

While Trump is officially in the race, Duterte has not made any firm decision on the matter. Nevertheless, both have come up with radical and unconventional solutions aimed at addressing age-old problems facing their respective countries.

One of the hot issues in the United States today is the immigration problem as thousands of undocumented aliens cross the border from Mexico. These illegals are said to take away jobs from American citizens and enjoy medical and educational benefits that are shouldered by the state.

In his kickoff campaign rally, Trump told his audience that Mexico was sending people who were “bringing in drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” This has not endeared him to many Latinos whose votes he would need to win the election.

To address the illegals problem, Trump said he would build a wall from San Diego in California to Brownsville in Texas, roughly 2,000 miles of border with Mexico. And he would make the Mexicans pay for the wall.

None of his Republican rivals for the presidential nomination think that the wall is such a great idea, and they are all in the dark as to how they can get Mexico to pay for such an expensive barrier.

Another issue in connection with the immigration problem is how to deal with the more than 11 million illegals already in the United States.

Trump says that he will deport all illegal aliens—all 11 million and allow re-entry only for those satisfying legal requirements. His rivals claim it is impossible to deport 11 million people. For one thing, many of them do the jobs that average Americans are not inclined to carry out themselves, particularly in service industries and agriculture.

Here at home, Duterte had a few things on his mind about government.

In “The Passions of Rodrigo Duterte” (Esquire Magazine, March 2015), Lav Diaz, an independent filmmaker, is said to have asked Duterte what approach would he take to end mass poverty in the country. Duterte replied, “. . . you cannot go into reformation with the existing structure. I would need extraconstitutional powers. . . ”

What kind of extraconstitutional powers? “I will declare a revolutionary government, and close Congress, and sell all government corporations that are connected with money-making…. I would do away with the collection of income taxes. Dito sa collection of taxes, gross tayo. Wala na masyado inspection.”

In the same interview, Duterte said, “If you are a hostage taker in the city (Davao), you better kill the hostage because when I come I will only count to three. I do not negotiate. I do not call for psychologists; it is a waste of time. If you are committing a crime holding an innocent person, I will simply shoot you.”

Only a few days ago he called for the privatization of the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue because of continuing corruption allegations. The Government Service Insurance System should also be placed in private hands for greater efficiency, he said. Privatization would provide greater transparency and accountability in the operations of these sensitive agencies.

* * *

The views of Trump and Duterte are not the usual “politically correct” positions Americans and Filipinos have been used to hearing each time elections come around. Some may not agree with Duterte’s and Trump’s solutions, but the people are tired and frustrated with what the politicians keep repeating and repeating with no progress in sight. In the United States with a large, educated and well-informed middle class, there is a strong possibility that Trump might emerge as the Republican contender. He leads all the surveys. Here, Duterte is rising in the polls, but other factors may make it difficult for him to go much higher.

Moderation has always been part of my personal philosophy, a trait inherited from my father. But every now and then, in my moments of despair—as when I am caught in traffic that has transformed roads into one huge parking lot, and that is aggravated by insensitive remarks that the situation is not fatal—I get the sinking feeling that perhaps Duterte’s solution is the only solution for our country if we are to see significant improvement in the lives of our children and grandchildren.