Never before have people sounded such massive clamor for someone to run for the presidency.
Whatever will be the ultimate decision of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte—to run or not—the fact is, he has inspired an unprecedented clamor from the public at large for someone to take the highest position of governance in our country.
As a senior citizen voter, I’ve never known such a massive desire by the people for anyone to govern our country, not in any and all past elections, except probably during the time of the late and well-loved Ramon Magsaysay who ran and got elected as president. And Duterte has not even formally announced his candidacy yet; on the contrary, he has been saying he has no intention to run.
The peoples’ clamor for Duterte to run and put into action the kind of governance he displayed in Davao City, plus his sentiments on reforms and the programs he would implement if elected president, should be a clear wake-up call for all aspiring presidential candidates and sitting government officials that people are fed up with the kind of government we have, in terms of the problems that should—and could—be resolved with strong governance.
Anyone can ask around and come up with the truth that the silent majority of people view Mayor Duterte nowadays as the only one remaining hope for a better Philippines. And if it turns out that Duterte makes good on a decision not to run, it is not farfetched that a lot of people will not vote in the coming elections in sheer disappointment for a lost aspiration.
—BENJAMIN L. SIM, profconsult99@gmail.com