PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: Duterte marches ahead regardless and remorseless.

The elections to elect the next president of Philippines are just about a fortnight away and the campaigning by all the candidates is at its peak.
No efforts and expenses are being spared by all the candidates, their active supporters and their campaigners.

You couldn’t ask for a more charismatic albeit slightly controversial candidate to head your country; whatever he utters is lapped up by the media,
his opponents as well as his growing support base because they all derive their own capital from his utterances.

Some label him as a practical person, others as brash and ill-mannered while most commoners just laugh at his expletives and extreme pronouncements.

But, one thing he is not; he is a person whose variety colorful utterances are never to be taken lightly, neither by friends nor by his detractors.

Believe me friends; the simple fact of the matter is that he is a hard-hitting achiever who is just not talk. He has had a lifetime of a
solid political career spanning 22 years during which he proved his mettle.

Remaining a Mayor of Davao for 22 years is the least of his achievements. He has proved himself as a crime fighter (no mean task in any country or region)
and has an illustrious record as a ruler with an iron fist.

That he has emerged as the front-runner in the recent surveys speaks volumes of the high regard that the public hold for him. They see him as a seasoned campaigner
with his guns booming in the right directions and the rustic capability to deal with the murky world of crime.

Analysts from all spheres of activity attribute the spurt in his sudden appeal with the voters to his slightly optimistic pledge; he has a reputation in fighting
crime and he vowed to use that to exterminate criminal activities with special focus on kidnappings and drug trafficking.

His vows extend to rooting out corruption in three to six months and they have drawn diverse reactions from all around. But, one thing is for certain, the results of the
poll have established the fact that he has made remarkable inroads into the support base of candidates particularly of Grace Poe, Pulse and Binay.

While the support base has grown considerably analysts are voicing concerns about the adverse impact and that his chances may take a beating
due to the all round condemnation from western allies of recent utterances regarding rape and murder.

But, some close observers are of the opinion that it is too late in the presidential race for the criticism to cause a serious threat to his candidacy.

From an assortment of 4,000 respondents in the ABS-CBN TV network opinion poll of the Pulse Asia survey, 34% favored Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of
southern Davao city; he was way ahead of Sen. Grace Poe with 22 percent, Vice-President Jejomar Binay with 19% and Mar Roxas with 18 %.
The margin of error was pegged at plus or minus 1.5 percent as per ABS-CBN.

Duterte gained 7% from the Metro manila area while most of this had been snatched from Grace Poe; another significant equation was seen in Duterte’s rise corresponding to Binay’s decline.

The Visayas region accorded similar numbers to both Duterte and Mar Roxas from the Liberal party, with the former marginally ahead; overall the difference was a wide 16%.

It was almost a cakewalk for Duterte with almost two thirds of the total tally in his favour; he was also a clear leader across all classes of society.

The situation can change drastically in the volatile situation arising out of the shifting alliances in the final days but will they really make that much difference?

Informed sources are however keeping their fingers crossed because his caustic utterances have been directed at the biggest western allies,
USA and Australia particularly since he made some offensive, lecherous remarks over the rape and killing of Australian missionaries in a Davao jail during a 1989 hostage crisis.

The Australian Ambassador did object to this fickle trivialization and joking about crimes against women and children and so did the US ambassador but the brash response was to ask them to shut up.

When someone pointed out that USA and Australia may break off ties with Philippines due to such remarks, he defiantly stated that they could go ahead and do it.

But, he seemed to make an attempt to cover up his mistake with an explanation that his reply was purely in response to a hypothetical query from media persons.

This reminds us of the remarks that he had made against the Pope for which he apologized later; while the pontiff forgave him for his irresponsible utterance, it remains to
be seen whether the Filipino public will.

We are not too far away from knowing the answer to that one.

Author: Umrao Singh

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