Support for Duterte presidential run gathers steam, Roxas led internal survey over Binay

The trouble with us in government is that we talk too much, act too slow, and do too little, don't we? What the country needs is not more laws but more good men in public service. image: rappler.com

Support for Duterte presidential run gathers steam

Davao City mayor yet to commit to the idea of running for highest office

Manila: Support for a presidential bid for Davao City’s mayor, Rodrigo Duterte, is gaining ground even as the prospective candidate himself is yet to commit to the idea.

“Yes, talks are on going, but nothing is final at this time,” a source from Cebu City told Gulf News when asked to confirm reports that negotiations are going on between Duterte’s camp and that of the Nacionalista Party (NP) of former Senator Manuel Villar and the Partido Demokratiko-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) of Senator Aquilino Pimentel III.

Duterte currently belongs to the PDP-Laban.

With their formidable machineries, the two parties together form the biggest political organisations in the country.

It was responsible for the near-win of Villar in the 2010 presidential contest. Villar tallied only second in the electoral contest, losing to current President Benigno Aquino III.

The source confided to Gulf News that NP is courting the support of Duterte as part of a political concession to Villar, whose wife, Senator Cynthia Villar is reportedly seeking the vice-presidency in the 2016 polls.

Merger

Reports said an official announcement of a merger of the PDP-Laban-Nacionalista Party is due soon.

So far, Duterte remains non-committed although there are widespread calls for him to run for the top executive office.

A no-nonsense lawyer and administrator, Duterte had been elected mayor of the country’s biggest city — Davao City, time and again despite his image as a leader who would cut short tedious judicial processes by rendering justice swiftly and without fanfare.

In 2012, he forced a man selling fake land titles to eat the counterfeit certificates the latter had been selling to hapless informal settlers.

He would, at a heartbeat, tell rice smugglers that he would have them shot to death if they continue with their nefarious ways.

But the source said, all of this is part of an image Duterte cultivated and happily basked in.

Death squads

“They say he had people executed through the so-called Davao Death Squads but up to now, no one has any proof that he was behind these killings,” said the source.

“For one thing, Mayor Duterte epitomises everything that the government should be — quick to act on concerns even outside the media glare. The people are fed up with slow moving politicians,” he said.

“If only he will run for president then things would appear a little better for a lot of people,” he added.

Mar Roxas: Real survey is in 2016

ZAMBOANGA - Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas is thankful for the results of an internal survey that showed him winning the presidency if he goes one-on-one against Vice-President Jejomar Binay.

Roxas, who arrived Thursday morning in the city, toured different radio and TV stations.

In an interview, the Liberal Party candidate said he is grateful for the results of an internal survey commissioned by the LP. The survey showed that Roxas will win if the presidential race were a one-on-one fight between him and Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Roxas said he is not privy to the details of the internal survey.

He also said the real survey will rely on the results of the 2016 election.

Before he left, Roxas made a joke that as of present he too is excited to know who will be his running mate in the 2016 elections.

Roxas is set to attend the three-day Mindanao Business Conference in Dipolog City, which formally opened yesterday. Business leaders and stakeholders from the different parts of the country are among those who participated in the activity. - Gulf news / ABS- CBN

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Tourist blatantly breaks Davao city's anti-smoking ordinance, swallows cigarette butt

Duterte forces smoking tourist to swallow cigarette butt

* A local tourist openly defied Davao City’s anti-smoking ordinance

* He also mocked the restaurant owner who confronted him about the violation

* Duterte poked gun at the man’s crotch and gave the smoker three choices

* The man ended up eating his own cigarette

'Papiliin kita: barilin ko ang bayag mo, i-preso kita, o kainin mo ang upos ng sigarilyo mo,' asks the feisty Davao City mayor of a tourist caught smoking

 

MANILA, Philippines – A tourist literally got a taste of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s non-conventional style of law enforcement.

A Filipino tourist was forced by the mayor to swallow the butt of the cigarette he was smoking after refusing to follow Davao City’s famed smoking ban, according to a Facebook post in a page calling for Duterte’s presidential bid.

The post was written by former North Cotabato governor and former journalist Manny Piñol, who openly supports a presidential candidacy for Duterte.

The tourist was in the city for the Kadayawan Festival when he dared to smoke in a restaurant one night, read the post, crediting “sources close to” Duterte for the information.

The restaurant owner informed the tourist of the anti-smoking ordinance in the city which prohibits smoking in public places.

The smoker allegedly asked, “On whose orders? Bakit pera ba ni Duterte and binibili ko ng sigarilyo? (Why, am I using Duterte’s money to buy a cigarette?)”

Unfortunately for the tourist, the restaurant owner turned out to be a friend of Duterte. The owner asked the police to inform Duterte of the tourist’s transgression.

A few minutes later, the mayor himself walked into the restaurant, prompting the shocked tourist to drop his cigarette and step on it.

Duterte then sat beside the tourist, “pulled out a snub-nosed .38 revolver and poked it at the man’s crotch,” Piñol wrote.

The mayor then allegedly told the smoker: “Papiliin kita: barilin ko ang bayag mo, i-preso kita, o kainin mo ang upos ng sigarilyo mo (I’ll give you these choices: I’ll shoot your balls, send you to jail, or you eat your cigarette butt).”

To these the smoker could only muster a measly “Sorry Mayor” before picking up the cigarette butt and swallowing it, wrote Piñol.

Davao City is 9th safest City in the World. Image source: Davao Eagle

Dare to challenge the law?

Before leaving the restaurant, witnesses heard Duterte tell the smoker, “Never ever challenge the law.”

Duterte has earned adulation for his hands-on leadership style that many say helped turn Davao City into one of the safest in the country.

But his “vigilante style” of justice and open support for killing criminals has also sparked outrage among human rights advocates and even Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Surveys tag him as a popular choice for president in the lead-up to the 2016 national elections. In a May 8-18, 2015 survey done by Laylo Research Strategies, Duterte and former president Joseph Estrada were tied at 3rd place with their national rating of 10%.

Though Duterte is yet to declare his presidential bid and although he has been sending mixed signals about his real intentions for 2016, he has been going around the country explaining his would-be platform and all-out support for federalism in the Philippines. – Pia Ranada/Rappler.com / Kickerdaily

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Mayor Duterte got 34% Approval Rating for Philippine Presidential race in 2016

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Pic: AP

Southern Philippines Mayor Duterte emerges as presidential prospect

If the presidential elections were to be held solely in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, Davao City’s Mayor Rodrigo Duterte would be the runaway winner.

According to the Pulse Asia survey, Duterte will win 34 percent of the Mindanao votes with Vice President Binay coming in second with 22 percent if the elections were held today.

Estrada, who previously lorded the Mindanao votes, was down to 18 percent while Grace Poe has 11.

The Asia Pulse survey was conducted on March 1-7.

Duterte has also inched up in the nationwide presidential survey with 12 percent, good enough for 3rd and 4th – tied with Estrada. That is just after less than 2 months of low-profile exposure using federalism as platform.

It is the first time Duterte figured prominently in a major survey.

Binay’s lead has improved from 26 percent in November 2014– 29 percent.

Poe is 2nd in voting preference with 14 percent.

This is a significant leap for Duterte who only in December was not even in the list of possible presidential candidates for 2016.

The Davao City mayor, who will turn 70 on March 28, however, is lagging far behind in the National Capital Region and the rest of Luzon, with only 7 and 4 percent voting preference respectively.

He was likewise only a distant 4th in Visayas with 9 per cent voter preference.

Mindanao is the second largest island in the Philippines.

Nobody from Mindanao has ever made it to Malacañang.

The closest was the late Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez who hailed from Misamis Oriental. Pelaez was VP to Ferdinand Marcos from 1961 to 1965.

Duterte is neck and neck with Binay over voter preference among the ABC class, but Binay continues to maintain his grip among D and E voters.

The vice president is likewise still leading the pack in NCR, Luzon and Visayas.

Maverick

Duterte is seen as a political maverick although he is officially a member of the PDP-Laban, a Mindanao-grown political party that is also the former political party of Binay.

The controversial Davao City mayor has been courted by all previous post-Cory Aquino Philippine presidents either as a cabinet member or part of the administration’s senatorial slate. The pistol-packing Duterte however politely declined all overtures saying he is not cut for a national position. Last year, he even threatened to shoot those who are egging him to run for president.

He once berated the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for spiriting out from the hospital an American who was injured in a bomb blast inside his rented hotel room in Davao City.

At the height of national indignation over the execution of Filipina overseas contract worker Flor Contemplacion, he led protesters in Davao City by burning the Singaporean flag.

Duterte likewise threatened to declare a revolutionary government if only to solve corruption in the country.

Listening tour

Early this year, he was prevailed to soften his stand against running for the presidency.

He used federalism as a platform for a nationwide listening tour which he started only this year.

He has been invited in Bicol, Pangasinan, Baguio, Manila, Iloilo and Leyte where he was mobbed by supporters and the media.

While he has not officially declared his intention to seek the presidency, a source said a survey that will land him no lower that fourth and in double digit approval will change his mind.

Mindanaoan in the senate

Meanwhile, at least three other Mindanaoans are prominently figuring in the same Pulse Asia survey.

Former Senator Miguel Zubiri of Bukidnon is ranked 7th in the survey while Pacquiao and incumbent Senator Teofisto Guingona III are battling it out for the 11-17th place.

Guingona is also from Bukidnon while Pacquiao, who is now in the US training for his May 2 fight, is a member of the House of Representative representing the lone district of Sarangani.

Pacquiao is expected to throw his hat into the 2016 senatorial race. - Asian Correspondent

Duterte soon to Officially Announce for his 2016 Presidential Race - Saving the Philippines from being fractured

SAAN MAGIGING MALAKAS SI MAYOR DUTERTE PAG TUMAKBONG PANGULO?

AKSYON | Ayon sa political analyst na si Prospero de Vera, posibleng maging malakas sa Local Government Units si Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte oras na tumakbo siya bilang pangulo ng bansa. Bagay daw na makaaapekto kina Vice-President Jejomar Binay at Interior Sec. Mar Roxas na matagal nang may planong tumakbo bilang pangulo sa 2016 elections. Ang detalye sa ulat ni Jove Francisco.

(Video uploaded by James Relativo;

Manuscript edited by Pepher Operio;

Final editing by Seph Ubalde

For any concerns, you may E-Mail news 5 at newsfiveeverywhere@gmail.com) more on News5

 

 

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