Presidency a gift, no need to covet it – Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — He still has three years to go before he steps down, but President Duterte already has an advice to his successors.

“Believe me, now that I have experienced it, the presidency is a gift from God. And my advice to the coming presidents, if they get into office, in the meantime, do not covet anything and it will come to you,” Duterte told religious leader Apollo Quiboloy in an interview aired over Sonshine TV last Saturday.

Duterte said his mother Soledad had told him that he would get what he wanted if God willed it. 

“My mother said, ‘Do not covet it. It will not come. Hayaan mo lang. Huwag mong hingiin (Just let things fall into place. Do not ask for it)’,” Duterte narrated.

“I said, ‘What if I want to become a lawyer?’ Well... that is something else. That has nothing to do with the raw ambition to be somebody. She said. ‘Do not... if you ask it for yourself, you’re dead. Ask God for it and if you are blessed by God, He would give it to you’,” he added.

Duterte previously said he did not expect to beat his more moneyed rivals in the 2016 race, noting that only a few local officials had backed his presidential bid.

Asked what his legacy would be, Duterte replied: “Hard work. Just like any government worker during my time, I taught a lot of hard work so that the others will follow. No great claims.”

“I just want people or if they would really care to remember, ‘he was once a government worker and he worked for the people’— that’s the legacy that I’d like to leave. And when I’m gone, forget me. I would be flying, soaring the universe,” he declared.

Duterte said he does not accept awards and praises that are “too sumptuous.”

“But God maybe will remember me, not for so many things, but for the good times that I did good things for my fellowmen. One is that... I really do not like oppression, I got it from my father,” he added.

The President stressed that he is determined to fulfill his promises especially his fight against illegal drugs and corruption.

“I would reduce it to a very simple equation. For the human rights and for the bleeding hearts, I have a nation to protect and to preserve and I have millions to provide security (to). You want... to send me to prison? I’ll go. No problem. As I have said, the presidency is a gift from God. So it’s not given,” Duterte added.

Somebody has to take the gamble, he noted, to address the security threats, law and order issues, corruption and illegal drugs.

“Hypothetically, government is presumed to have all the powers, unlimited, unrestrained... The only one that bars or protects the people from these vast powers that can be used for dictatorship, corruption… is the Bill of Rights, and due process,” he said.