What if Duterte finally decides to run

It seems it is getting clearer. He is telling us to wait until October 15. If the most unlikely scenario should happen, if Mayor Rodrigo Duterte should finally decide to join the presidential derby, millions of his ardent admirers shall rejoice. Bandwagon of massive supports shall surge like a modern exodus from the hinterlands of Mindanao to the urban poor centers of Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, and even the major metropolitan cities in Luzon. Financial contributions shall pour in like Niagara falls from taipans and business magnates who like Duterte's uncompromising stance against crimes.

Binay-Marcos or Binay-Cayetano will make a big difference. That would be a very bad news for the camp of Mar Roxas which had already succeeded in "demolishing" the presidential dreams of Jojo Binay. It would also be a big blow against the ambitions of Grace Poe who already fragmented the administration's better alternative votes against Binay, and thus has diminished the chances of Roxas. The entry of Rudy Duterte will be the biggest game-changer of them all. It will overhaul the political landscape and political fortunes are bound to change. The fence sitters and balimbings will have to take a choice, to jump into the winning bandwagon, or be left behind by the train.

Duterte is the only one among the presidentiables who can make the criminals cower in fear, and makes the drug lords, the gambling lords and the political warlords, the rebels and the NPA, MILF, MNLF, Abu Sayaf, Jamiya Islamiah and many other troublemakers tremble with genuine concern and terror. It is only Duterte who can solve the traffic mess, the endemic corruptions, and even the secessionist movement. Only Duterte can tell the Chinese to go home to Beijing and fly a kite.  He has the track record, and the moral ascendancy. Whatever he says he does. He has the credibility - more credibility than any other bets.

Duterte never makes promises that he cannot deliver. He is not an ivory tower executive. He is hands-on. He roams the streets and mixes with the people. He is not like some senators who are now running for higher office whose only performance is spoken words. They glory in filibustering, in posturing and in "pa-epal" and "pa- bebe." Duterte talks less and delivers more. He feels the pulse of the masses and says his piece even if he sounds like a thug or a rebel. He does not care for "image." He cares for what are genuine and authentic. He is not a protocol guy. He does not respect the prim and proper. He says his piece and does not mince words, calling a spade a spade.

Above all, Duterte hates the "imperialistic Manila." He hates people who consider the Visayans as second-class Filipinos or the Mindanaoans as "unwashed savages." He hates people who look down on the Muslims and who discriminates against the lumads. Duterte is a modern Robin Hood who hates the rich who exploit and oppress the poor, as well as the arrogant poor who terrorizes the rich. If Duterte decides to run and win, the Filipinos will be disciplined like how Lee Kuan Yew disciplined the Singaporean and just as Mahathir led Malaysia to progress. Duterte is the greatest idea whose time has finally come. He should heed the call of destiny and run.