Dirty Rody

He’s been likened to Donald Trump, Dirty Harry and Joseph Estrada. To the horror of polite society, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is emerging as the man to beat in the 2016 presidential race.

His opponents rejoiced when Duterte’s coming-out speech, peppered with expletives even against Pope Francis (yes, it was directed at the pontiff), admissions of womanizing and allusions to summary executions, raised questions about his qualifications for the nation’s highest post.

He may be fit to run the nation’s largest city, but can he run a country?

But I also know a number of people, educated, middle class or relatively well off, who became fans of “Dirty Rody” after that speech. It was, they said, a fresh break from the sanctimonious hypocrisy of the typical Pinoy candidate. They liked that someone was openly expressing what they felt about many aspects of the state of the nation. P…I…, indeed.

“Give it to the man – he’s got balls” was a common comment, punctuated with laughter, among the converts. Some even broke into song, to the tune of “I Have Two Hands” – I have three balls…

Duterte isn’t the first presidential candidate to admit his womanizing. The first one, Joseph Estrada, won by a landslide. While not naming Erap, Duterte said he did not use public funds for the upkeep of his women. Their qualifications are also different. Erap dropped out of college; he likes to joke about his late mother admonishing him that he never finished anything, including the presidency. Duterte is a lawyer who worked as a prosecutor before following in his late father’s political footsteps.

The Davao mayor lists his civil status as single so he probably believes he can have not just two but as many girlfriends as he wants. His first marriage has been annulled, upon the petition of his wife, a former stewardess of German-American descent and the mother of his three children. Duterte currently has a partner, a nurse with whom he has a child.

He has surely won over macho Pinoys. Their support is reflected in a commissioned survey conducted late last month by pollster Social Weather Stations Inc. (SWS), which Duterte topped.

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President Aquino, in pitching for his BFF before Filipinos working in Italy, expressed a common criticism of Duterte, which is the mayor’s iron hand and dictatorial tendencies.

Unlike dictator Ferdinand Marcos, however, or even Erap who was linked to the disappearance of a casino worker and the grisly execution of publicist Salvador Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito, Duterte has not been linked so far to the permanent elimination of his critics or opponents.

Duterte recently went ballistic over reports, posted on social media by a journalist, that he had throat cancer. Duterte linked the journalist to Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Mar Roxas, who denied any involvement. The furious mayor told Roxas to stop painting others black so he could appear white, but so far no harm has come to the journalist.

So at this point Duterte can claim, with some credibility, that he eliminates only those who pose a threat to public safety. And the threat of permanent elimination keeps in line the government rank and file in his turf.

Among the presidential candidates, he’s the only one who can make this claim, and it’s a powerful message. It could actually win him votes in a nation that loves Dirty Harry types because of the weakness of the criminal justice system.

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The latecomer in the presidential race has also burnished his reputation for telling it like it is after he identified, as dared by the bishops, the priest who allegedly molested him when he was a high school freshman.

A Wikipedia entry said the priest, Mark Falvey, was also accused of sexually abusing at least nine children in Los Angeles from 1959 to 1975, for which the Jesuits reportedly agreed to a tentative settlement of $16 million in May 2007. Falvey’s brother Arthur, also a priest, was himself accused of rape and molestation in California, and the Sacramento diocese reportedly settled the case for $100,000.

Duterte must be feeling vindicated after the results of the latest commissioned SWS survey showed him at the top.

Based on the results of the poll, taken Nov. 26-28, it looks like his surge has affected mostly erstwhile frontrunner Sen. Grace Poe, who has fallen to second place for a tie with Vice President Jejomar Binay. P-Noy’s anointed languished behind the three.

Daang sarado has only itself to blame for the emergence of Duterte as the frontrunner.

In 2010 public disgust over the corruption scandals of the Arroyo administration drowned out its trumpeting of its economic achievements. Its candidate Gilbert Teodoro, who was deemed to be capable and a decent man, was clobbered.

This time, although Pinoys still consider graft a serious problem, the anti-corruption campaign spiel is no longer resonating, especially because the administration and the LP are hounded by corruption allegations that are affecting public services such as the Metro Rail Transit and the issuance of driver’s licenses.

Duterte’s surge in the surveys indicates public yearning for control and efficient management of basic services. I don’t think his fans like to be reminded to be careful what they wish for.

Now that he has become the frontrunner, Duterte should expect the kitchen sink from those whose 2016 strategy revolves around winning by default. But Duterte’s not just tough-talking, he’s tough. And he himself keeps baring his worst.

So the only option left is his disqualification from the race. If he is kicked out, expect his fans’ reaction to be more than P…I.