Six hours with Citizen Duterte

For the second time, I met with former president Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte since he stepped down. Both of us were delighted to see each other at the Hotel Elena in Davao City.

Digong regaled me and my companions with stories and anecdotes about himself for six hours, from 9 p.m. last Thursday to 3 a.m. the following day.

Retired Navy Capt. Reynaldo Lopez, my executive assistant Richard Ramos and my business partner Maria Isabel Galindez laughed at Digong’s wild and funny antics. At the same time, they were awed by the presence of the man who cast a giant shadow on the country, with an unusually high approval rating at the end of his term. His predecessors just got passing grades or even failed in the surveys toward the end of their terms.

“I never thought he was that engaging, sir. I enjoyed every minute of the conversation. I’m sure the others did too,” said Lopez, who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1992 as class valedictorian.

Digong, who looked hale and hearty, said that although he misses his days as the country’s No. 1, he enjoys his new status as Citizen Duterte.

“I can now sleep a full eight hours,” said Mr. Duterte, an insomniac.

“I took all his broadsides in stride because istorya lang yan (they’re just tall tales),” Digong told my companions, referring to me at the time when he was Malacañang resident.

I criticized some of my bosom buddy’s policies several times during his term.

I recalled the time Digong denied my report that a man plunged to his death after he was pushed out of a flying helicopter by the then Davao City mayor.

The man was arrested by Mayor Duterte and his men for having a marijuana plantation that was several hectares in size at the foot of Mt. Apo. The suspect was being flown to the Davao police station when the incident happened.

When the Air Force pilots who flew the helicopter asked where the suspect was, Digong said he was gone.

“Sir, mamalasin kami sa ginawa mo (Sir, we will suffer bad luck because of what you did),” Digong quoted the pilot as saying during a conversation with him when he was still mayor.

During an appearance at a university campus in Manila, a student asked presidential candidate Duterte if it were true that he pushed a man out of a helicopter

“Naniwala ka kay Tulfo? Istorya lang niya yun (You believe Tulfo? He was just telling a tall tale),” he replied to the student.

Recalling that public denial of my story, I told Digong I was hurt because I was afraid that my credibility as a journalist would be affected.

“Gusto mong di ako iboto? Gusto mong mapreso ako (You wanted me to lose votes? Did you want me to go to prison)?” he shot back, drawing guffaws from us.

He recalled another incident when he was mayor, when an arrested murder suspect – a houseboy who killed his female employer, the employer’s daughter and another househelp – was shot dead at the foot of the Davao City Hall by cops who were to have taken him to the station.

In the mayor’s office, the suspect never expressed remorse and even told the mayor that he would do it again given the chance.

“He deserved what he got,” said Digong.

I recalled the time he told me of the arrest of a man who broke into a house and raped a woman in front of her husband.

When the robbery-rape suspect was arrested, Digong told the husband to shoot his wife’s rapist. When the husband refused, Mayor Duterte shot the suspect dead pointblank.

Digong was smiling as I was recalling that incident, neither confirming nor denying.

Mr. Duterte was true to his campaign promise to rid the country of the drug menace, but later admitted it was impossible.

Digong said he would never allow himself to be jailed by The Hague-based International Criminal Court for the alleged murder of 6,000 drug suspects.

He said that, if ever, he would prefer to be tried in the country by fellow Filipinos. He said he would fight to the death if there would be an attempt to take him to be tried at The Hague.

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Pryde Henry Teves, who was recently unseated by the Commission on Elections as governor of Negros Oriental, seems to be mocking the law with his insistence on staying in office.

The Comelec installed Roel Degamo as governor after the poll body recounted the votes cast during the recent elections and transferred the votes for a nuisance candidate, Grego Gaudia, to Degamo.

Gaudia ran under a fictitious name, Ruel Degamo. The voters mistook him for reelectionist Roel Degamo.

The utter confusion made Teves win with 301,319 votes over Degamo’s 281,773.

After the recount, Degamo had 331,726 votes – with Gaudia’s votes credited to him – against Teves’ 301,319.

Teves refuses to vacate his post, saying only a Supreme Court decision can make him step down.

Teves has done all this, despite the fact that Degamo took his oath for governor in Malacañang before President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr.

Pryde Henry’s brother, Arnolfo, is congressman of the province’s 3rd district.

The Teveses have always had their way, reportedly mauling people who crossed them.

Arnolfo’s son, Kurt Matthew, 24, beat up a security guard in a gated village in Parañaque early this year and, together with his bodyguards, made the poor guard kneel and beg for mercy.

The young Teves was incensed by the guard’s refusal to let him enter the subdivision, because his car did not have a sticker.

Kurt Matthew also reportedly had a woman kneel before him, the muzzle of a gun stuck into her mouth, for quarreling with him.

Congressman Arnolfo Teves Jr. is a confessed former drug user.