Why Duterte is winning
At this point in time, only 26 days (at this writing) before elections, Rodrigo Duterte has already topped the latest survey with 30 percent voter preference. Conducted by Pulse Asia on commission by ABS-CBN that outcome has the reliability of a non-partisan report.
Why is Duterte becoming the favorite of Filipino electorate?
Coming late into the campaign sorties the Davao mayor has already bypassed Grace Poe who used to lord it over other candidates for months. Duterte has bypassed too Binay and Roxas who chalked only 20 and 19 percent, respectively, in that survey.
Again, why is Duterte winning?
The answer is that among the five presidential contenders, Duterte is the one who exudes a no-nonsense drive towards change.
Change is what people hunger for. For almost 50 years national leadership has been the monopoly of Luzon-based presidents. From Macapagal to Marcos to Cory Aquino, to Ramos, to Arroyo and to another Aquino - all from Tagalog speaking provinces - policy decisions have been biased towards those provinces, perhaps because the capital city is in Luzon, but perhaps too because of the subconscious tendency called "charity begins at home." Thus, major infrastructure projects are confined in those places, while the Visayas and Mindanao have to make do with bumpy roadways and decrepit bridges.
A classic example of neglect is Mindanao. The hungry farmers recently made public their protest on the government's failure to help as El Niño rages. Such failure is only an iota of the government's massive failure to develop the various aspects of socio-economic life in that southern backdoor. With massive failure comes massive discontent which breeds violence and secessionist movements.
Change is therefore needed especially in the direction of our expenditure program. That direction should ideally be from the developed to the least developed areas, from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao, with the latter given priority because of its critical socio-economic and political problems.
Even without amending certain provisions of the Constitution this redirection of development efforts can be achieved given an upbeat leadership of a new president. But for a more lasting effect there's a need to reinvent the country's governance into one that empowers local governments. Federalized governance is the call of the hour. Why? Because this is the mechanism that empowers local leaders and frees them from the dictates of imperial Manila, thus motivating them towards self-initiative and generating development strategies suited to local conditions.
And who is the candidate who has internalized this new direction? Only Duterte. The others are conspicuously mum about it, probably because of their attachment to the traditional system which works only for the traditional politicians that they are.
More than his advocacy of federal government, Duterte attracts voters because of his down-to-earth and courageous stance in confronting the problems that bedevil this country such as criminality, corruption, and drug addiction. With his track record in Davao City, he is in a position to eradicate these menace, if not minimize their impacts.
Sick and tired the people are of leaders who lack political will. Every day people are killed in broad day light. Shabu factories operate here and there (even inside a jail house) but what have the authorities done? Reports about buy-bust operations are regularly heard and drug addicts arrested. But where are the drug lords? And what happened to the tons of drugs confiscated?
Presently, thousands of rural folks are crying for food. Ravaged by drought, their farms can no longer produce food. But what has the government done? There's supposed to be ?19 billion allotted as El Niño assistance but what happened to the money? Is there a comprehensive program to lessen the effects of this weather phenomenon upon the country? There are of course scintillating reports on this but nothing is happening. Is this Daang Matuwid?
Change - real change - is the call of the hour. And Duterte is for change.
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