Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte again shot down calls from a local movement campaigning to endorse him for the presidency in 2016, and said he would rather run a revolutionary government.
In his regular Sunday program, Duterte said he and the public would only share the same frustrations if he becomes president of the status quo.
“Assuming I will be president and things are status quo; there will still be Congress and Civil Service, the Human Rights (Commission) and Ombudsman. Now with this Congress, you have to beg and make horse-deals with them. You’ll be wasting your money paying me for six years where I can not make any meaningful change. I would just curse my way for six years,” Duterte said.
The mayor reacted after the Duterte for President Movement, organized by some barangay captains in the city, has reportedly gathered three million signatures from their campaign in this city that has spread towards neighboring provinces such as Davao del Sur.
Duterte’s name has been cropping up in the 2016 presidential race which is now seen as a two-way fight between Vice President Jejomar Binay and Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, who has the backing of President Aquino’s ruling Liberal Party.
But Duterte said if he could have his way, he would do what the late President Cory Aquino did.
“If I’m the president, I will rebel against my own government. Like Cory, I will set up a revolutionary government. I may not be as popular as Cory. But if you want me, this is what I will do. I’ll shut down everything and start from scratch,” the mayor said.
He said he would privatize the Bureau of Customs, the agency recently sighted by the mayor over incidents of rice smuggling and cocaine.
He also said to prevent corruption, he would bring along his practice of “streamlining” or distribute the government budget to agencies to ensure better performance.
“I will not keep the money. I would double the salaries of the police, the generals. But I will tell them to work and do things right, or else I’ll shoot them,” he said.
Duterte’s popularity has been fanned on social media, where netizens across the country heaved admiration for the mayor’s stance against crime and corruption, which they said has kept Davao City safe.
The mayor also gained national attention during his Senate hearing testimony where he repeated his threat to kill rice smuggling suspect Davidson Bangayan, and on last year’s killing of suspected kidnappers in the city.
But Duterte knows he has his share of critics from media and the Commission on Human Rights for alleged failure to uphold human rights of criminals.
“You libertarians, supporters of Cory, you may say I don’t uphold democratic values. But I tell you, I’m doing this for the sake that there will be democratic values,” he said.
Duterte also took a swipe at his critics.
“You just give lip service. You know very well people are suffering, and not getting much from government,” he said.
Duterte asked his critics to come to Davao and see how the city has fared in economic growth under his term.
“You come here in Davao, where you have the highest employment rate compared to other countries, even ambassadors such as from Mexico told me this. This is what the people want, not lip service,” Duterte said. (davaotoday.com)
