CHANGE HAS COME. A newspaper vendor shows the front page of the local newspapers in Davao City which feature Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s call for healing after the elections. (Medel V. Hernani/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY – A day after the presidential elections, residents here are now pondering on how Davao would be like now that they catapulted the city mayor into the Malacañan Palace.
While hard work has paid off, Karla Rocha, 31, said she will miss ‘Tatay Digong’ “a lot.”
“I don’t think there’s someone who can equal him even his children. We will miss the “Tatay Digong”, the easy access, his compassion even his jokes,” she said.
Rocha admitted that during the previous local elections, she did not vote for Duterte because she was turned off by his language.
“When I became more mature, that’s the time that I started appreciating him,” said Rocha.
“Now that he’s president, I’m confident that we are on our way to a better Philippines. It’s time to be great again. I pray that his call for unity will be accepted even by his opponents and many will really work for us to attain the change that we want,” she said.
Chanty, 31, a working mother from Davao City said: “we will definitely miss Mayor Digong’s craziness and brutally frank ways.”
“He will always be our mayor para sa masa gikan sa masa (from the masses, to the masses),” she said.
‘No reason to miss the mayor’
Mags Maglana, a resident in Davao City for 48 years said there is no reason to miss the mayor. After all, she said, “we did not lose a Mayor, so why should we miss him?”
“Rather, the country gained a new President from the long-neglected south, and regardless of where one stood during the campaign, that is a historically positive contribution and development,” said Maglana.
Duterte has served the city prosecutor’s office from 1977 to 1986. He was first elected as mayor in 1988 and served seven terms until the elections on Monday, May 9.
He was also elected as district representative in 1998 to 2001 and served as vice mayor from 2010 to 2013. Duterte, who won his 11th election on Monday, has never been defeated even with the rough campaign period he faced in the presidential elections.
Davaoeños ask: are you ready?
Axel Clapano, a resident in Davao City wondered “how would the rest of the Filipinos react to what he will impose as president?”
“Davaoeños were able to abide by his rules, will the rest of the Filipinos do the same?” she told Davao Today.
Duterte, who is very vocal in his campaign against drugs and criminality, has implemented policies that shaped Davao City’s image in the country. Among the policies are the no smoking ordinance, total firecracker ban, liquor ban from 1:00 am to 8:00, and speed limit ordinance.
Maglana said that in the coming days, the election momentum has to be transformed into sustained energy “so that we can proudly claim that Davaoeos, first and foremost, are the change that we promised during the campaign.”
“During historically significant periods, it is easy for pride to rapidly mutate into arrogance, complacence, and entitlement; I hope Davaoeños do not fall into that trap,” she said.
Duterte’s daughter, Inday Sara and his son, Paolo will serve as mayor and vice mayor in the city. (davaotoday.com)
