(Photo caption: Rody Duterte with his father, the late Davao Governor Vicente Duterte, who moulded the young Rody into the political leader that he is now.)
About two weeks ago, shortly after unwilling Presidential prospect Rody Duterte told business leaders in Makati that he was not interested in the Presidency, I received a call from a friend who now handles the campaign of another presidential material.
"Pare, kung hindi tutuloy si Mayor Duterte, puede ka namin kunin para tulungan si ..........?," the friend, who I will not identify, asked me.
(If Mayor Duterte does not run for President, can we get you to our camp?)
The friend who called me up said that his "principal" who is considering running for President or Vice President needed me to run the ground work just like what I am doing for my friend, Rody Duterte.
He said his camp was impressed by what I was doing to pave the way for Duterte's journey to Malacañang, writing articles which help people understand his advocacy and know him as a person and using my political contacts and network established as Governor for nine years.
I courteously told my friend that the only reason why I decided to get out of my farm in Kidapawan City and out of retirement to get involved with politics again is because I believe that Duterte is the kind of President our country needs now.
I could have been more straightforward and told him that "I am not for hire, for lease or for rent," but that would have been brusque and discourteous.
Honestly, why do I want Duterte to be President?
I would like Duterte to be President because this country needs a leader who understands the feelings of the ordinary people and shares the dreams and the anger of the masses.
I would like Duterte to be President because in his over 20 years of service as a political leader, he has resisted the temptations of money and has led a simple life, just like his late father, Governor Vicente Duterte.
I would like Duterte to be President because he alone has a viable solution to the Bangsamoro Problem, to drugs and criminality, to the Communist Insurgency, to rural poverty and unemployment, to the neglect of the countryside, to the misguided agriculture programs, to the China problem and the Sabah issue.
I would like Duterte to be President because he is the only political leader now who says that a leader's primordial responsibility is to ensure "Available and Affordable Food" for his people.
I would like Duterte to be President because he understands the fear gripping the people and possesses the courage to confront the social ogres scaring the masses.
I would like Duterte to be President because behind the tough image that he is projecting is a soft heart for the oppressed, the sick, the poor and the children.
I would like Duterte to be President because I believe that among the Presidential prospects now, he alone has the toughness and the bullheadedness to say "No" to sycophants and political influence peddlers.
Of course, Duterte is not a perfect person, not even a perfect leader.
I squirm in my seat every time he spews out invectives, every time he talks about his use of Viagra and every time he talks about "killing" being the best solution to drug dealers and notorious criminals.
I get frustrated every time he slams the door on the Presidency even after he has agreed to listen to the appeal of people supporting him to stop saying he will not run and just leave the doors open.
But that is who he is. Nobody could enter the mind of Rody Duterte except Rody Duterte himself.
The prude, the moralists and the well-heeled who wear lipsticks and make up just to look more beautiful may not be comfortable with the character of Duterte.
People, however, should realise that we are not vetting the next Pope for the Philippines.
We are looking for a leader who has the guts and the courage to institute reforms regardless who gets hurt and the heart to understand the feelings of his people and give them the love and the caring that they have long yearned for from a President.
Only Rody Duterte has those attributes.
This is why I would like Rody Duterte to be President.
