That was what happened when the President, for the first time in his presidency, visited Clark Freeport last Dec. 23 to attend the “Convergence of Nanay Volunteers as Community Drug Watch.” Nanay or mother is the moniker of Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda.
Here as some highlights media missed out on.
Apology to GMA
Duterte apologized to former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the expletives he let loose during his speech before thousands of mother-volunteers in his “drug watchers.”
“I apologize to the President (Arroyo). Hindi ko pa naisip, lumalabas na (the curses come out before I can think about them),” he said.
Mrs. Arroyo, who was also on the stage with Gov. Pineda, appeared amused amid a laughing crowd.
He recalled that then President Arroyo had invited him to join her cabinet but that he refused since he was already Davao City mayor.
The President also noted having had Kapampangan friends in Davao, including the Lisings and Tiglaos.
Earlier, Mrs. Arroyo, who credits Duterte for her freedom after four years of hospital detention under the Aquino administration, has often compared Duterte to Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew for their strong political will.
This, even as the President also credited Gov. Pineda for helping him in the presidential elections.
Duterte’s statement came as a surprise since during the campaign period, Mrs. Pineda openly declared support for the presidential candidacy of the Liberal Party’s candidate Mar Roxas.
Mission from God
Duterte had made a similar statement before, but at Clark, he was more emphatic in saying that his victory in the presidential elections was ordained by God, as he himself never really believed he would win.
“Kung di ako nag-president sorry kayong lahat,” he told a crowd of about 10,000, mostly women who volunteered as “drug watchers” under Gov. Pineda’s community service program.
Duterte said the illegal drugs problem would have gotten much worse had he not become president.
“Hindi ko isiping manalo ako,” he said, noting his lack of political machinery during the presidential elections, although he cited the support of former Pres. Arroyo and Mrs. Pineda who, he noted, had vowed to help him. He also cited the support of Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos.
He said he had no political organization during the campaign period even in the city. “In Mindanao, I had no congressman and governors and yet I won,” he recalled.
Duterte noted that “when I won six million (votes) over the next guy, I cried at the cemetery (at the tomb of his parents) and poured out my exhaustion.”
“I asked why. This had to be destiny. Ibig sabihin utos ng Dios, may pinapagawa talaga ang Dios sa yo. (This indicates mandate from God, and God has sent me on a mission,” he noted.
A million drug surrenderees
Duterte also said he expected drugs surrenderees to hit one million by yearend, even as he lamented that his new list included scores of mayors, barangays chiefs, and even congressmen involved in illegal drugs.
“We are hitting 900,000 plus (drug surrenderees) I expect it will hit one million by yearend,” he said.
He said he had given Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Senate President Koko Pimentel a new list of those involved in illegal drugs, and that he told them “Hindi ko na kaya.”
“Karamihan municipal mayors at barangay captains (in the list),” he said.
