Roy Tang

With the Poe DQ, I now think that there are better than even odds of a Binay victory. Mar is tone deaf and mediocre and memorably dumb about many things, a lot of the people who liked Miriam were greatly turned off with her heel turn with Marcos, and while people were ignoring the potential dictatorness of death squad Duterte, they are turned off by the coverage of the less important things about his personality. Meanwhile, all the bad things about Binay have been out there for a long time and his supporters don't care.

Of the lot, i hate to say it but the only one with the political will to change things is du30. I know, he sounds like a scary rottweiler who will defend you to death guarding your house. But the others are chiwawas. Wouldnt you prefer a capable guard dog over a chiwawa?

• enters cautiously * uhrrrm… ahem "You know, Duterte will be able to gun down those 10,000 for you so you'll be able to get your ride faster. Disiplina ang kailangan!" * runs

Jonathan , since you are into running, please google "takbo duterte". The song you will find was my turning point in supporting the sob. ;)

I admire Duterte's Machiavellian style of leadership: "The end justifies the means." What he had accomplished in Davao is unparalleled in other parts of the Philippines. Marcos also do the same but he was corrupted by power. Duterte can also succumb to such temptation and will even ask for more. I also admire other leaders who were able to accomplish the same success using different methods like Richard Gordon's Olongapo City or Jesse Robredo's Naga City. These three are equally capable of running the country but one is dead and the other has retired from politics yet still active with civic groups and Red Cross. I will vote for Duterte for one reason only, he is the only candidate capable enough and with the guts to create change. As to him abusing power and his death squad being answerable to no one, we have the constitution and rule of law to make sure Duterte gets power for 6 years only and we have the military and the police to hunt down any death squad members who will be unruly after their leader steps down from office. As to him being a womanizer and "palamura", I would be ashamed of Jose Rizal and Gen. Luna if that is my guideline for not choosing a leader.

I know you like him, and I don't expect to convince you of anything. To me, he's dangerous, actually the least desirable and most dangerous of the candidates up for election. There's a decent chance he's a mass murderer. Extra-judicial killings, even of alleged criminals, is pretty terrible, and for all that there is outward peace, how many innocent people might be swept up in a country in which the president feels free to use secret police to execute people he feels has broken the law? I don't care about the things he says and his personal life, but electing Duterte means believing that it's ok for one man to decide, regardless of legal protections, whether it's ok for this person or that person to die. We already had a president like that, and his son is running for VP. My fellow Filipinos are so strange to me sometimes. Most are anti-abortion (and even anti-contracept ion), but they're ok with casually murdering suspected (not even proven) criminals, and the only reason Duterte is being attacked in the media now is because of inconsequential things he's said and the things he's done in his personal life. Incompetence and corruption are things that everyone in the Philippines deals with on a regular basis. All the other candidates will give at worst, more of the same, but Duterte could easily turn this country into a state where things are good for a lot of people, but undesirables (decided upon by only him) are eliminated. https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/07/17/rodrigo-duterte-rise-philippines-death-squad-mayor

Valid points David. But from what I heard, his style goes like this. 3 warnings. 3 strikes and your out. And each time has to be caught in the act. Then a stern warning after. A stern warning that if repeats it, he knows what will happen. If the criminal who was caught in the act still repeats the crime, thats it. There is no other way to protect the next victim. And by the way, our current criminal justice system does not work. Think mapansano, saf44, pdaf, dap. The question at the end of the day is, when will this stop?

Gerard Dacudao So it basically takes one unpopular person being accused by a couple of people as witnesses three times for someone to move from suspect to dead in that system. That's not an improvement. Let's just say that we can't convince each other on this topic. For me, Duterte is the worst of the candidates, actually worse than BongBong Marcos or Binay.

Why will you be scared if you aren't doing anything criminal? The operative words are, "caught in the act." With a confession too. Just wouldnt stop doing the crime. Yup, sticking with the Rottweiler.

Gerard - What if you find your innocent self at the wrong place and time and get caught in criminal crossfire? What if you get framed by your rivals or simply get mis-tagged in a case of mistaken identity?

David - Yeah, actually, i'd be more likely to give Bongbong the chance to "be his own man" and prove that he's not his father, than to choose Duterte.

Wont happen, you know why? I was not caught in the act. Even if they miraculously find a way I was "caught", they cant make me confess to a crime i did not make.

Gerard - Ok. Hope those claims hold true. Though I imagine it would be a little hard to assert them in the face of those good gentlemen in black that would come to take you away. 😱

Ok, guys need to go. Just think about this, we have 20million Filipinos in extreme poverty. 10million ofws. Time for a change in the system. Lets just stick to the platform of a du30 presidency. He is pro business, pro decentralizatio n via federalism, he is anti corruption via a parliamentary form of govt. A proven way to improve govt accountbility.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/744338/no-middle-ground-for-duterte

Good read. Bye batchmates. Hope all is well!!!

Actually his pro business, pro decentralizatio n platform is what attracted me to him at first. That and the fact that I want my daughter to live in a Philippines where you could be safe. However, after further study, that glaring death squad thing just cannot be ignored. Taking a life will always be wrong unless in the context of survival. The Rottweiler analogy is apt. Specially because given the slightest wrong stimulus, such a breed will rend you limb from limb if not properly trained/ dominated. Wala bang German Sheperd Dog na candidate?

I'll say one more thing about why Duterte is the absolute worst choice. Let's suppose we get the best case (unlikely) scenario, that Duterte is genuinely good and uncorruptible and that somehow he will be able to apply his death squad approach to crime across an entire country of 100 million without ever making mistakes about people "caught in the act" (an utterly ridiculous thing that can be made up any time you have one unpopular person and a group willing to be witnesses against him/her). He never abuses this ridiculous power, despite the complete lack of oversight or consequences for mistakes. [Also, how can you say he is pro-accountabil ity when he himself has no accountability for the people he executes?] That means there is going to be a new branch of government that exceeds all others in power over life and death, which answers only to the president. OK. Duterte did good. Then his term is over. What then? What happens with this secret police? Does it keep on answering only to Duterte even when his term is up? Does it then answer to the next president who starts to use it against inconvenient "political dissidents" or trouble-making unionizers? How many of those Judge Dredd types in his squad stick around and become addicted to this power? Congrats, you have just broken democracy completely, again, instead of trying to fix what is flawed. For every Lee Kuan Yew authoritarian who is actually effective and restrained, we get countless inept and cruel warlords and tyrants scattered around the world.

Democracy in the Philippines has been broken a long time ago. The only ones who are scared are the criminals. Go ahead, vote for the chiwawas. Lol

The police will answer to the new form of government (federal parliamentary ala Germany, SG, Japan). From what I hear, there is a draft of a new constitution based on that set up. In other words, rottweiler Presidency is just prime push. The system will just need to be jump started. The rest is for us to take care of.

The only reason you and I are free to talk about this on Facebook is that democracy still somewhat functions. You are choosing a murderer who only happens to kill those you don't like, but they have rights too, and there's no knowing how many times he screwed up and killed an innocent. With people like that, there is no guarantee that he will only keep killing the people you don't like. There is no oversight now and there will be total impunity if he becomes president. And when he is gone, you will be left with government assassins who can kill whomever the next president likes.

Dont talk to me that bro as if I dont care about life and the dignity it has. I was born in Davao and spent years as youngster there seeing violence before my innocent eyes. A church goer being shot a few aisles away. Blood all over the floor. Beheaded corpses in the farm road, floating bodies on the river which ironically meant being "salvaged" or saved. An aunt kidnapped and killed. All these in Davao before Duterte came into power. And you criticize him as if you know all about what "could happen"? Your fears are overbloated. Just look at Davao now pare. Your fears will have a sense of proportion. And not base it on what could happen. But on reality. Again, your fears are out of proportion. I invite you to read up on what he was able to do for Davao. Actions speaks louder than "what ifs".

Dude I'm sorry if you're offended but the fact is you are supporting a guy whose platform is that he is a mass murderer. I am looking at his actions and they are deafening. You want a system where one man chooses who lives and dies and nobody can tell whether or not he got the right people because you trust this man, but you aren't thinking about what comes after.

No problem dude. He can choose indeed. You know why? He is a deputized enforcer of the law. If it were you and me, we cant do what he is doing for the simple fact that we are not deputized enforcers of the law. As to Davao, there was "just cause". It was a lawless case that needed an iron hand to solve. Otherwise we have more death and chaos. On the national context, the amount of corruption is equal to a high crime with the amount involved in the context of massive poverty. It is outrageous. So outrageous that I want a rottweiler to put order again. Or even for the first time. He wont be a Marcos and I know that because of what Davao has become. There is empirical evidence. Just go there. You will see.

The Judge Dredd approach might work for petty holdapers and riding-in-tande ms, but I doubt it will be effective against organized crime syndicates and deep-rooted circles of institutionaliz ed corruption within the government. All we'll get is a huge death toll consisting mostly of fall guys, frameup victims, and disposables.

there's no guarantee you wont get shot too though lol

Huwag na kasing mag MRT. Bisikleta na lang. Bisikleta ang kailangan! 😱

yes agree ako dyan

Nathanael , indeed, let us not crumble at the end. The tragedy of Luna is the same old Filipino tendency of organizing, mobilizing, then crumbling at the end. In my view, Du30 is a rare invention that I dare say will trump Marcos. How? In the 20 years of Duterte rule of Davao, he did not steal at all. And he is now 70 years old. Marcos was 48 when he got in power. Du30 is our last hope. Lets rally for the best shot we have!

My belief is that Duterte must have a vice president to temper his power lust if ever he will be tempted by the devil. My vice president is Leni Robredo because she is a lawyer, so she knows the rule of law, she is a staunch critic of Duterte so she will be a good counter balance. She is modest enough to let her leader Jesse Robredo implement the Tsinelas governance although she have some platform of her own. She was chosen by Mar to be his running mate even though there are hundreds of senior politicians on their party wanting to be vice president because she is the best example of "Matuwid na Daan" leadership.

I still think its Allan Cayetano. Why? If we put an agressive critic in VP position, it will just enrage the pitbull in Du30. Dapat marunong magmasaje ng message. If Cayetano family was able to convince Du30 to run, and also do a good job on damage control now, I will bet they can do the same once in malacañang. To control the temper and rough edges.