Do you believe in Rody Duterte?

BY JESUS "JESS" DUREZA

Lawyer Jesus G. Dureza was Presidential Adviser for Mindanao for former Presidents Fidel V. Ramos and Gloria M. Arroyo. He was also involved in the peace negotitations in the talks with the MILF and the CPP-NPA-NDF and initiated, while Presidential Adviser, the Tripartite Review of the 1996 MNLF Peace Agreement. He is currently President/Chair of the Philippine Press Institute. This piece is from his syndicated column Advocacy MindaNOW.

It's been a long while since I last listened to Mayor Rody Duterte deliver a speech. Until last Friday when I was invited by Businessman Sonny Dizon, bossman of the Davao American Chamber of Commerce to attend the joint foreign chambers meeting at the Abreeza Mall complex at Bajada. For almost two hours, his was not a speech but a conversation of sorts, down to earth, no frills, nothing bombastic, all times bordering on the unorthodox, interspersed with his trademark expletives. But yes, talking from his heart all throughout. And the fullhouse guests all listened in rapt silence.

DIDONG MY FRIEND? -- When I walked in, they were still waiting for the guest of honor to arrive.

Civic leader Nonoy Villa Abrille, the event's organizer conducted me to the head table and told me: "Sit beside the mayor. You are closed friends, right?"

I did not answer. Well, Nonoy's question was addressed by the mayor himself in his talk when at one portion during his recollections, he mentioned how he was expelled from the Ateneo during his high school times, then transferred to other city schools and still not "good". So he had to be brought to Digos, a small municipality then (now a city) 60 kilometers south of Davao City. But that was where I grew up in my teens. I remembered one day (some 50 years ago?) his late father, Gov. Vicente "Tete" Duterte came to the campus of the boys of the Holy Cross of Digos (now Cor Jesu College) in the south. Tagging along was a young teen-aged boy. I was a working scholar then with the Canadian Brothers of The Sacred Heart when Rody was brought to Digos in "exile". He was frail and mestizo looking but had that naughty, mischievous flash in his eyes. We stayed in the same "dorm". That was a beginning of a friendship that lasted up to this day. (But I'll skip recalling those hig school days together, for the meantime, lest I miss up telling you about Friday's event.

RODY'S "DILEMMA" ---- Fast forward to Friday at Seda Hotel. The consular offices were represented by Koichi Ibara of Japan and Consul General Abdullah Zawawi Tahir of Malaysia. Also present from Manila was Martial G. Beck of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. Several foreigners were also around. And I could tell that they could decipher the mayor's intermittent, usual expletives in the local dialect with the way they squirmed and reacted to the mayor's momentary tirades. (His favorite was of course when he talked about his "dilemma", DOJ Sec. Lilia De Lima, but that's more than I could write about, okay? Shhhhh.....).

TO BE CONTINUED!

Philippine Earthquake Creates Miles-long Rocky Wall

READ MORE Phivolcs|Philippine earthquake wall|Philippine earthquake|Negros Island Earthquake|Solidarity

This undated handout photo released on October 24, 2013 by Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology shows a house standing next to a ground rupture creating a rock wall in the village in Bohol province brought about by the quake which hit the province October 15. (Via AFP)

 

The deadly earthquake that struck the Philippines last week created a spectacular rocky wall that stretches for kilometres through farmlands, astounded geologists said on Thursday.

Dramatic pictures of the Earth-altering power of the 7.1-magnitide quake have emerged as the government worked to mend the broken central island of Bohol, ground zero of the destruction.

A "ground rupture" pushed up a stretch of ground by up to three metres creating a wall of rock above the epicentre, Maria Isabel Abigania, a geologist at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, told AFP.

"Our people have walked five kilometres so far and not found the end of this wall," she said, as experts from the institute surveyed the damage.

"So far we have not gotten any reports of people getting swallowed up in these cracks. The fault runs along a less-populated area."

A photograph on the institute's website showed part of the rock wall grotesquely rising on farmland behind an unscathed bamboo hut.

Another house was shown lodged in a crack of the Earth, while a big hole on the ground opened up at a banana farm.

Renato Solidum, head of the institute, said the ground fissures from the quake, which killed 198 people on Bohol and two nearby islands, were among the largest recorded since the government agency began keeping quake records in 1987.

"Most of our other quake records show a lateral (sideways) tearing of the earth, though we've also had coral reefs rising from the sea," he said, citing a 6.7-magnitude earthquake that hit the central island of Negros last year.

The Philippines lies on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire made up of chains of islands created by volcanic eruption that are also frequently hit by earthquakes.

President Benigno Aquino told reporters today the institute had assured him the worst was over, though Bohol would continue to be hit by aftershocks over the next few weeks.

"There is no immediate danger" either from the aftershocks or from the ground fissures, said Aquino, who slept in an army tent there overnight on Wednesday in solidarity with the survivors.

Photo Impressions from The Philippines

20 Killed, 44 Injured in Philippine Road Accident

Story Highlights

• Truck smashed into the rear of a passenger bus
• Incident set off a succession of crashes
• Bus driver lost control of his vehicle and hit two buses and four vans coming from the opposite direction

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Police in the Philippines say at least 20 people were killed and 44 others injured when a truck smashed into the rear of a passenger bus on a remote downhill provincial road, setting off a succession of crashes.

Atimonan town police chief Jonar Yupio says the bus driver lost control of his vehicle and hit two buses and four vans coming from the opposite direction before toppling over, pinning many of the victims. Four children, the truck driver and his assistant were among those killed.

Yupio says it was raining when the accident occurred early Saturday morning, shortly past midnight.

He says there have been about five other accidents on the narrow downhill road in Quezon province, about 72 miles southeast of Manila.

Strong Earthquake in The Philippines/Starkes Erdbeben auf den Philippinen

M 7.2 Earthquake, 5km E of Balilihan, Philippines

5 hours, 2 minutes agoLocation: 13 miles (21 km) NE of Tagbilaran, ... Show more

Posted 4 hours, 44 minutes ago – U.S. Geological Survey

An earthquake with magnitude 7.2 occurred near Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines at 00:12:37.20 UTC on Oct 15, 2013. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Recommended actions

• Expect aftershocks. These secondary shockwaves are usually less violent than the main quake but can be strong enough to do additional damage to weakened structures and can occur in the first hours, days, weeks, or even months after the quake.
• Look for and extinguish small fires. Fire is the most common hazard after an earthquake.
• Be aware of possible tsunamis if you live in coastal areas. These are also known as seismic sea waves (mistakenly called "tidal waves"). When local authorities issue a tsunami warning, assume that a series of dangerous waves is on the way. Stay away from the beach.
• Be careful when driving after an earthquake and anticipate traffic light outages.

AFTERSHOCKS ARE BEING REPORTED IN CEBU CITY JUST A COUPLE OF MINUTES AGO!

Schweres Erdbeben erschüttert Philippinen

Ein Erdbeben der Stärke 7,2 hat die Philippinen erschüttert und
mindestens 32 Menschen in den Tod gerissen. Der Erdstoß war im Umkreis von
hunderten Kilometern deutlich zu spüren. Nach Angaben der Behörden gab es
die meisten Todesopfer in der Stadt Cebu, weitere auf den nahe gelegenen
Inseln Bohol und Siquijor. Cebu hat 2,5 Millionen Einwohner und ist das
politische und wirtschaftliche Zentrum in der mittleren Region des
Inselstaates. Gebäude stürzten ein, drei der ältesten katholischen
Kirchen im Land wurden beschädigt, ebenso zwei Flughäfen und der Hafen
von Tacloban. Das Epizentrum lag östlich von Balilihan in der Region
Bohol, die auch bei Touristen beliebt ist. Die Philippinen bestehen aus
mehr als 7000 Inseln. In der Region reiben drei verschiedene Erdplatten
aneinander.

Choosing to Believe

 

Like Many Things in Life, Hope too is a Choice

 

By MIKE MEDLIN, Manila

 

Just weeks after two bombings in Davao City and intense fighting in western Mindanao, 104.3 The Edge is challenging the community to take hope.  Starting Tuesday morning the air team will encourage believers in Davao to accept that the hope they want and desperately need for their city begins with them.

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.-II Chronicles 7:14

Hope & healing is our prayer for Davao and the nation.  Consider the recent headlines...

• Hundreds of Millions of Pesos Stolen in Political Pork Barrel
• HIV Infection Spread for Asia is the Fastest in the Philippines
• Youngest Confirmed Prostitute in Davao City Age 9

​In times like these, hope and belief are in short supply and that's why the positive message of the Edge Davao is so critical.  

Tomorrow morning, I'll be flying out for the week to join the team in Davao for their next fundraiser.  As a listener supported station, the Edge Davao is blazing a new trail for Christian media ministry in the Philippines.  Raising funds in a developing nation is challenging and a real leap of faith for everyone who sits behind the microphone.  Please join me in prayer for this station.

The financial goal set by the station leadership is a humble P72,000.  That's less than $2000 USD and yet enough to cover for the station's lease for an entire year.  If God moves your heart, it would be a real encouragement to the team if their American brothers and sisters would join them in "Fueling Hope for Davao City."  If you'd like to make a special one time donation to their cause please click the link below.

   We've set up a special PayPal account for this cause.   Click here to give to Edge Davao.  (The account is set up in Philippines Pesos which are currently exchanging at P43=$1.)