Neither Mar, Poe, Santiago or Binay will win vs Duterte

At the time when I was enthralled by what Iceland called ‘crowdsourcing,’ I thought we could do the same for the Philippines. But these were two different crowds, one small and literate and the other humongous and illiterate. They had similarities too – dissatisfaction with their politics and government. Both realized they could do better if given the chance. Those who were more aware were not part of decision making. For a long time, they stayed on the sidelines watching their government make mistakes and deteriorate in time. That was happening in the Philippines too. The situation seemed hopeless even to the most determined. Staying on the sidelines became a way of life.

It was a mystery but surprisingly the name of the movement became our most important concern. The theater critic, Nick Lizaso, said it should be Bayan Ko, the protest song against American Occupation written by General Jose Alejandrino, a revolutionary who fought by the side of General Antonio Luna. Ironically, over a hundred years later, his grandnephew carrying the same name, also a revolutionary, would be fighting by the side of another Heneral Luna – Rodrigo Duterte.

Like the Icelanders, I and a few others wanted change, real change that would push for what is probably the most difficult revolutionary task – get the numbers necessary for Filipinos to agree to constitutional change. It would mean changing our form of government, give political power to local governments as federal states, and, more importantly, create a level playing field in a political and economic structure that had been dominated by the few for generations.

Jose Alejandrino, a grandnephew of Gen. Alejandrino, who was living in Spain told me that had the name of the movement been something else like Pagbabago or Pagsikat ng Araw, it would not have caught his attention. But it was Bayan Ko. This was about his life and ancestry. He had to come home. That was how he became adviser to BayanKo’s crowdsourcing movement.

“In September 2014 I returned again to the Philippines to help in the crowdsourcing movement called BayanKo to fight for constitutional reform. If the movement had any other name I might have missed it. BayanKo was composed by my grand uncle Gen. Jose Alejandrino. It was the protest song against the American Occupation and the battle song of Edsa 86.

“I suggested that we go beyond crowdsourcing because the only thing politicians understood was numbers. From BayanKo, we jumped to Katipunan formed by the late Sen. Ernesto Herrera and then on to support Rodrigo Duterte.” These were the building blocks of “crowdsourcing Philippine style.”

Today the Dutertistas number in the millions. Quite a crowd!! When he reaches the 14 or more million mark, Duterte will be the next president in a fair and free election but if cheated he will be the head of a revolutionary government supported by mass action that will begin in Mindanao and end in Manila.

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Today the numbers for crowdsourcing are in and they do not need to speak or give speeches. It has a different meaning in Iceland from the Philippines. I talked to some of the members of the crowd, both young and old. “We only want to hear Duterte, what he promises and what he will fulfill when we have a new Constitution for a new government,” they said.

Thus was crowdsourcing Philippine style born. It is different from Iceland’s crowdsourcing and does not depend on politicians. In Iceland, a panel was formed first, not necessarily of experts. We must let the world know how we developed our crowdsourcing to explain the crowds everywhere that Duterte goes.

The citizens had to make sure that everyone was represented in the making of a new Constitution, including the handicapped whose representative came in his wheelchair during the meetings.

Why the title Binay, Poe, Marcos, Santiago and of course, Mar Roxas will not win against Duterte? None of them would commit to change the structure of politics and society that was necessary to reform the Filipino nation. They are of the old, Duterte is of the new. Just a few days after Herrera died, I read that the TUCP members were supporting Roxas despite the fact that his ratings were going downhill

Ramos’ suggestion that “the country needed a President from Mindanao” worked.

He was the winnable candidate we were looking for all this time.

Still, news spread about the possibility that he could be convinced and could be done by substitution that was not until Dec. 10. Groups were formed and these gathered to push him to change his mind.  The song “Takbo” was constantly played in social media.

The social media is not owned by oligarchy so there was a great chance to be heard. It clicked. His popularity grew and grew each day with concerted action. Today he is the man to beat.

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The reason is quite simple. Duterte is a poor man but had governed Davao well. Duterte just presented himself as he was. Despite being in government for many years. he did not enrich himself.

I love the posting with his picture in Facebook which said, Nagmumura pero hindi nagbubulsa . In an interview with Reuters he said peace and order was a priority.

“If you are a president and you are afraid of criminals, or you are afraid to kill criminals then you have no business being a president. Why? Because it is the number one problem, criminality, and if you cannot solve that issue, that is very paramount, do not go there.?If you are one with a bleeding heart, if you cannot see blood splattered all around, and you are afraid of being assassinated by the drug lords here, one day you might be campaigning and they will just blast your souls out of this world, putting a bomb on the stage, it is not for the faint-hearted, if you are afraid to kill criminals or if you are afraid of being killed by criminals, you have no business there.?

“I hold it as an article of faith that no progress or development can happen in any city, or in a community, or a province, if there is no peace. It has to be peaceful and orderly.”

Duterte‘s mission is to bring in the poor and other marginalized sectors into the mainstream. That is the crowdsourcing that won the numbers. Duterte is their man and they will protect him whatever it takes. The pictures of crowds say everything. They will not allow PCOS machines to defeat the people’s sovereignty. And what a crowd!