Dutertador?

Dutertador, a combination of “Duterte” and “Diktador,” made by the leftist rallyists to express that President Rodrigo Duterte is a dictator. But what is a dictator? Does a dictator give time to talk to representatives and leaders from a known leftist group? Does a dictator allow all rallies, even if it’s against him, as long as they don’t cause disturbance to peace? Does a dictator give positions to individuals allied with the left? If not, then who are they calling a dictator if President Duterte did all of these things? Days before the SONA, he met with the leaders and members of BAYAN, and even if they did not reach an agreement, the President still left the door open for another talk with them after their rally. However, how could someone expect the President to continue talking about peace, how could we expect the President to leave the door open when actions committed by the NPA, like ambushing government troops, does not show that they want peace? These leftist groups and rallyists kept on calling President Duterte a dictator but by using violence to force the President to give them what they want right away, aren’t they the dictators? And for someone they kept calling “Diktador,” was there anyone else who was brave enough to face those who are rallying against them to listen to their sentiments?

Last July 24, 2017 after his State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Duterte went to face protesters outside the Batasang Pambansa Complex. I was there to witness it for myself and I cannot help but just admire the courage of the President to talk to the people even if they are rallying against him. At that moment, I said to myself: “That’s my President.” A President who is truly for the people who listens to their needs. This is why instead of using tactics like ambushing government troops, leftist groups must just take advantage of the President’s willingness to talk; because just like what he said when he faced the protesters, who are you going to talk to if he dies in one of your ambushes? One of the things that the President also asked was mutual respect, and even if the government and the leftist groups does not always agree with each other, I believe that there should be room for respect to one another because it’s not only the leftist groups who wants peace in our country. The fighting between government and CPP-NDF-NPA has been going on for decades and only President Duterte has expressed willingness to end it and to act on it, hence the peace talks; but while I agree that peace talks must continue, both sides must also act accordingly. CPP-NDF-NPA must join the fight against terrorist groups instead of being an additional burden to the government troops. And for a group who claims to fight for the rights of the people, then the public’s safety against any terrorist attack should also be a concern for them.

Another thing that was raised by the protesters when President Duterte faced them was the release of the political prisoners where the President told them to just wait and give him time. In my point of view, while not everyone has been released, they must also give credit for those who were already released by the government. It has only been a year since President Duterte became the leader of our country and we cannot deny that a lot has been achieved already. We are already on the process of ending contractualization, one of the things the left groups are protesting about and a lot of changes has happened that benefits the ordinary citizens. On the topic of the peace talks, I believe that its continuation will heavily depend on the action of the CPP-NDF-NPA, on whether they would act like they truly want peace or act like they want to continue the fighting because for someone they call “Dutertador,” it cannot be denied that President Duterte has given them a lot of chances to be one with the government. And for someone they call a dictator, everyone can see that President Duterte is someone who really cares for the people.