MANILA, Philippines — The chairman of the Makati Business Club (MBC) said survey front-runner Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte “deserves close scrutiny.”
In a commentary on Tuesday titled “A vote for our future,” MBC Chairman Ramon Del Rosario Jr. appealed for voters to consider the implications of their vote.
“Whatever others may say, the choice of our next president does matter, very much,” he said.
Del Rosario said the Davao City mayor, as the front-runner, must be put under the microscope. And the best way to do this is by going through the statements Duterte has made throughout the campaign.
The MBC chairman zeroed in on Duterte’s vow to go after and kill suspected criminals to reduce crime.
“The mayor said months ago that there would be a lot of fat fish in our waterways because he will dump there 100,000 suspected criminals, whom he will order to be killed,” he said.
The mayor also said he will “arm the enforcers with presigned pardons so that human rights do-gooders cannot get in their way,” Del Rosario added.
Earlier, Duterte repeatedly said that if he wins, his standing order to enforcers is to kill suspected criminals who resist arrest.
Philippine National Police procedure allows the use of firearms for self-defense and in the defense of others. "However, one who resorts to self-defense must face a real threat on his life, and the peril sought to be avoided must be actual, imminent and real," the Revised PNP Operational Procedures handbook reads. Police officers are also required to file a report justifying the use of firearms.
The mayor also warned the Office of the Ombudsman, the Commission on Human Rights, and Congress "not to block him or interfere with his work,” the MBC chairman said.
According to Del Rosario, Duterte’s statements “convey a distinct lack of respect for the rule of law.”
“[R]ule of law is the foundation upon which confidence is built,” Del Rosario said. “Without the rule of law, there will be chaos and anarchy, and no confidence in our country.”
He warned that without confidence, there would be no investments or jobs in the country.
“The reason our economy has done well these past six years, and many more jobs have been created compared to the previous 12, is mainly the improvement in governance provided by President Aquino and his Cabinet, which brought about the confidence investors needed to bring in their investments and create many more jobs,” Del Rosario said.
Peace and order, he added, must be achieved within the confines of the law.
“Remember that peace and order ultimately do not come from the end of the barrel of a gun but from food on the table, access to good education, housing and health,” the MBC chairman said. Del Rosario urged voters to think about what their vote would mean for their future and the future of millions of younger Filipinos.
“Consider the tremendous cost of the wrong choice,” he said.
“Let us select no less than leaders who embody the decency, honesty, competence, toughness and patriotism that we want, and who have the capacity to bring us all together after the elections, so that we can be one united nation in pursuit of a better life for all Filipinos.”