Lopez
(The following was lifted from my Facebook post last October 13. Said post has garnered at least 33,000 likes/reactions; 2,500 comments; and 11,300 shares, thus far. It’s published here with some adjustments.)
In case you wonder why I remain loyal to the President in spite of all the awful things leveled at him, here’s why.
I’ve never written about this before, but I think it’s time that I do.
Months before the President decided to run, an extremely wealthy relative of mine asked if I could broker talks with the then Davao mayor because he is a distant relative through my grandmother Caridad Duterte del Mar, making me their common relative. I explained to my wealthy relative that I’m not close to Mayor Duterte and had met him only a few times before but that I know his trusted aide Bong Go. Though we aren’t close either, I said maybe I could try to set a meeting through him.
At the time, I was for Grace Poe whom I had worked with in the MTRCB (she’s bright, very nice, and full of promise) but also believed we needed someone like Digong at this point in our nation’s history; if only he finally decided to run, I thought to myself.
Then came the substitution. He was finally in the running. My problem then was how to tell Grace in person that I’ve decided to go for Digong.
(Whatever your opinion is, that’s how I am. I will tell you things to your face because I don’t want you finding out from other people that I’ve left you, or worse, that I was “namamangka sa dalawang ilog.” That is for cowards.)
I always find myself caught in the middle of things, of people, and telling Grace in person that I chose Digong was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. But I thought she deserved nothing less; aside from the fact that she was still number one in the surveys then and could have very well become the next president of the republic, I knew I would break her heart — and this is someone who surely did not deserve having her heart broken.
It’s like breaking up with someone you still love; that’s probably the closest feeling I could think of. But Grace respected my decision which was so big, mature, and magnanimous of her, and so I love her even more.
But the dinner meeting I set through Bong Go, the one that took place on December 3, 2015 at the function room of Mesa Restaurant in SM Lanang, sealed the deal and made me an even more ardent believer of Digong (an independent, voluntary campaigner, just so we’re clear). It helped give me the courage to decide to pick a side.
What happened in that dinner and who was in attendance?
There were only five people in that dinner I arranged with Bong Go: Digong, Bong, Honeylet, the representative of my wealthy relative, and me.
During the dinner, the representative of my wealthy relative (whom I will not name because people might just miss the point) offered something most politicians won’t be able to refuse.
“Mayor, we will contribute P2 billion to your campaign. This is all clean.”
I was shocked. I asked what the agenda was going to be before I set the dinner meeting and my relative never said the representative would offer that.
I would not have arranged it because I don’t like getting involved when people talk about money. Politics, strategy, analyzing intel — yes, sure, let’s talk. Money, gosh, that’s just bad news.
Turns out the S.O.B. representative was not authorized to offer anything of that sort but was tasked to assure candidate Duterte of the family’s unwavering support and the support of their vast network. Apparently, the sleazy character used the name of his principal to try to curry favors with Mayor Duterte, but all of these I learned in hindsight when I went to my wealthy relative afterwards to frankly say I was embarrassed at that meeting because I was not told there was going to be an offer like that.
I’m not sure if my wealthy relative would have that much to contribute (I doubt it), but anyone hearing his/her representative offer that much would be inclined to believe it because this relative is really quite famous for being wealthy.
How did Digong react? Surprised. His eyes opened wide at the figure given.
“Oi! Ayaw lang… Sabihin mo kay —, salamat. Pero ayaw lang.”
“Pero, Mayor, gusto talagang magbigay,” the rep insisted, all while I was still in shock at the offer and the breach of my trust. I don’t like being blindsided, and this hustler did not brief me about it.
“Ganito na lang. Kung gusto niyo talaga, gawa na lang kayo ng sortie, ng rally, tapos punta na lang ako. Huwag niyo nang ibigay sa’kin ’yung pera. Pero salamat ha.”
From shock, I was in awe. Here is a man being offered P2 billion by the rep of someone who could very well afford it (and is expected to afford it).
At the time, he didn’t know the rep was merely bluffing and using his principal’s reputation to achieve whatever selfish ends, so you’d take the offer at face value like I did and any other politician offered that much by the rep of this particular person would’ve accepted it. My God, that’s two friggin’ billion!
There, right there, was when I witnessed Digong’s legendary integrity. To have said no to billions offered to him behind closed doors. Awesome, just awesome.
And so whatever people say, whatever Trillanes says, I will never believe because for me, Digong’s integrity is not just a story I was told, it’s not just a campaign ad I saw on TV, it’s something I’ve experienced for myself. Firsthand. Behind closed doors.
There. I’ve said it. This is why.
Digong is not awful. He is awesome.