Artists push Duterte to run for president

A group of visual artists in the country hold a poster of Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte to show their support should the mayor decide to run for the president in the 2016 elections.(CDN/TONEE DESPOJO)

Around 70 artists from different parts of the country yesterday echoed calls for Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to run for president in the 2016 elections.

Gathered at Club Filipino in Cebu City, the artists expressed their unified support to Duterte whom they said is the best man for the presidency.

They vowed to sell pieces of artwork in an auction in order to raise funds for Duterte’s possible candidacy.

“I came here to manifest my concern, not just on the plight of artists but also on the state of our nation which has been saddled by corruption, poverty, and all other negative things,” said Fidel Sarmiento, president of the Art Association of the Philippines.

“Lahat na yata ng mga negatibong ‘pinaka,’ nandito na sa ating bansa. Bilang Pilipino gusto ko ng pagbabago (I think all the negative superlatives can be used to describe our country. As a Filipino, I want change),” he added.

Nunelucio Alvarado of the Art Asssociation of Bacolod said the country needs someone like Duterte who has a political will and a heart of the arts.

“Art is the life of the world, yet ithas received least support from the government,” he said.

Her six-year-old granddaughter Pablita Guanzon created a painting which will be included in the auction sometime in July or August.

Romulo Galicano, a native of Carcar City, Cebu and the founder of the Portrait Artists Society of the Philippines, is hoping that Duterte will run for president in order to bring about change in the country.

“I hope he (Duterte) will be convinced to run for the presidency. He is the only hope for a better society,” he said.

Hermes Alegre, a painter from Manila, said he has not voted since the late 1990s. But if Duterte will  run for president, Alegre said he will exercise his right to vote again.

Adeste Deguilmo, an artist from Basilan in Mindanao, said the peace and order in Davao is a foretaste of how Duterte will instill discipline in the country.

“I experienced how difficult it is to live in Mindanao. But Duterte showed us that things can change. That Davao can change. How can you doubt a man like that,” he said.

“Don’t look now. Davao is the safest place in the Philippines, second in Asia (next to Singapore), and ninth in the whole world,” he added.

The artists wore white shirts with Duterte’s face on it, and a statement that read: Tapang at Malasakit: Duterte.