Answered Prayer
May 8, 2016.
While hearing mass this evening, a memory filtered through my musings. I remember looking at the light and the shadows it made while it passed through the Church's metal railings. I don't recall what prompted it, but I remembered myself praying for the perfect president.
I thought then that a perfect leader must be called by the people. A reluctant leader. He himself must not have the ambition to become president, but he has to run because the Filipino people need him (And my jaded mind already thinks this is impossible. After all, the Philippines is a country where vote buying is normal and coercion and violence during elections are expected).
Then I thought the perfect leader must be humble and must have enough ambition and confidence to run for the highest position in the land and believe that he can do a good job. (In my jaded mind, I just couldn't conceive of a person who has this quality. Could it be my future-born son or daughter who will develop this trait? Oh well, forgive me, it was just a daydream...)
Then I thought, the perfect leader should have a vision for us, something big that will make us want to work together to reach that dream. Then came this person. I knew him first from the accounts I heard from my friends in Davao. Filipinos celebrate Christmas and New Year playing with firecrackers. It's an 'integral' part of Filipino culture.
And guess what? When I was in my twenties, a mayor in Davao City mandated that no Davaoeño will light firecrackers nor fireworks on New Year and Christmas. Preposterous! Impossible! Poor Davaoeños. What would New year be like without them?
And yet with much reluctance, the people obeyed.
I was amazed.
And so the years passed. I heard more stories from friends and acquaintances about this mayor from Davao. Some of them good. Some, bad. But the stories just kept coming. The more I know of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte from the news, from the youtube videos, from the propaganda against him and his reactions, his jokes and how his mind works - and most of all, what happened last night during the Miting de Avance - the more I think he is the answer to the prayers I made all those years.
Last night, while a million people looked upon him onstage, while friends and professors heaped praises upon him, he was red-faced, fighting his tears. I could almost hear him thinking - how can I keep all these people safe? How can I feed them? How can I accomplish what I promised to them?
Then he stepped bravely on the stage, daring the snipers, if they are there - to shoot him. He is not afraid to die for the Filipino people, he said. To myself I thought - what kind of death could it possibly be? I silently prayed to God to keep him safe.
Then I remembered a speech where he talked about restarting the Philippine Industrial revolution, to "bring back the steel industry to life" and his dream legacy of finishing his term with major train lines all over the country. And I can almost see it. I can envision it.
Now I remembered, that when I was in the United Arab Emirates, I was praying, that one day we will have a leader like Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Someone with strong political will and conviction - a visionary, uniting the different states of UAE into one.
And I believe God is giving us Rodrigo Duterte. We, the Filipino people who are fractured by geography, language, religion, and class are going to be united by this one person who has blood ties to Christianity and Islam. He who speaks Filipino, Ilonggo, Arabic, and Cebuano. And I saw the evidence of it live last night. 1.3 million people came to Luneta, 300 thousand came together in Cebu and 270 thousand Davaoeños flocked together for this simple and unassuming man.
This same man who understands the history of the moro people and their present plight. This man whose heart bleeds for the regular people in Manila who are beset daily by horrendous traffic, and public transportation malfunction. This man who feels so much for us, that he is willing to die and kill for us if necessary.
Rodrigo Duterte may not be wrapped in a pretty package: foul-mouthed, with a confusing sense of humor (unfortunate for those who dislike him). But I believe he is the answer to my prayers, and to many Filipinos as well.
Tomorrow, if all goes well, every Filipino will do what is right, and claim what is our right. A right to democracy and a right to be treated as human beings and as Filipinos.
Mabuhay ka Rodrigo Duterte! The future president of the Republic.
This piece was submitted to us yesterday by Lyra Marvella C. Viola, frustrated writer and journalist, a nurse and a Filipino. To follow her on Facebook, click on the image above.
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