MIND DA NOISE: Duterte! Du-ter-te and other fantastic dynasties
Because Dabawenyos kept shouting that name for many decades, the Dutertes are giving them not just one or two Dutertes running for the midterm election, there are now five.
Tatay Digong’s making a comeback as mayor, Baste slides down to vice, Polong seeks reelection in the first district, his son Omar running for the second district in Congress, and his other son Rigo running for councilor.
Sabay-sabay: Duterte! Du30. Duterteee. DU-ter-te. Doooderteee….
So, if we ask voters why they will still vote for a Duterte, they may answer like: solid Duterte man gyud ta.
Solid lagi, pero ang Davao murag liquid na permi, gagmayng ulan, baha na. Asa na diay naadto tong P51-billion district funds nga kuno niadto sa flood drainage? Also, how many Dutertes does it take to fix the drainage? Mag Jet Ski na lang ta.
Another response is: “Duterte gyud ta, wala nay lain.” We might as well change the name of Davao to Duterte City, aron klaro na lang. But we still like the name Durian City. Smelly, sweet, thorny.
Duterte supporters will argue that this is not a dynasty. This is Duterte legacy. Defined by cursing in every sentence, punching a sheriff, threatening to slap a police officer, being mostly absent in office a lot of the time, and shemenit the questions and go strike a pose for Facebook. There is no track record of solving totally solving the drainage problem, but they did provide Jet Skis and boats to rescue flooded residents.
Dynasties are everywhere in this coming election.
Gi-pakyaw sa pamilyang Pacquiao ang pagkandidato sa karong umaabot nga eleskyon. Pac-man is making a comeback to the Senate, wife Jinkee running for party-list of Hermes bag collectors, and son Michael is running for councilor. Manny! Maney! Many!
TULFO Brothers! Congressman Erwin Tulfo and broadcaster Ben Tulfo are both running for senators. There’s already a Raffy in the Senate. And we thought triple-teams are only allowed in basketball and wrestling.
Aside from these brothers, two more Tulfos (!) are seeking re-election: Raffy’s wife as party-list rep of Batman-wannabes or anti-crime watchers, and Raffy’s son for Quezon City.
Five Tulfos, five Dutertes. Interesting how they would match up in the Family Feud, trash-talking edition. It’s also like a multiverse of Avengers versus Justice League dark edition.
Two Marcoses running for reelection, the young congressman Sandro that wanted to plant dragon fruits, and Senator Imee, who still doesn’t know which party she belongs. But we think blood (money) is still thicker than unity.
Villars are also expanding, not just their subdivisions, but also their presence in the Senate, as daughter Las Piñas Representative Camille Villar will run for the Senate. She is known for that slogan: “Ingat sa Byahe,” which may confuse people if she is the secretary of transportation, while her brother Senator Mark remains on the committee on silence, because of his slogan: Tahimik lang.
Now, here’s a dynasty trying to make a comeback to Davao City: The Nograles.
Karlo is running for mayor, his sister, PBA partylist Rep is running for first district rep.
It’s Karlo versus Digong. Migs versus Polong. Young versus old. Beauty versus…. brawn. (You think we’re going to use the other ‘B’ word? Nooo…)
The Duterte-Nograles rivalry is on! Let’s get ready tooooo…rambol and bardagulan on Facebook.
Duterte influencers are now doing their trademark bashing by saying Karlo doesn’t have utang na loob to Tatay Digong, after being appointed as Cabinet Secretary in 2018, and as chair of the Civil Service Commission. If that’s the case, we should remind Tatay Digong that his political career also started with Tita Cory who appointed her as OIC vice mayor in 1988. He should’ve been called Digong Dilaw.
Duterte followers are also bashing them for just relying on their family name and doling out ayuda and scholarships to get voted into power. But isn’t that also the same argument against the Dutertes? At least, Team Nograles are doing this service with a smile. Samuk. Basta Duterte taaaa!!!
The mayoral election in Davao City will be defined this way: Dabawenyos love Tatay Digong, Karlo wants to go back to his first love that is serving Davao City. Uuyyy, may nabubuong love triangle si Davao. Romcom tingali ning eleksyon.
Seriously, elections are all about democracy. Who has a good plan, a good message, a good rapport with the masses. That means, Dabawenyos should think about how this election should serve as a way for…. never mind, hulat lang ta kinsa mohatag og ayuda ug bugas….
(to be concluded on May 12, 2025)
(Mind Da Noise is a column by jaded Mindanawon observers.)
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