I saw this message on my FB news feed. A friend of mine Orman Manansala shared it on his wall a tidbits written by Miss Lelit Barrios. Like Orman and Lelit, I’m also an avid fan of Mayor Duterte running for president here in the Philippines. I can honestly say that I will be voting here again. So happy I got my dual citizenship. I’m voting in 2 countries (USA & Philippines). Chris and Aaron will be voting here too. They got their dual citizenship when I got mine. So they’re also happy to vote here. Of course my two kids are voting for Duterte, because they saw what he did in the city. They like to go places here in the city with no hesitation, they like the freedom to roam around town even during night time. Right now Jared can’t vote because he just turned 16 today.
Anyway, when I saw the message, it just hit me that I shared the same sentiments with the writer Miss Lelit Barrios. I’m not really into politics. I just saw something that I like about Duterte and I am supporting him. Whoever you support of any of the presidential candidates here in the Philippines I will respect that. Please do respect also of my political view. I will not tell you guys who I support in the USA. Please respect too and don’t shove on my face and tell me who to support. Whoever you support there is your view and we will respect that. Even Bob respected who I vote for. With our kids we don’t tell them who to vote for president in the States. It’s up to them.
I am supporting Duterte because I saw what he did with the city of Davao. Sometimes we really think twice of him running the whole country, because we just really want him to be our mayor here in Davao city. He really did a good job for keeping the peace and order here in the city. Davao will not be one of the top livable place in the world if not for Duterte. It will be good too I think for Duterte if he can make the whole Philippines as peaceful and law abiding as the Davao city people are. Hopefully the drug addicts and drug pushers will be down in the whole country if he wins. That will be less worries for the parents here in the Philippines.
I Am sharing this piece by Lelit Barrios because I share her stand:
“If you’re voting for Roxas, or Poe, or Santiago, or Binay, I respect your decision. This does not come with an assumption that you’ve lost your mind.
“I don’t call you names because I take it, you have your own reasons. After all, choosing a president is your choice alone to make, not anyone else’s.
“When you campaign for your candidate, I feel for you because I do the same for mine. I put on red & blue shirts that really don’t compliment my skin tone or wear ballers that make my wrist itch.
“You do what you can for the president you believe in just as I do for Duterte. I would brave a crowd just to raise my right fist with him and sing a song that I found really cheesy 3 weeks ago.
“I only have one request, if you could give me that. Please treat me with respect as I do you. Don’t presume that I’m lazy, or an idiot, or a retard, or a fanatic simply because you don’t agree with me.
“Like you, I am a Filipino too. I have the Philippines in mind too when I picked my choice.
“If you are so irritated with us posting the good things about Duterte, write your own Roxas story too if you have one, post photos of Binay’s full- packed rallies too if you could find one, share Poe’s successful projects too if she has any.
“Dismissing what I have to say about my president as a lie, a fragment of my imagination, a mere exaggeration, or downright attacking me with hostile arguments only makes me think that you have nothing good to say about yours.”
I hope you already had a pretty good choice of who to vote for. Don’t be persuade by money. In short don’t let the candidate buy your vote. Stand up and vote on what you believed in. Please go out and cast your vote on election day.
Mabuhay Philippines!
Great article and a great reminders to those campaigning for their president of their choice. Same here I am strong to who I’m voting for, I do not live in PI but I can vote because I have dual citizenship. After doing my research I found out that Duterte did a lot of good things in Davao city, therefore my vote will goes to Duterte. Go Duterte 2016!!!
Hi Nilda – Thank you so much. Yep, people will definitely campaign for their candidate which I respect that.
I will be voting for Duterte because I saw what he has done to our city here. I’m happy that a lot of places here in the Philippines wants him to be the president too.
Yep, Go DU30……DUTERTE – CAYETANO For 2016 Election!!!
Good to see you here Nilda. Have a great day!
Duterte can only be effective if he is to stratify the good side of corruption that would eventually benefit citizensry, in terms of supply and demand methodology.
Hi Cornell – I really hope he can deliver what he promise to do. He more than deliver what he promised to do here in Davao city.
I really hope he is the start of good leadership here in the Philippines.
Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!
Filipinos need to be a student of our mediocre history.
This is a great article. My wife will also be voting in the elections here and the states. There should be a warning at the bottom of this article though given the typical audience.
It shall be unlawful for any foreigner, foreign group, organization, committee or association to engage in partisan political activities, which refer to acts designed to promote the election or defeat of a particular candidate or candidates to public office. Accredited foreign observers are barred from aiding any candidate or political party, whether directly or indirectly; as well as to contribute to any election campaign or partisan political activity. Foreign observers are not allowed to take part or influence in any manner the conduct of the elections.
Prohibited acts constitute an election offense, which carries a penalty of one to six years imprisonment and deportation after the prison term has been served.
Citizens possesses equal rights of public initiatives in response to the initiatives of others who initiates first.
Hi Gary – Thank you so much. Good that your wife is a dual citizen too. Good for her that she will be voting in both countries.
Honestly, if foreigners comes here to visit or live, they should research the law and culture here.
Always good to see you here. Have a pleasant day!
I completely agree that people should research the local laws. In my opinion writing about the politics in the Philippines on a mainly expat site is similar to entrapment. It is inviting foreigners to voice an opinion about politicians here. I might be wrong about this and the good Lord knows that it won’t be the first or last time that I will be incorrect. We can always talk about the process of absentee voting in the States.
You have no way of knowing this, but the majority of readers of this site are Filipinos. But regardless of that, the article was written by a Philippine citizen who has the right to write it.
No, I did not know that most of the readers are Filipino. This is really because of the description of the web magazine. Most would figure ven assume that a majority of the readers were expats or those who want to join them.
I also know that Feyma is a dual citizen and she is expressing herself by her constitutional right to write this article. I am glad that she does this often. I enjoy reading a majority of the articles on your web magazine. I was only going from the web magazine description and giving a warning, to expats or those who might want to join them, not to comment on politics here.
Yeah, my target audience is foreigners in the Philippines and those who want to move here.. but I can’t control when other people read! 🙂 I am happy to have Filipino readers, because they also bring fresh ideas and insight that we can use, if they comment. Most don’t comment. They have told me that they are interested in what foreigners think of the country, and their curiosity is what leads them to read the site. I have no problem with that.
For all writers on the site, I don’t tell them what to write or even what subject, only that it must be related to the Philippines, even if loosely. I did not see anything wrong with Feyma’s subject and still see nothing wrong with it. Some people have expressed anger about it, I don’t really understand why that would be. What I do know is that if somebody is super upset about the content, they are not forced to read it.
Thanks, Gary.
Here we go again, telling people who they should vote for in a blog that should not be about politics.
But what makes this even more sad is that Bob and Feyma, not satisfied with insulting the late Norman Sison so much that he stopped writing articles here, you now disrespect him by publishing this political advertising again.
Disgusted.
I am sorry. I just could not see anybody here telling anyone here to vote for Digong.
If you actually read the article, you would have seen the line: “If you’re voting for Roxas, or Poe, or Santiago, or Binay, I respect your decision. This does not come with an assumption that you’ve lost your mind.”
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but that doesn’t sound like telling people who to vote for.
Also, I haven’t seen insults toward Norman. Different opinions, sure, but that isn’t an insult, it’s free speech.
“you now disrespect him by publishing this political advertising again”, why is it disrespectful? Because it doesn’t align with his opinions? We can write about whatever we want as long as it’s about the Philippines, and Philippine politics falls under that. Just because we have different opinions doesn’t mean we’ll bend over backwards to censor ourselves for you or anyone else.
Tim – it seems like you made a comment without understanding the article. I never ask anyone here to vote for certain candidate. Show me where did I asked here to vote for Duterte.
I never insult Norman. Show me where did I insult him. Please don’t assume. You don’t know me and Bob. People like you are the problem in our society, you’re too assuming.
I’m more disgusted with you.
Hi Feyma,
I read all or most of Norman’s articles and the comments and I can not recall you ever commenting on any of them. I think I remember Bob may have disagreed with Norman sometimes, but I don’t recall him insulting him. Bob and I have disagreed before and I don’t feel he has ever insulted me. I think sometimes people think I am insulting them when I am not. IDK.
Peace
Jay
Oooppsy…
A really good READ
Thanks, Violet! Hope you are doing well!
Slowly Bob, thanks
Take your time! I saw your pic yesterday when you went back to school. You are looking good! I am sure you will be feeling great in no time!
I hate to say this but it really doesnt matter who is president of the Philippines or even the U.S. for that matter. Big money is in control of both countries and anyone who tries to interupt the status quo will be summarily “dealt with”.
The truth is that until the citizens of the Philippines have had enough and demand real change….there will be no change. The politicians of both countries have a huuugggeee financial stake in business and are backed by those with even bigger financial stakes. They are therefore inherently biased in their decision making. The rich and powerful families continue to get richer and more powerful while the poor are happy and satisfied that they got a new basketball court in the barangay.
Similary in the U.S. The president can have a ton a great ideas to make the country better. But the truth of the matter is that the congress and Senate runs the show. Nothing gets done without their approval. And the big money are the one’s who controls those puppets.
The two party system will be the undoing of America. There is more hatred toward the opposing party these than anything else. There is more “Political party” hate these days than racial and homosexual hatred combined. The only thing thats even close these days is Hatred toward Muslims.
I would caution anyone putting their faith in any political candidate. The sheer nature of politics means that these people are not straight shooters. Its a part of the job. The political system is broken. Until the people demand change there will not be any great candidate that will save the day. You are only setting yourself up for dissappointment.
Wouldn’t you say that in either country, if the people choose a change candidate who is outside the “system” they ARE demanding change. That is the way to demand change, is it not?
Bob,
The problem with that argument both political systems are set up is that even if someone is elected from outside the system they must immediately become a part of the system and play the political game in order to survive.
The change I was referring to is changing the system…not changing the candidate. Until the system is fix I dont believe any candidate will have great success no matter how much a “change candidate”
Im not sure about the Philippines but in the U.S it is possible for such change to occur but it requires such an overwhelming vote ( Either 2/3 or 3/4 of all states..im not exactly sure) that it would take absolute outrage for the people to vote together on this issue. Sadly not enough people are pissed off enough…..yet.
Hi Bob,
I won’t comment on the Philippine election, because I am intentionally ignorant. My wife admires Mayor Duerte though for his strong anti-crime stance.
On the USA, I think the two party system is actually promoting extremism. I think all 4 candidates with any realistic chance of winning have huge negative numbers. Trump for racism/religious bigotry, Sanders for socialism, Cruz for right-wing religious extremism and Clinton for left-wing extremism. These people only need to get may be 30% popular support to win the nomination since the USA is split roughly evenly among Democrats and Republicans. Once they have the nomination they have a 50% chance of becoming POTUS. This is of course my opinion, but I would prefer more centeralist choices as opposed to what I see as extremist on the left and right. I think/hope the US will elect a Democrat President, because the Republicans run Congress. Either way as Gloria Gaynor sings, “I will survive”.
On the readers being majority Filipino, I was initially surprised, but after thinking about it found that it makes sense. I like the Filipino readers read the site to learn about expats. I know a lot more about Filipinos than I do expats.
Peace
Jay
In any election, I always ask myself a couple of questions. Does the candidate and his/her supporters use their campaign time to tell of their accomplishments and future plans? Or do they spend that time telling everyone how bad the other candidate is?
Take care,
Pete
Hi Pete,
I am not saying I support Bernie Sanders, but I do think, my opinion, he has spent most of his time expressing his ideas. John Kaisch seems to be the most positive on the Republican side, again my opinion. I think they throw mud because it works unfortunately.
Peace
Jay
Feyma,
Nice article tou have done and quite interesting to say the least.
I like to share a thought and it’s not my political view it’s about this article. I love reading intelligent views on things but at the end of the day, it always seems to come back on the writer.
I once ran a fairly large blog, for Veterans. As the moderator I had to bite my toung many times,because I never wanted to include political thinking, thoughts,articles, of any nature. While my blog had over a 1000 memebers, I had to filter more issues regarding thoughts as tours. Grant it, your article is seen by far less veterans,considering my were all vets. I learned never to enter these thoughts in a blog.
Everyone has a right to personal view,”however, right or wrong”, I changed my policy regarding readers opinions toward politics. I spent to much time entertaining the “ONE UPPERS “! What I do know is this. We want hope for a better future Wether for personal reasons or our children’s future. “i cast my vote, and walk away”! At my age and working 27 years deep in the military,things are gonna, go the way they were planned. P.I. people has struggled so long I can only hope time will change that. When it comes to America, it’s really going in the direction as what your country has been.
We cast our votes,but the way the voting systems is now, it’s rigged. The days of our people casting a vote and the one with the most votes wins Not true anymore.
So the moral of my thoughts are, this
People say Kasich, Trump and Cruz have good and bad. Just vote and walk away. The decision has mostly all ready been made.
Live with in your means,bbecause if hard times come, we’re all going to feel it.
And people should simply get along, everyone has a tailor made decision and thats what makes us have the diffrence we are. Live life to its fullest, because we all need each other in end times,and have faith in God. My day will come when I will live in P.I. and I look forward to that time.
Some food for thought.
Robert
Feyma,
Nice article you have done and quite interesting to say the least.
I like to share a thought and it’s not my political view it’s about this article. I love reading intelligent views on things but at the end of the day, it always seems to come back on the writer.
I once ran a fairly large blog, for Veterans. As the moderator I had to bite my toung many times,because I never wanted to include political thinking, thoughts,articles, of any nature. While my blog had over a 1000 memebers, I had to filter more issues regarding thoughts as yours. Grant it, your article is seen by far less veterans,considering my were all vets. I learned never to enter these thoughts in a blog.
Everyone has a right to personal view,”however, right or wrong”, I changed my policy regarding readers opinions toward politics. I spent to much time entertaining the “ONE UPPERS “! What I do know is this. We all want hope for a better future For personal reasons or our children’s future. “i cast my vote, and walk away”! At my age and working 27 years deep in the military,things are gonna, go the way they were planned. P.I. people has struggled so long I can only hope time will change that. When it comes to America, it’s really going in the direction as what your country has been.
We cast our votes,but the way the voting systems is now, it’s rigged. The days of our people casting a vote and the one with the most votes wins Not true anymore.
So the moral of my thoughts are, this
People say Kasich, Trump and Cruz have good and bad. Just vote and walk away. The decision has mostly all ready been made.
Live with in your means,because if hard times come, we’re all going to feel it.
And people should simply get along, everyone has a tailor made decision.Thats what makes us have the diffrence we have. Live life to its fullest, because we all need each other in end times,and have faith in God. My day will come when I will live in P.I. and I look forward to that time.
Some food for thought.
Robert
What do you get with someone in control with unchecked power?
Someone that declares they should have had the right to rape an Australian missionary first before her throat was cut. Wow, really?