A Call for Filipinos, Be Partner for Change
I have been following the news write-ups about the Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, since his campaign period for the election of President, and was, then, halfway in favor of him for President of the Philippines. I admit; the mainstream media made me blind, and the anti-Duterte’s character assassinating strategies to topple him down.
I believe, it wasn’t only me but more Filipinos around the world who have had dubious thoughts about the President, because of lack of grasp about who Duterte really was, and the losing hope we had, and the belief that no president would ever seat in the government as sincere as we would like to, with a genuine intention to serve the people.
But, I have been, religiously, updating myself reading and watching his innumerable accomplishments in a very short period of time and his stern political management and implementation of the rule of law as a sovereign President in a democratic form of government. I awe in disbelief but applaud his current administration. Here we are. It is time for the Philippines to be truly independent and self-serving.
Obsessed and awakened by the President's dedication and sincerity to duty, I would like to encourage every Filipino to become part of the change; partnering for change with the government starts now.
A call to let’s forget what party we belong; whatever idealism you have, your opinion, your point of view, your feeling, your affiliation, your belief, your religion, your sexual orientation, regardless of them all that diversify us, that divide us, we need to unite and stand as one and be part of the change for a better Philippines.
You must have seen and felt how sincere the President is, how tough he is, fighting for the welfare of the Filipino people.
You might have seen the siege of Marawi City and the ongoing rehabilitation they now have for resettlement. The pain, the people of Marawi had experienced during the devastating war. The reconstruction of Marawi City’s ruined houses, properties, and livelihood. The government finds a way to have them resettled, at a fast phase, after that war that tore them into pieces socially, psychologically, emotionally, and wore them down physically.
Marawi City will rise splendid more than the city was. But, the loss of lives of people, Maute war brought to the people, couldn’t any more get back. The wrecked peace and serenity of souls of the residents, shattered by the war could have been a trauma that would haunt them in their dreams, or in their day-to-day lives, that would never be forgotten and resettled.
Duterte is somewhat akin to the story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men in a different plot and version; seizing the power from the long been oppressive government through the power of the people and by the people—giving the people their rightful ownership of the lands they live; their safety, their peaceful living, their human rights, their education, their right of identity being human, and their aim of a good life.
Duterte has been chosen to change the history of the governance of the Republic of the Philippines. He is chosen to bring back real independence and sovereign power of the government.
Duterte is the David of the Bible in the modern day time, where children of today will get a stronghold for strength, hope, faith, and leadership for tomorrow.
The Pearl of the Orient Seas is, again, challenged. The Philippines is, at a challenge.
I couldn’t blink my eyes looking at a headline in one of the articles in World View of The Washington Post written by Ishaan Tharoor on February 19, 2015, “Manila was known as the ‘Pearl of the Orient.’ Then World War II happened.”
The Philippines is a pearl any country couldn’t resist to have.
Kudos to Malcolm Conlan, a British national, who had shown how to be like a Filipino, how to feel like a Filipino, from his blessed land and countrymen in the United Kingdom, within his motherland, to the people surrounding him, and how to become a Filipino in the world regardless of your race and denomination.
How many more foreign nationals would be like Malcolm Conlan who seeks the truth and feels the heart of a crying Filipino for a better Philippines?
How many more of you have had the courage to say, “I join the Philippines for change. I support and defend President Duterte’s administration, as ASEAN members do, and other allied countries?”
This is a wake-up call, Filipino or not, be an example, side with the truth, partner for change in the Philippines. Partner not for publicity and prestige, but for a united progressive life.
Be like Mocha Uson. Be like Sass Rogando Sasot. Be like Thinking Pinoy’s RJ Nieto. Be like Malcolm Conlan. Be like the rest of Filipinos, who are standing up fighting, side-by-side with the President of the Philippines. Be yourself and stand up for change, for a better Philippines.
We can all be part of one’s change. We can be part of a better Philippines and the world.
I hope Filipinos will rise up. Fear, not your brown skin. Show solidarity, as other developed nations do. Defend the Philippine government, wherever you are in the globe. Defend the current administration. Support the cause of the President of the Philippines. The time is now. Show you are a Filipino in word and deed.
About the author:
This article was published on November 11, 2017, authored by Jessie Guzman Navalta, formerly a Saudi Gazette and Arab News contributor and news writer. Navalta was, also, an Abante Middle East freelance contributor and reporter in the Middle East. Navalta has, also, been doing cartoon story script writing for "Mga Kwentong Disyerto," a weekly cartoon stories issued by the Abante Middle East publication based in the Kingdom of Bahrain
5th Asean-US Summit Photo 13 November 2017