YESTERDAY’S celebration of the Araw ng Dabaw was, by all means, festive. What with all the long-planned activities contributed by both the public and private sectors. There was the usual parade showcasing the products as well as the cultural characteristics of the Davaoenos. In other words, the pompousness of this year’s “Araw” celebration that was started to be conceptualized as early as the closure of the same festivities last year, was even more overt and observable.
But equally noticed and felt was the subdued aura of the residents who came out of their houses, as well as that of visitors who trooped over to witness the culmination of the celebration. Yes, amidst the laughter of the celebrators, the more observant eyes can easily see that something in the glint of the people was their longing to see certain personalities who were regular fixtures in the past many “Araw ng Dabaw anniversaries. And they were not just anybody but both former Mayor of the City and later, one became a former President of the Philippines, and the other the incumbent Vice President of the Republic.
Yes, the two sorely missed personalities in yesterday’s “Araw” were former President Rodrigo R. Duterte and former mayor and now Vice President Sara Duterte. The Philippines’ immediate past President is now under the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and detained in a center in The Hague, Netherlands for alleged crimes against humanity.
VP Sara on the other hand, is also in The Hague to see to it that her father is humanely treated in his initial days of incarceration. At the same time, she is formally organizing the defense team of her father from the charge against him filed by his toughest of critics in the country.
The thought alone that the former President was literally “kidnapped” by members of the Philippine National Police acting on the alleged request of the International Police Organization (Interpol) supposedly upon request of the ICC, even added outrage to the burning emotion of the Davaoenos.
Without doubt, this was the reason why the multitude of people who were out to celebrate the occasion also found themselves joining protest rallies held in some areas in the city’s downtown in the midst of the Araw celebration.
We too, are certain that this outburst of indignation will continue even long after the din of this year’s “Araw” festivities. But hopefully, we are wishing that in all future activities related to the showing of support to the jailed former Davaoeno President will not further stoke the fire that could lead to the growing division of the Filipinos.
Our fear is that if the people allow themselves to be carried away by their emotion, the potential outcome is a divided nation and further regression of its economy.
And who will suffer the most? Who else but us, the ordinary people who live our lives by the sweat of our brows.
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How will the arrest of the former President impact Davao City’s local election? And how will it affect the chances of the candidates for local elective posts who are identified with the national administration?
It cannot be denied that the arrest of former President Duterte and his turnover to the ICC has created more sympathy from the city residents than condemnation even with the knowledge that the former Mayor’s alleged crimes were supposedly initially perpetrated in his own city.
We also have this idea that the anti-Duterte candidates in the city’s local polls have no way of utilizing the former President’s feat to their advantage. They certainly cannot create scenarios where the predicament of the former mayor is advantageous to the people of the city.
In other words, chances are, the former President’s “kidnapping” and delivery to the ICC is likely to boost the candidacy of the Duterte line-up, including of course that of the former chief executive who is running for mayor of the city.
We even suspect that no one candidate identified with the national administration will even survive in the local polls.
And they could only blame the former President’s misfortune – if it is misfortune at all.
