LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… My child, fear the LORD and the king. Don’t associate withrebels…” (Proverbs 24:21, the Holy Bible).
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DUTERTE PLAN FOR SMALL BUSINESSMEN LAUDABLE:The speech given by Davao City Mayor and frontrunning 2016 presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte before big businessmen on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, created both admiration and tons of concern among ordinary Filipinos who will cast their votes on May 09.
Insofar as admiration is concerned, Duterte earned good reviews for his announcement that his administration is going to allocate and disburse some P18 billion yearly for micro and small and medium scale enterpreneurs, or small businessmen if you may, so they can pursue their livelihood programs and not simply depend on dole-outs.
Indeed, while the Aquino government (and the governments before it) focused their attention on businesses already worth millions of dollars, it would be a welcome development for Duterte’s government to provide significant financial assistance to our countrymen who are trying very hard to make a living through their backyard or small scale businesses.
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DUTERTE NOT RUNNING AFTER THE CORRUPT, AFTER ALL? On the other hand, many were surprised at his announcement, which can be read at http://thestandard.com.ph/news/headlines/204479/relax-duterte-tells-business.html, where he said: “I am willing to turn a blind eye to what these corrupt officials have accumulated but once I am elected these activities should stop”.
No matter how one looks at this statement, the only meaning that can be ascribed to it is this: Duterte will no longer run after, and send to jail, government officials who either enriched themselves or who wasted billions of government money. In short, Duterte is willing to let go of the plunderers and the thieves in the Aquino government.
Wow! So, under a Duterte presidency, every crook goes scot free with the billions or even trillions they have stolen? So, the Supreme Court decision to investigate and then prosecute the authors, proponents, and implementors of the discredited disbursement acceleration program of President Aquino, will no longer be obeyed and pursued?
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WARNING: DUTERTE SUPPORTERS MAY SWITCH TO MIRIAM:In other words, under a President Duterte, Aquino will no longer be held liable for the many corrupt-ridden contracts entered into by the government under his six-year presidency, and for the wasted government funds spent under his direction?
With all due respect, I think that Duterte managed to surge ahead of his rivals in recent surveys because Filipino voters viewed him as the exact anti-thesis of Aquino and that his style of governance would be vastly different from Aquino’s “student council-lax on allies type” of leadership. Duterte captured the imagination of the nation because of the belief that he would prosecute and then jail Aquino and his allies.
Now that he made it clear he will not be running after Aquino and his corrupt cohorts after all, many of the Filipinos who have been rooting and fighting for him would surely feel cheated and disillusioned. They may yet drop him as their choice for president, and instead go for Miriam Defensor Santiago, as the most viable alternative.
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PLEASE LISTEN: “Ang Tanging Daan” (The Sole Way): a Bible study and prayer session online could now be heard, 24 HOURS a day, in the Philippines and the world at www.facebook.com/angtangingdaan or www.facebook.com/ANDKNK (and look for “Ang Tanging Daan” broadcasts). Phone: 0922 833 43 96, 0918 574 0193, 0977 805 9058. Email: batasmauricio@yahoo.com.
