A netizen who admitted to being a supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte posted a letter online as an apology for voting for Duterte during the May 2016 elections. This came after the supporter noticed several lapses in the new administration, which were enumerated in the letter.
The Duterte supporter said he supported Duterte because he believed in the President’s promises and cure for its ills.
“Para sa mga kaibigan kong naniniwalang tama pa rin ang ginagawa ni Duterte: Gusto ko lang malaman mo na hindi ka nag-iisa, ako din supporter nia dati. Naniwala dati sa mga pangako nia. Naniniawala na baka sia na ang sagot sa madaming sakit ng mahal kong Pilipinas,” wrote the supporter.
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But the President’s former supporter then went on to point out the things he no longer liked about Duterte’s administration, such as the following:
- Some of the Cabinet members Duterte chose are his friends while others were traditional politicians.
- The new proposed tax reforms now threaten to remove the discounts senior citizens used to enjoy in restaurants and put tax on gas.
- Duterte’s drug matrix was riddled with errors, which was why he had to say sorry to those included in his matrix whose connection to drugs he could not establish.
- Duterte’s scaring away investors that are supposed to give lots of Filipinos a job and seems to ally himself with Russia and China when Filipinos don’t know how to speak Russian or Chinese. The supporter particularly pinpointed to the call centers that might up and leave and how those employed by these companies might not find work.
- But the biggest frustration the supporter pointed out is that Duterte’s negative remarks seemed to be rooted in the fact that the does not want to be criticized. The President has ended up blowing his top off after remarks from the West about his war on drugs.
- The supporter added that it has become tiring to defend Duterte time and time again, noting that Duterte promised to change himself once he becomes President, which he never did.
Here is the former supporter’s letter to Duterte posted on Reddit:
“Para sa mga kaibigan kong naniniwalang tama pa rin ang ginagawa ni Duterte:
Gusto ko lang malaman mo na hindi ka nagiisa, ako din supporter nia dati. Naniwala dati sa mga pangako nia. Naniwala na baka sia na ang sagot sa madaming sakit ng mahal kong Pilipinas.
Pero tingnan mo ang ginawa ni Duterte ng manalo sia. Sino ang kinuha niang gabinete? Puro mga kaibigan at trapo. Yung tax reform na sinasabi nia, babawasan nga ang income tax pero ililipat din sa ibang bagay tulad ng gasolina, tatanggalin pa yung discount ng mga senior sa restaurant. Yung mga drug matirx nia, puro palpak, kinailangan pa niang mag sorry. Yung war on drugs nia, ilang beses nang nadebunk ng reputable sources.
Pwede ko pa yan patawarin lahat, pero ang di ko matanggap ay pinapabagsak nia ang ekonomiya at tinatakot ang mga nagbibigay satin ng trabaho. May kaibigan ka ba o kakilala sa call center? Marunong ba silang mag intsik o russian? Pag umalis ba ang mga call center dito, magkakatrabaho ba sila?
At ang pinakapangit dito, ano ang punot dulong dahilan kung bakit kailangan niang magsalita ng di maganda? Dahil hindi sia marunong tumanggap ng kritisismo. Isipin mo, napuna lang sia ng mga westerners, hindi naman pabastos ang pagkakasabi sa kanya, pero ang laki laki na ng himutok ng butchi nia. Ganyan ba sia talaga? Konting kibot nagwawala sia? Ganyan ba dapat ang presidente? May mga ginagawa din namang tama si Duterte, pero bakit itong maliit na bagay na ito hindi nia magawa? Ang pigilan ang kanyang bibig? Malaking ginhawa para sa ekonimiya natin pag ginawa nia ito, bakit hindi nia kayang magsakripisyo ng konting pride at humility? Bilang tatay ng bansa natin, di ba dapat unahin nia ang kapakanan ng kanyang mga anak bago ang mataas na tingin nia sa kanyang sarili?
Brad, tama na. Alam kong nakakapagod siang ipagtanggol, alam kong madami ng tao ang mababa ang tingin sayo. Di mo na kailangang gawin ang mga yan brad, magpahinga ka na sa pagtatanggol sa kanya. Naiintindihan ko lahat ng hinaing mo, madami sa mga yan hinaing ko din, at pareho tayong naniwala at nagkapagasa na maaring si Duterte ang sagot sa mga hinaing na ito. Pero tingnan mo sia ng maigi, madami siang pangako pero yun ngang “aayusin ko ang sarili ko” hindi nia matupad, paano pa yung iba? Wag mong isalalay ang buhay mo at ng mga anak mo sa taong ganyan. Hindi ako suporter ng dilaw o pula o anumang kulay dito, supporter ako ng ating inang bayan. Alam ko sa loob mo ganun ka din, kaya passionate ka sa pagtatanggol kay Duterte. Ang sinasabi ko lang, magisip ka ng maigi, kalimutan mo muna lahat ng bias, ng ingay, at mga sigaw ng kaliwa’t kanan,, pula at dilaw. Tanungin mo ang sarili mo, ito ba ang maganda para sa Pilipinas at sa kapwa ko Pilipino? Pag ginawa mo yan, alam ko tama ang magiging sagot mo. Maraming salamat sa pagbasa.”
Some of those comments on Reddit also showed that other Duterte supporters agreed with the sentiments of the person who posted the letter above.
One Redditor said: “Same sentiments here. I used to be a staunch supporter, but he is going WAY overboard and is causing long-term damage to the country. The economy is falling, the peso is losing value, investors pulling out… All this, for the drug war, that other countries tried to do and failed?”
Another Redditor said: “I used to be a huge Duterte supporter. As in huge. Nung tumatakbo sya, despite all the noise about DDS, and his unconventional ways – nauto din ako. Parang sya yung manliligaw mo na bad boy na feeling mo magbabago pag sinagot mo.
Nagising lang ako dun sa rape joke. That was the last straw for me. After that, I couldn’t support him anymore. Buti nalang that happened before the elections – I had ample time to reassess my political choices.
But he won – and I accepted that. Sabi ko, I will support this president as much as I can, even if he had said something that I was strongly against before. I had googly eyes watching his inauguration speech (kahit na may issue between him and Leni – which I voted for and has been my choice kahit si Duterte pa yung candidate ko, I voted for MDS eventually), drunk with hope that hey, he might just straighten himself up.
But it has been all downhill from there. Ang hirap hirap nyang suportahan. He makes it hard to. I’m not discrediting the good things he has done so far. Pero kulang, friends. Mas lamang yung mukhang magpapahamak satin. At the end of the day, we are all just concerned about where our country is going.. and right now, it doesn’t look too good. Masakit aminin, pero he dun’ goofed. And his diehard supporters choose to turn a blind eye. Siguro sila, abangan nalang pag humagupit ang consequences, yeah? It’s-not-happening-unless-it-happens-to-me mentality.
TLDR: Once a Duterte supporter, now just concerned about our country going to shit.
I applaud you, OP. Thanks for sharing your sentiments. Ilan nalang kayong kaya tanggapin sa sarili na may maling nangyayari.”
Since the election, Duterte has made several controversial remarks. Among these were his rape joke about an Australian missionary who was raped and murdered in Davao City, cursing the Pope, threatening to leave the United Nations, and more remarks against US President Barack Obama, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the European Parliament, among others.
Source: (reddit.com)
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