#du30

bong bong marcos

robin padilla

I am so sad.

I am brokenhearted.

I am deeply and quietly screaming in my mind.

What is happening to our nation and our former president has a profound impact on me. It pains me that my profession prevents me from even expressing how I really feel. I work as a teacher, and we have an obligation to maintain objectivity, particularly during election season. Nevertheless, I posted pieces about the current situation and about supporting FPRRD.

On March 11, 2025, FPRRD was hauled to the Netherlands on a "warrant of arrest of allegedly crimes of humanity." The wrongful detention of Duterte infuriated all Filipinos who support him. The CIDG Chief did not take him to the closest police station, so there was no paper copy of the arrest warrant. No one can pursue him, not even her daughter, who is also her lawyer and our current vice president.

Our 79-year-old FPRRD is unable to stand up straight from a seated position or even walk normally. He is not well; I've heard that he regularly attends dialysis sessions and takes a lot of medications. He only desired to remain in the Philippines, even if it meant being imprisoned here. However, the FPRRD, his wife, her youngest daughter, the lawyer, and the bodyguard were all harassed by the police general, who did not think twice about taking him straight to The Hague.

I'm crying more as I see the recordings; the police general was too violent, so he has no other option. The phrase "Hihilahin ko yan," which indicates he will drag the FPRRD merely to get him to the private jet plane, was even yelled by him. He is too old and a past president of our nation; he does not respect our FPRRD.

It saddens him to be taken to The Hague. He is by himself. He is unable to see his grandchildren. He is unable to eat his favorite Filipino cuisine. For example, elderly Filipinos enjoy eating simple Filipino foods like tuyo, ginataang monggo, law-oy, banana cue, insaladang talong, and many more. He must spend the latter years of his life with his family in his home, given his advanced age. However, they denied him that.

The crimes have returned.

What will happen to our kids in the future? We are no longer secure.

I'm hoping that this will finish right away and that our FPRRD returns safely and alive.

He never kills anyone, yet he saved millions of Filipinos.

How is it possible to adore a former president in this way?

  Just so you hear us, Filipinos from all over the world are coming together for a prayer rally. Why would millions of people worldwide defend him if all his charges were true?

How can one not acknowledge the immense contributions of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte?

✅ 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 – Under his leadership, the Free Tuition Fee Law was enacted, providing free tertiary education in all state universities and colleges (SUCs), giving thousands of Filipinos a chance to pursue higher education without financial burden. He also signed the Doktor Para sa Bayan Act, which funded medical scholarships to increase the number of doctors serving in underserved areas.

✅ 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 – Duterte championed universal healthcare through the Malasakit Centers, one-stop shops where indigent patients could access government medical assistance more efficiently. His administration also signed the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, ensuring that every Filipino is automatically covered by PhilHealth.

✅ 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 – The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law lowered income taxes for ordinary workers, increasing take-home pay for millions. His administration also managed the country’s finances well, reducing debt-to-GDP ratios before the pandemic and securing economic growth.

✅ 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 – The Build, Build, Build program was one of the most ambitious infrastructure initiatives in Philippine history, resulting in over 29,000 kilometers of roads, 5,950 bridges, airports, seaports, and other major transport projects that improved connectivity across the country.

✅ 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 – Through the Rice Tariffication Law, Duterte's government stabilized rice supply and reduced prices for consumers while using tariff revenues to support local farmers through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

✅ 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢-𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 – He launched aggressive campaigns against corruption in government, dismissing thousands of erring officials. His administration also strengthened whistleblower protections and improved ease of doing business to cut red tape.

✅ 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 – Crime rates significantly dropped under his watch. His relentless campaign against illegal drugs was controversial but undeniably made streets safer. The government's whole-of-nation approach to fighting insurgency also weakened communist rebel groups and led to the surrender of thousands of fighters.

✅ 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 – Despite the challenges, Duterte's government implemented swift quarantine measures, ramped up vaccination efforts, and provided financial aid to millions of affected Filipinos. The Philippines was able to recover economically faster than expected compared to other countries.

✅ 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐢 𝐒𝐢𝐞𝐠𝐞 & 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 – His administration successfully liberated Marawi City from terrorist occupation in 2017, restoring peace in the region and implementing rehabilitation efforts. He also brokered peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), leading to the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), ending decades of conflict.

✅ 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝐎𝐅𝐖𝐬) 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 – Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11641, creating the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to streamline services for OFWs, ensuring faster assistance, protection of rights, and efficient deployment processes. His administration also secured better labor agreements with various countries to improve working conditions for Filipino workers abroad.

✅ 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞… – His administration's achievements extended to transportation reforms, free internet access in public places, modernization of public transport, salary increases for uniformed personnel, and many more.

This is real work. This is genuine public service. This is the governance that Filipinos have longed for.

President Duterte’s leadership may have been unconventional, even controversial at times, but it brought about the most significant and positive changes our country has witnessed in decades. I can personally attest to the safer streets, the tangible economic relief for ordinary Filipinos, and the resilience that his administration fostered, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was not merely a leader; he was a father to the nation—one who protected his people, stood his ground against corruption, and tirelessly worked to uplift the lives of the Filipino people.

Today, millions of Filipinos, both in the Philippines and across the world, stand in his defense—not out of blind loyalty, but because we have seen and felt the impact of his governance. We do not stand by a mere personality, but by a leader who gave us hope—hope that the Filipino spirit could rise above adversity, that our country could be governed with strength, decisiveness, and an unwavering commitment to the people.

It is heartbreaking to witness how he has been handed over to the ICC, treated like a criminal, while the very people he served benefit from the foundations he built. All for the greed of power, he is now being made to suffer. But history will remember him differently. His legacy will live on, and no political maneuvering can erase the truth of what he has done for the Philippines.

He is, without a doubt, the best president of my time.

And now, as he faces this difficult chapter, we lift him up in prayer:

𝐀 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐨 𝐑𝐨𝐚 𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐞

𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝐹𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟,

𝑊𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠, 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑅𝑜𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑜 𝑅𝑜𝑎 𝐷𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟. 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑, 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒. 𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦, 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑, 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦, 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡. 𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.

𝐹𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙, 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠, 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑. 𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑛.

𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠, 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑. 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒. 𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠. 𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝐼𝑛 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠’ 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒, 𝑤𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦. 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑛.

In the quiet stillness of a formal courtroom, a powerful image unfolds. A testament to friendship, resilience, and dedication. This captures Atty. Salvador Medialdea, a seasoned legal mind, seated and raising his hand to say hello to FPRRD, a gesture meaning “𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪.” On the screen before him is former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte,…

Today, my heart is heavy, heavier than it has ever been. The news of FPRRD’s arrest cuts through me like a knife, and I know I’m not alone in this agony. For the Dabawenyos, for every Filipino who has stood by him, this is not just a headline, it’s a wound. Our beloved Rodrigo Duterte, the father of Davao City, the man who gave us hope when the world seemed dark, has been taken from us. And for…