DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 10 April) — This story begins inside a taxi ride home.
Unaware that his passenger had been covering the campaign sorties of two presidential candidates in some parts of Mindanao and had just arrived from a rally in a neighboring city, taxi driver Edwin Torres, 42, asks “ser, kinsa imong presidente (who is your president)?”
While possibly a common conversation starter, the question came as a little surprise: it was usually the other way around. In our campaign coverages in Kidapawan, Cotabato, Digos, Buluan in Maguindanao, Pantukan in Davao de Oro and Tagum City in Davao del Norte, we had always asked that same question or “nakapili na kag presidente” (have you chosen a president)?
I introduce myself and what I do for a living. The tables are turned, and the driver gets asked the same question. Edwin laughs, his voice describing a sheepish smile behind a face mask and calls the question difficult to answer.
Torres is among 984,604 voters in Davao City, according to the 2019 data of the Commission on Elections.
Unlike Edwin, 52-year old Ronnie Maputol has decided on his President: Leni Robredo.
“Siya man gud ang pinaka duol sa akong dughan (she’s the candidate closest to my heart),” Maputol says while waiting for the Vice Presdient at the Reporma Davao Region Grand People’s Rally on Thursday afternoon, April 7.
Maputol is a Tagum City-based stay-at-home father, his two voting-age children the breadwinners, one 24 years old, and the other 25.
He prefers a candidate like the one he is waiting for. “Tistingan gud nato gud, para lahi na pod (let’s try this new one, for a change), he says while holding an umbrella to shelter himself and his four-year old daughter who is playing with a bubble toy in the midst of the cacophony.
Clasped in his hands are leaflets containing platforms of the presidential candidate and a couple of senatorial candidates, as if he were afraid to lose an important document.
Maputol excuses himself as the raindrops fall harder that Thursday afternoon. “Kuha sa ko og jacket sa balay para sa bata. Unta makakita ko niya” (I’ll just get a jacket at home for my daughter. I hope I get to see (Robredo), he says at around 4 p.m.
That is the last we see of Maputol that day, and he would maybe have chuckled if he heard a joke-placard making fun of Tagum City’s notorious tricycle fares. Residents have always complained about a practice in Tagum where tricycle drivers arbitrarily ask for extra.
“Leni, tricycle ka ba? Bakit? Dungagi lang ug six” [(Leni, are you a tricycle? Why? Add six (years)]. Robredo herself read the placard shortly before 8 p.m.
She shared with her supporters what stakeholders in the banana industry shared with her earlier at City Hall, and vowed they would benefit from a crop insurance program she had also promised Occidental Mindoro’s onion farmers.
“Kanina po nasa City Hall kami kausap natin yung mga banana growers. Ang sabi nila marami daw po silang problema ngayon. Unang una, mayroong sakit ang marami sa kanilang pananim” (We were at City Hall earlier and we spoke with banana growers. They said they have so many problems now. Most of their plants have been stricken with disease), she said.
The Davao del Norte website estimates that in 2015, its latest data, 30.35% of its agricultural areas were planted to coconuts. Local bananas make up 7.93% of farm areas, and Cavendish bananas at 27.93%.
Tagum City has 154,219 registered voters according to the 2019 Comelec data. The province of Davao del Norte, for its part, has 605,643.
Like Edwin the taxi driver in Davao City, siopao vendor Junjun, 42, was still undecided when I asked the same question outside the Davao del Sur Coliseum on March 24, during the Kalinaw Dabaw rally for Robredo.
Siopao vendor Junjun (right) hands over his 15 peso siopao to a customer in Digos City. MindaNews photo by Yas D. Ocampo
“Wala pa ko sa presidente. Dili lang sa ko mutubag” (I don’t have a President yet. I cannot answer now), he said.
But he knows what kind of President he wants.
“Gwapo kanang masulbad ang ekonomiya, ekonomiya gyud (it would be good if that candidate can solve the economic issues. It’s really the economy),” he said.
Junjun has been selling siopao and softdrinks in different places like Kidapawan and Davao del Sur since the start of the pandemic and was looking to strike gold in gatherings like election rallies. He has gone to places as far as Panabo and neighboring areas like Kidapawan. He used to drive a motorcycle for hire but decided that the food industry was a kinder source of income.
Undecided siopao vendor Junjun prefers a candidate who has a strong grasp of economics and a tough stance on crime. MindaNews photo by Yas D. Ocampo
“Ngilngig na kaayo ron. Rape, mga bata. Gwapo gyud ibalik na ang death penalty. Pero kung kinsay musugot ibalik ang death penalty didto ko (these are terrible times. It would be great if someone brings back the death penalty. I will vote for anyone who brings back the death penalty),” said Junjun, who believes capital punishment is a crime deterrent.
No stranger to economics, Junjun brings home a profit of around 400 pesos a day, Junjun juggles a capital of around P1,500, which includes softdrink supplies and steamer maintenance. Gas expenses for his motorcycle are another issue. But he remains hopeful and contented. Each siopao costs 15 pesos, and drinks range from 15 to 25 pesos.
“Kung income ang pangutana, dili maglisod ang tawo kung maningkamot lang (earning an income is not difficult if people try hard enough),” he said.
Digos City has 111,015 registered voters according to the 2019 data. Davao City has 984,604 voters, while the rest of Davao del Sur, comprising Bansalan, Digos, Hagonoy, Kiblawan, Magsaysay, Malalag, Matanao, Padada, Santa Cruz, and Sulop make up 425,586.
At the Maguindanao Provincial Capitol grounds in Buluan, Maguindanao during the rally for the Marcos-Duterte tandem on March 28, balloon vendor Hamsa Camad of Kidapawan, turned to his faith to pick a candidate.
“Kasi isang Muslim ako, isa sa mga pinag-utos sa amin kung pipili man kami ng tao para maging leader, ang number one dyan, unang una, mayroon siyang takot sa Panginoon” (I am a Muslim and one of the teachings in choosing a leader is that he or she fears Allah).
Balloon vendor Hamsa Camad of Kidapawan City says a just leader is an effective leader. a MindaNews photo by YAS D. OCAMPO
Second, he said in Filipino, the leader must be just. The leader must be fair to all, regardless of status or religion. A just leader is a most effective leader, he said, and that leader must also “bring peace for all.”
Camad’s fellow Muslim, action star Robin Padilla was speaking to a jampacked crowd of excited onlookers, eager to hear what he had to offer as a candidate for senator. Padilla greeted the predominantly Muslim audience in Arabic and reminded them that the last Muslim who served as senator was Santanina Rasul – from 1987 to 1995.
Though a bit off-key, the action star sang a cover version of Juan Karlos’s Buwan after he was told there was no available audio file for crowdpleaser Wonderful Tonight, which he sang in places like Pantukan.
In 2019, Buluan registered 24,995 voters. In Camad’s Kidapawan, there were 84,651 registered voters in the same period. Throughout Maguindanao, there are 766,497 registered voters as of 2019.
In Pantukan, Davao de Oro, heavy rains poured towards the end of the Marcos-Duterte UniTeam rally on March 30, just as Marcos was speaking.
Rex and Judith Igano, who were selling fried bananas and other snack items, huddled under their stall’s umbrella and said they are voting for Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. because he would make a good president.
Rex and Judith Igano, who were selling snack items in the Marcos-Duterte rally in Pantukan, Davao de Oro on March 30, 2022, said they will vote for Ferdinand Marcos Jr. because they believe he will make a good president. MindaNews photo by YAS D. OCAMPO
Judith, however, admitted having heard of Marcos Jr. as the son of the dictator.
“Pero dugay na man to (but that was a long time ago),” Rex interjected as he shivered patiently with his wife nearby. Around them, people began to disperse en masse.
The couple is hopeful that a Marcos presidency would be better than his father’s dictatorial reign.
They are certain he is not going to be like his father because of Sara Duterte. Sara, they said, will stop Marcos Jr. from declaring martial law.
The Pantukan UniTeam rally drew supporters from Davao de Oro plus Davao Oriental. Pantukan has 53,050 registered voters out of Davao de Oro’s 462,942. Davao Oriental, meanwhile, has 365,496.
Combined, Davao de Oro and Oriental have a total of 828,438 voters as of 2019.
Back in the taxi in Davao City, Edwin says “Wala pa koy tubag, sir” (I have no answer yet, Sir), almost with a little nervousness and guilt.
He lists his top three candidates for President, off the record, adding he’s still not fully convinced who among them would earn his vote. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)
