Unexpected Campaign Funds from Ordinary People Could Make Duterte the Next PH President

06/02/2015 – Davao City | Mayor Rodrigo Duterte hinted that he has no plan to run for president due to insufficient funds. The situation is changing though as support coming from almost everywhere drags him to a possible presidential run.

The tough mayor is slowly creating his name according to Pulse Asia. Unlike other presidential candidates (Poe, Roxas, Binay), Duterte is a specimen of unique breed of politician according to a UP Political analyst.

Duterte is currently 3^rd on Pulse Asia survey but the agency said that Duterte’s rank could surpass anyone above him the moment he decide to run for president.

“The Filipino sentiment is different towards Duterte. There is an unexplainable emotion surrounding his supporters”, the agency report said.

Supporters are begging him to run for president and during his Cotabato speech recently, a basket full of 1 peso coins was handed to him. The teary-eyed Duterte accepted the offer and promised not to disappoint his supporters once decide to run.

Launching the “Piso para sa Presidente” campaign, Mohamad Ali Datumanguda said his group would start passing the “bayong” (native bags) in Moro communities to gather P1 donations from the villagers and hopefully collect P10 billion he said would be needed—initially, at least—for the presidential campaign expenses.

“Piso para sa Presidente will move from Cotabato City to Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. It will then be moved to the Visayas, Luzon and Metro Manila, in the hope that we can raise funds for Mayor Duterte,” Datumanguda said.

Duterte’s camp said it did not know about such a project.

After hearing the news on “Piso para sa Presidente”, the Filipino community in California has announced their plan to launch a US version called “A Dollar for Duterte”, which they said they will officially launch next week.

Several Duterte supporters have also flooded on Social Media asking where they can send their donations to the Mayor.

“Fundraising for election like this from ordinary people is not common in Philippines, but extremely popular in US. That’s why Obama won. Mayor Duterte will be the first politician to use this procedure and will be successful if supporters continue to donate and campaign for him”, Atty. Horacio Lao, a political analyst and political science professor told TPP.

News from OFW community in Middle East also hinted that some Pinoy groups are planning to launch “Dinar/Rial for Duterte”.

“Duterte has unique charisma for people outside Metro Manila and Luzon. Binay, Poe, and Roxas will have run for their money the moment Duterte decide to run for president”, Lao added.

“A 2013 data shows Mindanao has 11.99 million registered voters and represents 23.07% of the country’s 52,014,648 voters. Additionally, the majority of 3 million registered voters in Eastern Visayas Region who speaks Cebuano will surely support the Mayor. This figure is hard to underestimate once Duterte bid for president.” Lao said

The mayor is pushing for a shift to federalism in the government structure, asserting that the people of Mindanao should be given a chance to decide their future.

/Oto Melara/ Assisted Press Davao

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