By Gonzalo Duque

 

I HEARD President Duterte’s speeches when he was still running for president that the presidency is a matter of destiny. I believe him.

But when he said the next president must preferably be a lawyer, compassionate and have also served as chief executive in the local government unit, many made a quick guess on who he is referring to. But he said “preferably” which means “not necessarily.”

But what is more important is he is a master of administrative competence. Senator Franklin Drilon said it could be Leni because she is an economist and also a lawyer. But I disagreed. It may not be the case because he has been endorsing a lot of senatorial candidates, especially my favorite friend, Sal Panelo, who is very much qualified for the position being a lawyer and also a good debater.

He will be the first senatorial candidate on my list. I have other senatorial candidates but Sec. Sal Panelo is one who really qualifies as senator because of his prowess as a trial lawyer and also as a statesman. Sabi nga ni Digong “a matter of destiny”. Maybe Sal is destined to be a senator.

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While listening to the moving speeches of Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelenski in the U.S. Congress and earlier in the Canadian parliament in Ottawa, we felt goose bumps because of the sad fate that befell Ukraine whose cities are now being torn to bits by the Russian invaders.

Now leading the war for his country’s survival, Zelenski was also destined to be the president to lead his country in peace and in war. Imagine, he was only a comedian (although he went to the university and earned a degree in law), and once played the role of his country’s leader and voila, the highest job of the land came to his grip.

His victory in his first try at the presidency was unprecedented. He garnered almost 73 percent of the votes cast, unseating the incumbent. He won overwhelmingly because of his promise to stop corruption, and he did.

Today, his nation is in dire crisis of abominable proportion. We, Filipinos, are far luckier than the Ukrainians as we still live in peace in our homes at night but Ukrainians cower in fear night and day in underground air raid shelters every time the Russian unleash their deadly missiles. 

Who would ever think that a character like Zelenski would become president of Ukraine in its most critical period in history? He could have easily fled to Poland or to the US to set up a government in exile but he chose to stay with his people and fight the invaders. When offered by the US a safe haven, his sharp rebuke was: “I want ammunition, not a ride”.

For his guts, courage and determination, Zelenski easily became the source of inspiration of leaders all over the world. Now the talk of the whole world for his bravery in the face of almost unsurmountable odds, Volodomyr Zelenski is now being hailed a hero of the free world. 

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The pandemic is not yet over. You must be wondering why there are still surges in a certain province of China, despite the country’s vaccination mandate. Same with Hong Kong and South Korea.

I believe deep in my heart that God has blessed the Philippines because despite the criticisms received by the Department of Health, particularly by my brother Secretary Pingcoy, we are now finally experiencing herd immunity because of the vaccines made available to us although they came a bit late.

During the early days of the pandemic, we had no vaccine at all. We had it after all the other countries already got their own. And these places are now the ones experiencing fresh surges of the coronavirus disease. There are places even in the US where there are still surges despite the fact that they have all the vaccines ready at their command.

I surmise that before we got the vaccines for our countrymen, some of our citizens developed their own immunity from the dreaded disease, although this has to be proven scientifically.

Remember too, that we experienced a surge last January, then it suddenly dropped. We hope there will be no more surges here even if people have relaxed their guard because of the current election period.

By the grace of God, gumaganda na ang situation natin as far as the disease is concerned. By the Grace of God, we might soon see the end of this pandemic.

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