Offer as Customs commissioner gave Duterte second thoughts

DAVAO City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has been in the radar of Philippine presidents, but he has consistently turned down offers for cabinet positions and those in national agencies insisting he is not qualified.

But he admits having had to take time to think over an offer to head the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

"The one that the president (Benigno C. Aquino III) really offered to me recently is to be the customs commissioner… and I asked him, could you allow me a few days to think it over? This is the truth. I thought of those positions for quite some time but I said I am not interested," Duterte said in the live television program “Give Us This Day” of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy last Thursday.

"I am not keen on accepting any national positions. I am not fit for them. Again, I never aspired for any national prominence position though I am a supporter of the president. I would love to serve the people but I never look beyond the boundaries of Davao City," he added.

Before that, he was also offered the same position by former president Joseph Estrada. Estrada at one time also offered him the post of the National Defense Secretary.

"I appreciate the offers but I said I am a very compromised man, and at the same time I am a politician. I talk with the communist fronts, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with their head Nur Misuari who is a very good friend of mine, and with a DND post, I can't simply bring myself to them. I want to go to places I want to be," Duterte said.

The Interior and Local Government Secretary position has been offered to him by three presidents, Fidel V. Ramos, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and Aquino. But he was quick to turn these down.