THE voice of the people is the voice of God. Over a month after insulting God, Duterte stirred a tempest he made light of rape cases in Davao City, because of the many beautiful women in the hometown that he governed for more than two decades.
I’ve seen jeepney drivers who touch their vehicles’ rosaries each time they pass by a church. Many might not be faithful Sunday churchgoers but they still believe in a transcendent Being. Their reverence for God is still strong. Even istambays have more respect for God.
You don’t need to be a feminist to get offended by these crude jokes. Think of mothers and fathers fearful of the safety of their daughters. Or of brothers who have sisters working the graveyard shift?
Now President Duterte is paying the piper. Based on the results of an SWS September 15 to 23 poll showed that 83 percent of respondents qualified that Duterte’s disparaging remarks about God were “bastos.”
Meanwhile, 63 percent also believe that the foul-mouthed leader’s recent joke about rape cases in his hometown of Davao City was “bastos” as well.
On the other hand, Duterte’s allies are going downhill in the popular perception. According to a Pulse Asia survey, Ronald “Bato”s Dela Rosa, failed to make it to the top 12 compared with his seventh rank in the June senatorial survey.
Duterte’s top aide, Christopher “Bong” Go, fared worse, placing 22nd to 27th in the poll.
Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson, who claims to have more than 5 million followers on Facebook, only ranked 46th to 53rd in the survey.
In its survey, Pulse saw people “expressing much more concern for the increase in prices of commodities than what we’ve seen in the past 2 years.”
The coming months will be crucial. Sectors across the board are expressing diminishing purchasing power, including this corner.
In the meantime, more and more people, including Duterte supporters are expressing their disgust over these developments.
Let’s see if Filipinos will find a merry Christmas 2018.
(bqsanc@yahoo.com)