Good Vibes

There has been a ton of debate in regards to the burning question of whether Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will eventually run for president this coming 2016 elections. The hopes of many rooting for Duterte to run has been quelled when the mayor himself declared he will not do so because of a myriad of factors contributing to his decision. But many have been anticipating a mighty change of heart for the prominent mayor of Davao City, as many deem he is the answer to turning this country around and the change everyone needs. After turning Davao City from one of the more dangerous cities in the Philippines to being one of the safest, it is a massive turnaround indeed many are hoping he will provide with the country once he is seated as the president of the Philippines. Many are anticipating when he will announce his true intentions, as people consider that politicians tend to throw around 'smokescreens' to bluff oppositions and confuse them at this time of the year. But that announcement has finally come. Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will pair up with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as they will run for president and vice president respectively.

On Tuesday night Senator Cayetano personally met with Mayor Duterte to discuss and talk about their potential tandem in the upcoming 2016 elections. Senator Cayetano will challenge Senator Chiz Escudero as vice president while Duterte will run for president. According to sources of Radyo Inquirer, the tandem of the two candidates are now official and up for running. Certainly this news will bring life to the supporters of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. The source of this breaking news came from an anonymous retired lawyer and general not named by INQUIRER.net. The potential for the Duterte-Cayetano is looking pretty good, as they pose a challenge to other candidate tandems as well. The race is heating up, and expect more announcements from other candidates as well.

After a long wait for everyone, the announcement has been made and will surely make resounding waves echoing throughout the nation. What do you think of the Duterte-Cayetano tandem for the 2016 elections? Do they possess a ton of potential in the upcoming elections? Let us know your thoughts and comments by leaving it down below!

After years of serving in the politics, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte's home remains quite simple and straightforward. Many have been wondering what Duterte's house may look like, suggesting that he lives a simple and normal life with the look of his house. And that is supposedly true. Take a sneak peek look inside Mayor Duterte's home courtesy of Rappler!
They toured inside Mayor Duterte's home, and the Mayor was ever so willing to open the doors for his visitors and have a look at his simple, easy looking home. They managed to get an inside look at the prominent Mayor's house, and here are some photos Rappler managed to take while touring inside Duterte's simple household.

The entrance, and the sight of the first room after walking in from the garage doors.

Mayor Duterte's shoe collection, which he says in a joking manner "The only thing I have in common with Imelda Marcos," referring to his obsession in shoes.

The simple living room of Mayor Duterte's home, along with his personal professional massager. Quite the subtle look of the living room, which is splendid!
Mayor Duterte's book collection. As much as he loves collecting shoes, the same can be said for books as well! As Duterte says he loves spy novels, history books, and many more which he considers himself a bookworm.

Into the stairs. Mayor Duterte says he climbs up the spiral staircase everyday to reach his bedroom. Quite the exercise too for the Mayor!
A picture frame depicting the younger years of Mayor Duterte when he was a child, hanging near the entrance to his bedroom.

A look at the Mayor's simple bedroom layout. The net keeps away mosquitoes, which Duterte says bugs him every night.

His exercise machine. Despite his age, Mayor Duterte still finds time to exercise on this little machine twice a day!
The modest bathroom. The Mayor says this is where he does most of his thinking! Well, most of us do too, don't we?

Picture frame of his youngest child, Veronica. She looks quite the cutie and adorable as well!

A personally signed copy of activist and priest Louie Jalandoni's biography resting atop of the running machine.

Lastly, Mayor Duterte's personal taxi. The cab was given to Duterte by his friends 4 years ago, which he says is really handy in allowing him to go around the city discreetly.

We can see that the photos Rappler has managed to provide depicts a simple, straightforward living and lifestyle of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Despite his fame and popularity in politics, his simple household depicts that he is a humble man. Many have been rooting for Mayor Duterte to eventually run for presidency this coming 2016 elections, as some believe he is the change this country needs. While he has stated that he will not run, many are still hopeful that he will eventually change his mind and declare to run for presidency. But for the meantime, enjoy the sneak peek inside the prominent mayor's home and take a look at his simple lifestyle.
What do you think of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte's home? Did you like the simple and straightforward layout of the mayor's household? Don't forget to leave us a comment and share us your thoughts!

After the recently surfaced cancer rumors on Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, he warned former Secretary of Interior and Local Governance, Mar Roxas after he found out that Philip Lustre Jr., a Public Relations Officer of Roxas, allegedly said that Mayor Duterte has throat cancer, which made Duterte furious and said "I will reveal Roxas' true colors" after the accusations that he has health concerns.

Duterte said “How can Roxas allow his PR man to write a lie?” As the presidential race starts heating up and politicians are employing every strategy they have in their arsenal, false rumors and information are spreading like wildfire in hopes of gaining advantage over political reasons. The mayor also said that if it is proven that Lustre indeed made the statement, Roxas will face certain repercussions on Duterte. “Kung mao na ang tinuod nga PR siya ni Roxas unya di siya mu-undang, then I will tell the world kung kinsa si Roxas,” Duterte said.“ Wala jud tay mahayay,”
In rough translation:
[If it is true that he is a PR (officer) of Roxas and he will not stop what he is doing, then I will tell the world who Roxas really is.] Duterte also strongly suggested that if the rumors and conspiracies against him will still continue, he warned the former DILG secretary will regret allowing his employee in spreading information against the Davao City Mayor's own will. “Mag mahay jud siya. Remember day 2 pag (Super Typhoon) Yolanda naa nako didto (Tacloban)”, Duterte said.
In rough translation:
[He will really regret it. Remember, on the second day of (Super Typhoon) Yolanda, I was already there (Tacloban).]
After receiving information that Mayor Duterte will not run for presidency because of throat cancer, Lustre posted the information on his Facebook account, which caused him to tread muddy waters on Duterte's radar. The mayor immediately cleared the air, and denied the rumors dead in it's tracks and the spread information is false and has no authenticity. He said that he is always honest in revealing his health status to Davao citizens. But lately he admitted having Buerger’s and Barrett’s disease, suffering from back pains due to a past motorcycle accident. Duterte called Lustre "mentally impotent" after not being aware that having health concerns or cancer is not a reason for disqualification in the upcoming 2016 elections.
Despite Duterte's warnings, Lustre still stands by his statement. “I stand by what I wrote in social media. I have an impeccable source, who knows the real score. The admission that he has throat cancer was not a concoction of my mind. It came from the mayor’s mouth,” Lustre said.
He then added: “It saddens me that the Mayor would not admit the actual state of his health. If he intends to run for president, he should make a full disclosure of his health situation.”

Mayor Duterte already stated that he has no throat cancer, but Lustre still fights for the statement he recently released that the mayor has indeed throat cancer. This prompted "The Punisher" to warn Roxas that if the accusations and information won't stop, Mayor Duterte vowed to reveal Mar Roxas' true colors. What do you think of Mayor Duterte's health status? Does he really have throat cancer? Or is it just one of the strategies of politicians as the race to presidency heats up? Let us know your comments down below and share your opinions!
Source: abdavao

Many were left dismayed and disappointed when Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte withdrew from the presidential race and decided to drop out. For people who are rooting and cheering for the "Iron Fist" to run for president and eventually win the position, they were left with something more to be desired. After talking to my family and everybody else connected to my life, I would like to categorically state now, and also to end the agony of those waiting and for those who believe in me, I’m not running for President. I’m sorry,” Duterte said at a news conference held in a hotel in Davao City. Duterte said he plans to retire from politics next year and will not run for president in 2016. According to some sources, those who are close to Duterte were very surprised in his decision to withdraw from the presidential race, and many did not see it coming.
Nevertheless, there is still an ember of hope that Duterte will eventually change his mind once again, this time to go back to candidacy and run for president this coming 2016 elections. Of course many factors have played in Duterte's decision, mainly his age, and the obvious desire of his family to not run for presidency and focus more on his role as the mayor of Davao City. Of course it's still too early to come to conclusions that Duterte will change his mind, but one thing to consider is that the filing of Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) for the position of president is still a long way ahead, as this will provide ample time for Rodrigo Duterte to think about his decision and finalize everything in his plans. Some say that the reason Mayor Duterte backed out from the presidential race is more than just his age and his family. The possibilities of his potential candidacy rivals digging the previous issues in Davao City, namely the killings made responsible by the Davao Death Squad (DDS) influenced Duterte to withdraw from the presidential race, mainly because he is being referred to as the mastermind behind the aforementioned killings in Davao. Despite his decision, Duterte’s party, the PDP-Laban, is not giving up hope that he will run for President. "We respect Mayor Duterte’s decision. But advocates of federalism are still hopeful that he will reconsider his decision not to run before the deadline for filing [certificates of candidacy] on Oct. 16," said Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, president of the PDP-Laban. Pimentel said Duterte had always been saying he would not run so the mayor’s announcement on Monday was “not an earth-shaking” development for the party. "I believe it’s no longer my time to be in politics, I will retire after my term," he added. Duterte’s statements seemed to have doused the excitement of an expectant crowd outside the hotel. One woman, apparently not understanding what was going on, asked, "So, is he finally running now?" Duterte also apologized to the politicians from different parts of the country who had prodded him to run and who might be disappointed by his decision to back away.

The excitement has turned quickly into disappointment, as Duterte quelled any doubts on his candidacy for president in the coming 2016 elections. But its still too early to know for sure if he will ever change his decision. Many are hoping that he indeed will, but only time will tell if Mayor Duterte plans on either retiring in politics, or making a comeback and run for presidency once again. What do you think of the possibilities of Duterte running for president? Will he change his decision? Share us your thoughts down below and write us a comment!
Source: Even Demata

Mayor Duterte has stated that the money gathered from smoking fines will be used as charity and donated to help children fight cancer and hopefully avoid causing any more health complications to smokers. He said "Out of your vices, I will spend the money for children with cancer." The House of Hope,is a project of the Waling-Waling Rotary Club of Davao City, which allows children to have temporary homes who have no places to stay in Mindanao. They are provided with care on their cancer sickness. Dr. Mae Dolendo, head of the facility, also provides counselling services to the children and their parents in guiding them toward a better future ahead. He said during an interview sometime last year: "Those who survive the disease come back here every year for the Survivors' Day, an event which the Mayor has not missed," Dr. Dolendo also said that Mayor Duterte spends his free time and even during Christmas Day to interact with the children and provide them with the loving support and strength they so desperately need. The city of Davao is known for it's strict implementations of its rules led by Mayor Duterte, and although the Anti-Smoking Ordinance was in full effect, violators are still caught. roughly about 4,000 of them, paying the fines of P500 when caught in the act.

It prohibits smoking in all public places, and when spotted lighting a cigarette, expect a fine immediately or face three days of apprehension. The ordinance not only applies to the citizens, but also to everyone including tourists and visitors alike. This emphasizes Mayor Duterte's desires for discipline and obedience of his laws in Davao. He said that the new ordinance should help smokers avoid and eventually quit smoking, reducing tobacco use in the city. Duterte also mentioned that future fines collected from violators will continue to be given to the House of Hope to provide light and encouragement to cancer-stricken children that there is hope for a better future. The campaign will continue to express charity services in the city and further expand the campaign in protecting children from harm and giving them brighter days ahead. This is a step in the right direction and will surely benefit both the smokers in quitting their habits and for children to aid their fight in battling cancer. What do you guys think of the Anti-Smoking Ordinance? Does it benefit everyone? Let us know your comments below and share us your thoughts!