What Obama, Pope Francis, and Duterte may have in common?

It is settled, politicos are in no lock horns during the papal visit. In what could be considered as a big religious event in a predominant Catholic Philippines, politicians may call it a time-off in the usual mudslinging and backstabbing. It carries with it, supporters may as well be pious as the pope. In this frenzy of fussy excitement to meet face to face the Holy Father, it is re-living the experience in 1981 and 1995 when Pope John Paul II (now a saint) visited this country. Nothing more could one expect such feeling of euphoria out from the religious fervor especially on the thought that a saint in recent memory set his foot in our soil. In fact, he kissed our soil in sublime reminder of his humility. Pope John Paul II was well-loved around the world and he had a special affection for the Filipinos. The pilgrim pope as he was called, solidified our faith and that when he read his ceremonial message in Filipino, expect the roar of exultation and jubilation of millions. Now we have Pope Francis.

Pope Francis is Fr. Jorge Mario Bergoglio a native in Buenos Aires, the capital and largest city of Argentina. In a long line history of the Catholic Church, its leader who must be the Bishop of Rome must also come from Europe. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as the successor of St. Peter, typically herding the flock of billions of Catholics around the world. He chose the papal name Francis after St. Francis of Asisi. Another name is brewing up for Pope Francis as the “Pope of the people”. The people’s pontiff as he is, and will be, owed to the simple fact that he is the first non-European Pope, or precisely the first from the Americas and from the southeastern Hemisphere. As the first Jesuit pope, he is noted to live in simple ways. In fact, he preferred to just stay in the guesthouse called  Domus Sanctae Marthae rather than in the official apostolic palace.

Barack Hussein Obama II as the 44^th President of the United States is the first African American to hold the highest office. Obama is the first US president to have been born in Hawaii. His father was born in Kenya and his mother with English lineage. Obama was quoted in this line that he wrote:"The opportunity that Hawaii offered—to experience a variety of cultures in a climate of mutual respect—became an integral part of my world view, and a basis for the values that I hold most dear." Obama in his teens was noted to have used illicit drugs, as he used to smoke marijuana, which confirms he is not into sainthood as Pope Francis. But Pope Francis, Wikipedia mentioned, used to work in a nightclub as a bouncer before he entered the seminary. Those past recollections are water under the bridge. It happened in a distant past in the lives of these luminaries.

What about Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte? He is groomed into the presidency of this third world country. If elected into the highest office, the mayor most often made public his statements to introduce great reforms. First is to change the system from unitary to federal. In the litany of proposed changes, it got the attention of trapos (traditional politicians) that their breed is nearing extinction. But what is unique to the life of Duterte if installed into office  could typically be like Pope Francis and President Obama in such way that it’s like called destiny. Questions like “Who would have thought that a lawyer, a former prosecutor at that, who hailed from Mindanao would become the next president of this country?” would crop up. Duterte, like Pope Francis and Obama, would also be the first among the few who made it to the top, to rise in the right occasion.

This has already gained wide acceptance. People’s awareness knows no boundaries for as long as it is trained the direction for good. Like Pope Francis who live in his noble house, Duterte cannot be seen to have enjoyed the exorbitant and lavish lifestyle. They both share the passion for the poor. It cannot be changed though that Duterte is not only the garbage man, he would is still be famous in his moniker as “the punisher”.