The presence of Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte in the impeachment trial reveals the disparity of knowledge in governance between him, members of the Senate and lawyers of the prosecution.
Without him and anyone in that Senate hall knowing what the prosecution did was to project the image of yet another Duterte sibling that knows what leadership is in the realm of politics, exercise of administrative authority that includes delegation of power to maximize delivery of public service and achievements of objectives.
Baste never in an instance showed hesitation as he answers question from a fumbling private prosecutor. His responses were quick and brief. His mien is one of steel not prone to bend, ready to take the consequence and responsibility but prepared to rectify should there be needs for it. No excuses.
Baste who had his political emersion as sassistance to his father Rodrigo Duterte, then Mayor of Davao City, had seen and learned up close the nuances and complexities of political leadership. He saw how his father delegated power to Tribal Deputy Mayors in the city which is more than four times the size of Metro Manila. He saw how his sister, Sara Duterte, known to be the Alpha in the family pursued the program of their father and on her own established the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project and made Davao City as the first area in the country declared by the Armed Forces of the Philippines as “insurgents free”. (Now you know why the Communist legal fronts in Congress have connived with the Marcos administration to demonize VP Sara.
Baste is an heir to all these but under his leadership Davao City ranks No. 3 as the Safest Cities in Southeast Asea based on Numbeo Safety Index, now a ₱601.8-billion economy and growing, top tourist destination in the country, ranks 3rd in the Philippines in Oxford Economics Index. In the pipeline is a ₱7-billion 11 megawatt Waste-to-Energy project.
It is therefore ridiculous for Senator Judge Erwin Tulfo to advise Mayor Baste to review the actions and decisions made by city government heads to whom the mayor delegated his power. “Baka sasabit kayo”, he warned Duterte.
But Baste will have none of Tulfo’s ministration. On the other hand Tulfo and his ilk should absorb lesson from Baste style of leadership. How to delegate power for every leader has limitations. In running a government bureaucracy the “Do It Yourself” management style is Jurrasic.
Failing in their plot to snare Baste in their scheme to elicit damaging statements against his own sister, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, they shifted their strategy to demean the City Mayor by harping on his tatoo.
In placing Mayor Baste Duterte in the witness stand we saw who among those in the Senate Hall is embued with leadership attributes and who is or are simple DIY characters.
