HUMBLE PUBLIC SERVANT
29 June 2025
By Lorraine Badoy
Sunday Chika About PRRDs House
About a year ago, I was eating durian with PRRD along Magsaysay Ave in Davao City (bare fingers and Coke Zero as chaser) at 130 am (!!).
And while I was filling him in on the latest chismax about the ugly and vulgar mansions of various officials in government bought with money obviously stolen from the Filipino people -like the billion peso house of this and that in Forbes, PRRD listened intently then said, “Nakokornihan ako sa kanila.”
Me: Why sir?
And because I wanted to play devil’s advocate, “Don’t you want the same for yourself?”
Him: No. What for?
Me: Well, I guess, better neighborhood, quieter streets, more privacy?
Him: No. I am happy with what I have.
And what did he have?
The first time I walked inside his house in Dona Luisa, I was so moved. Anyone who ever saw the inside of his house will be certain of one thing.
This was a President who had the opportunity to steal BILLIONS TRILLIONS from the Filipino people and CHOSE NOT TO.
His house is clean, jam packed with books and memorabilia. Simple. Like the house of a Tito who loves motorcycles and hunting and books.
A house built on integrity.
And great love for the people.
Someone who had the power to steal tons of gold, our Philhealth contributions, PDIC savings, our national budget–and said NO. (It would not have occurred to him in the first place.)
He chose instead to usher in the Golden Age of Infrastructure that created roads and bridges that sparked commerce, spanned and connected us to each other, made millions of lives better and pushed an entire country forward.
He chose to give our children free tertiary education, rebuild our government hospitals so that for the first time, we, doctors knew the joy of caring for our patients without worrying if they could afford diagnostics and medications. ZERO BILLING.
He chose to give one of the major public hospitals, the UP PGH, 100 million a MONTH. It was such a startling amount that Dr Gap Legaspi, PGH Director thought he meant 100 million a YEAR.
Oh the countless poor who were given dignity on this one presidential edict alone!
I would like to ease your mind a bit because I see how pained you are that PRRD’s iconic house is up for sale.
PRRD had an almost Buddhist level of non-attachment to things. Kaya hindi sya magnanakaw.
I was with Spox Harry Roque when he first entered PRRD’s home and Spox was almost angry. He whispered to me, “This is not a home of a former president.” (Sosyal kasi yan si Spox haha)
I disagree, Spox.
PRRD’s HOME IS, IN FACT, A HOME OF A TRUE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES. A faithful servant of the people.
My prayer is that whoever buys this house of PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE, makes it a museum of sorts. (Although I dont think he’d like that. 😢)
And may s/he open it to the public so the people may see clearly what it is we must look for in our public servants.
The illness of the Filipino admiring those who steal from us is deep and long-standing–and it has come at great cost.
Marcos and Romualdez did not come from a vacuum but are pathological manifestations of this illness I speak of.
Oh how we admire the Century limos/Land Cruiser/Lexus/jet stream/helicopters/Hermes/Chanel/Louboutin blah blah - all these tacky vulgar displays that those magnanakaws in Congress/Senate etc have because they stole mightily, shamelessly, brazenly from us.
You can see these magnanakaws proudly strut and show off wealth they stole from us while we struggle daily to make ends meet and while 52% of us go about their days with hunger clawing at their insides.
But we admire them. We admire these hijos de la gran puta.
They still get some respect from us and we continuously vote them into office so they can steal even more from us- when the appropriate response would be to tear them from limb to limb.
So you see, this country is in dire need of a reset.
Rodrigo Duterte’s house is our reset.
It will make us remember things we should not have forgotten in the first place.
That public servants MUST BE SIMPLE, HUMBLE, INCORRUPTIBLE.
THAT THEY AND THEIR FAMILIES MUST LIVE SIMPLY, HUMBLY. NO DISPLAYS OF WEALTH WHILE THEY ARE IN OFFICE. NONE.
WE MUST AGAIN REMEMBER TO OSTRACIZE IN PUBLIC ANY OSTENTATIOUS AND VULGAR DISPLAY OF WEALTH FROM PUBLIC SERVANTS.
UNTIL THEY COWER IN FEAR OF US.
WE MUST LOOK DOWN ON THEM AND JUDGE SEVERELY ANY PUBLIC SERVANT AND THEIR FAMILY WHO VEER AWAY FROM SIMPLICITY AND HUMILITY.
The very life of our country depends on it.
PS That’s me and the greatest President in Philippine history in front of his simple house.
