Twenty-seven years ago, I sat with Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte through many breakfasts, lunches, and dinners – listening to his plans, poring over documents, and balancing issues which needed his attention first. Those were heavy topics that started his day and to give him energy for the long day ahead, he started with a simple breakfast of fried bananas and tinolang native chicken, downed by strong black coffee. I was then his Deputy Mayor (1989 to 1996). For breakfast, I would bring a stack of documents that needed his attention to his house. Those were requests for his presence, complaints on government services, project proposals from private organizations, and sometimes but not often, a thank you letter for his attention getting a job done. It did not cross my mind then that today, the simple mayor who I’ve never seen eating bacon, croissant, or pancakes, would be the 16th President [...]
