Conclusion
IMUS, Cavite—Sandwiched between two houses on a near-empty lot here is a place that never sleeps. Its operator, however, does but had sleepless nights after Rodrigo R. Duterte became president.
The place is called Tapsi-Kret, a local eatery serving tapa, egg and fried rice, a dish that has become synonymous with the place for its customers, mostly citizens of Imus, for the past two decades. Born when Troy and Noralyn Lim were still a couple, Tapsi-Kret’s original location was through a narrow series of houses built from rough-cut wood and scrap-metal awnings. On its new location, almost in the middle of nowhere, the restaurant sports columns from thick bamboo and covered by roof made of the indigenous nipa grass.
Modern jazz music plays on black speaker.
A year after settling in the new location, Lim said he noticed the growing number of customers
dining out before dawn—coincidentally after Mr. Duterte settled into his presidency.
“Bago umupo si Duterte, halos kakabukas lang naman din namin dito. Sobrang konti lang ng customers sa madaling araw. Pero ngayon halata na lumalakas na,” Lim told the BusinessMirror. “’Yung kita ng umaga nilalagay pa sa madaling araw para ma-sustain ’yun. Ngayon kaya niya na on its own [It was only days after we opened before Mr. Duterte formally became president. Customers at dawn were very few. Now the number of customers is increasing. Before, what we earned in the morning we still use for the dawn operations. Now, the restaurant earns on its own].”
Security
ROUND-The-Clock entrepreneurs like Lim have been banking on the perspective toward security that Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs has embedded in some minds. Lim noted that the elimination of drug-induced personalities may have an effect on 24/7 businesses like his.
“Sa tingin ko mas okay naman na ganoon ang mind-set nila,” pertaining to his customers [I think that our customers’ mindset of feeling safe even after midnight benefits our business].”
Lim’s reliance on his customer’s sense they are safe inside the restaurant is uncanny since Tapsi Kret doesn’t have a security guard.
He said in the nearly 20 years of their operation, they have never been burglarized. Hence, he
says he has not felt or noticed changes in the 100 days of Mr. Duterte’s presidency.
“Mentalidad lang ng tao ’yan,” Lim said, referring to personal disposition on the sense of security.
“Meron akong kakilala na taga-Manila na kapag pinapupunta ko dito, alanganin siya kasi nag-mo-motor siya. Sabi kasi baka mapag-kamalan siya, although hindi naman siya user, hindi naman siya adik pero may fear na kasi. Usually kapag nagpupunta siya ginagabi or inaabot siya ng madaling araw [I have an acquaintance who lives in Manila rides a motorcycle and esitates every time I ask him to go here and check out our place. He said authorities might mistake him for a drug user or addict, which he’s not. He’s become paranoid. Usually, if he goes here, he stays up to midnight or dawn],” Lim added.
Luck
BUT Lim is not leaving security to sheer luck.
Again, he refers to mentalidad, saying the location of the store near the barangay hall or village officials’ center may have deterred criminals.
Still, he has plans to strategically put a projector that would play a movie on the two-story brick wall of an adjacent house to further deter burglars.
Lim said he would continue to rely on his neighbors, as well as customers—when full, the restaurant seats 50—as deterrent.
Since the place also has a strong Internet connection, Lim said a criminal may have second thoughts on plans to stage a robbery of Tapsi Kret, even after Mr. Duterte steps down in 2022.
Good news
Duterte raked in votes last national elections in Cavite, garnering 41.2 percent of the half-a-million votes in the province. Running behind the then-mayor of Davao, Sen. Grace Poe had barely kept up with 22 percent.
Generally, Caviteños are known as brash fighters even way back the Spanish era, which may be a probable reason the majority of the province opted for a Duterte-led presidency.
Rebecca Velasquez, editor and publisher of the weekly newspaper Pulso ng Makabagong Caviteño, choose to shy away from publishing stories about the President’s war on drugs. This is despite the newsworthiness of the war: alleged drug users and pushers found dead, men in uniform covering drug activity in the province and the like.
“We are a developmental paper,” Velasquez said in Filipino, “We publish developmental news in Cavite, I don’t publish all those deaths, the negative news.”
In July over 700 drug users and pushers surrendered to authorities in the town of Rosario. After 100 days of Duterte’s presidency, over 100 drug-related deaths have been reported in the region.
In September 40 police officers were placed under investigation for their alleged involvement in the
illegal-drugs trade in Cavite.
Velasquez emphasized that positive news in the community, even at a national level, doesn’t merit attention. She said the aversion to “good news” comes as media report on bodies piling up nearly every day.
Fear factor
BEING in the commercial printing business since 1985, Velazquez describes the “changes” under the Duterte presidency as “sudden.”
Her regular clients and ordinary employees reflect the segmented views of society in general, she said.
“Doon sa side ng mga nag-nenegosyo, may business, mas kampante sila,” Velasquez said. “Pero pagdating dun sa side ng mga ordinaryong tao, ay parang takot sila kasi baka biglang may babaril, may papatay. Bukas o makalawa baka kamag-anak mo yung namatay. Basta namatay na lang [Those who do business have a sense of security. But for ordinary people, their fear has heightened, worried that gunfire can ensue any time. Maybe tomorrow or the next day, they fear relatives would be the ones killed].”
Good things
WHILE she was not part of the 41 percent who voted for Duterte, Velasquez had good things to say about the performance of the President for his first 100 days in office.
Having been born in 1960, she has seen the rise and fall of eight presidents. For her, Mr. Duterte has been the most efficient to date.
“I can say that ’yung first 100 days ni Duterte ang pinaka best na naipakita ng Presidente ng Pilipinas. Eto ’yung may mulat na ako,” Velasquez said. “Dito nagpakita siya ng paninindigan, na wala siyang takot sa kung ano man, kaysa labas ’yan o sa loob ng bansa.”
The mother of four said she considers the President as a man of action.
However, she considers herself one of those who thinks the president should also slow down and take a step back before firing his often sharp words.
But whether Mr. Duterte would do so—slow down in word or in deed—has yet to be seen in the next 100 days.
And Lim and Velasquez would surely be watching.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila