The Good Mayor
by ALAN NAFZGER
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
The Good Mayor – Amazon edition
Copyright © 2020 Alan Nafzger
All rights reserved – The Good Mayor.
The Good Mayor – ISBN: 9798656795029
The Good Mayor
Television series by Alan Nafzger
A moral man and good mayor take the helm of a city in the Philippines that is overwhelmed by crime. Because of a weakened and corrupt police force, good citizens must take matters into their own hands and not by becoming vigilantes but by scheming. The mayor, medical examiner, and television mogul orchestrate a ruse to rid the city of its drug gang.
CHARACTERS
Danilo Durante (the good mayor)
Traumatized as a child by witnessing his mother’s brutal murder in a drug deal gone wrong, Danilo was adopted by Tito Durante, a policeman with the Davos Police Department. After finding out that young Danilo was feeding the neighborhood dogs and cats, Tito realized that the boy was non-violent and religious, and took it upon himself to train him to become a priest.
Danilo became a mayor on a beat that three campaign promises would be enough: a chicken in every pot, a gorilla for the zoo and a promise not to call his opponents “weird.”
A diagnosed insomniac, who refuses to take sleeping pills, nights, he observes the city and people who flaunt the law.
In order to mitigate the city’s powerful drug gang, the mayor with the medical examiner, and the owner of the local free television channel, orchestrate a ruse to trick the drug gang out of the city. They create a fictitious vigilante. It seems innocent enough, but the mayor is soon forced into backing it up with rhetoric. He is married and the ruse soon puts him and his wife, Jessa, and their children in jeopardy.
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Nathanial Rizal (doctor)
Friend of Danilo Durante from their church and bible study group. He is also the chief medical examiner. He must deal with medical inconsistencies. The vigilante executions are not real.
Ulan Cruz (tv mogul)
Friend of Danilo Durante from their church and bible study group. He is also the owner/general manager of the local television station. He is instrumental in spreading the fear via the sensationalized television news.
Three officers (police)
Three police officers taken from entry level positions, who take orders from and are loyal to the mayor.
Mary Jo Dizon (clerk)
A mature woman in the records department provides a new identity for the criminals, who are escorted out of town into new lives.
Princess Aquino (police chief)
Danilo’s former girlfriend, she is the woman that caused him to reject the priesthood. Soon after, however, she rejected him as a suitor and becomes a police detective and then the police chief. Princess suspects Danilo’s “ruse” and feels conflicted about keeping it a secret. Further complicating her feelings is the fact that Danilo has promoted her boyfriend, Jose Zialcita, to a highly lucrative government position – chief of development. The mayor, despite being married says of her, “she used to love me a lot.”
Jose Zialcita (political rival)
A corrupt and opportunistic government official, who derives his power from the mayor. As chief of development and building permits, he is in a position to extort not only wealth but political power from the wealthy Davos businessmen and builders. He is the boyfriend of Princess Durante and potential political rival to the mayor. Mayor Durante refuses to reel him in because he wants to appear magnanimous to Princess Aquino.
Brandon Barty (drug lord)
An Australian citizen who lives in Davos and heads a drug importation and distribution gang. Criminal rival to the mayor. He occasionally kills people who interfere with his business. Brandon is motivated by a desire for revenge against the new Davos mayor, who promised to “drain the swamp” and appears to be eliminating his men. If the ruse is discovered, it will only embolden the criminal gangs.
Jessa Durante (wife)
Danilo’s wife and mother to Jacob and Rosa. Jessa is completely aware of Danilo’s double life, but she feels it is more of a medical condition. She is unaware of the bogus killings.
Jacob and Rosa (children)
Jessa’s son and daughters by a previous husband. Both older children have been traumatized having witnessed drug gang violence and both have narrowly escaped being killed. Danilo knows that they were subjected to a rough upbringing and promises his new wife to raise them with the same moral code that he was. The children are confused by the television reports that rumor the mayor’s (their step-fathers) participation or approval. There is potential for him to appear a hypocrite to his children and in the end, he may have to divulge the killings are not real, but staged. Diwa is an infant and the biological daughter of Danilo.
Primavera Tolentino (newspaper reporter)
Tenacious sleuth and investigative journalist for a print media, who is determined to expose the mayor for vigilantism. She is always on the verge of discovering that he is the one behind the executions.
Father Ramos (priest)
Catholic minister and confidant of the three men – Durante, Cruz, and Rizal. As the community’s religious leader, he must publicly denounce vigilantism, which inadvertently helps the men.
Themes – The Good Mayor
Vigilantism – The mayor and his compatriots create an atmosphere of fear on the part of the criminal gang. They are able to do this with bogus executions. With the help of the medical examiner, the mayor is able to intimidate the criminal elements. Invariably the most useful tool in ridding the city of the drug gang is to eliminate them all.
Redemption – Typically, the mayor reaches out to the lieutenants and drug gang members and offers them a deal; if the criminal will simply disappear from Davos, they will receive a new identity and a second chance in a new city.
Revenge – the drug kingpin seeks to retaliate for the mayor’s apparent involvement and several attempts are made on his life. The mayor’s wife and children are also potential targets.
Search for bodies – For a confidence game like this to work, the three protagonists will need bodies. Some bodies are derived from natural sources – heart attacks and cancer. Other bodies are borrowed from other cities, for press exposure and bloody photos.
Secrecy among friends – Since the success of the ruse depends entirely on secrecy, great lengths are taken to keep the secret between the three men. Each of the men are tempted to leave the ruse, but fraternity wins out.
Scarce human resources – the ruse works so well the drug kingpin (Brandon Barty) has difficulty finding criminals to move his dope. He must increase his own participation and contract with other gangs. The ruse weakens Barty’s gang leadership and he faces a challenge inside the criminal world.
Davao City, PHILIPPINES
THE GOOD MAYOR
Written by Alan Nafzger
Copyright 2020
FADE IN
INT. SANctuary – SUNDAY
DANILO DURANTE (mayor), NATHANIAL RIZAL (doctor & medical examiner) and ULAN CRUZ (television mogul) all stand before FATHER RAMOS (priest).
It’s a baptism and there are faithful and relatives, friends, and neighbors watching. Two parishioners observe.
PARISHONER #1
(whispering)
It’s a pretty powerful lineup. The mayor. The medical examiner, a doctor. And a television mogul.
PARISHONER #2
(whispering back)
They all grew up together and still attend bible study together.
Danilo Durante (father) and JESSA DURANTE (mother), accompanied by two sets of godparents, present the child to the Church for baptism.
FATHER RAMOS
What name have you given your child?
Danilo and Jessa
Diwa Durante.
FATHER RAMOS
What do you ask of God’s Church for Diwa?
Danilo and Jessa
The grace of Christ in baptism.
FATHER RAMOS
You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him (her) in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring her up to keep God’s commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?
Danilo and Jessa
We do.
Then the priest turns to the godparents and addresses them.
FATHER RAMOS
Are you ready to help the parents of this child in their duty as Christian parents?
GODPARENTS
We do.
FATHER RAMOS
Diwa Durante, the Christian community welcomes you with great joy. In its name, I claim you for Christ our Savior by the sign of his cross. I now trace the cross on your forehead.
He signs the child on the forehead, in silence.
FATHER RAMOS
My dear brothers and sisters, let us ask our Lord Jesus Christ to look lovingly on this child…
Gunfire erupts outside. A bullet pierces the stained glass and severs a candle on the altar.
Jessa is frozen in panic. She’s a very delicate woman and this has just pushed her over the edge. She is shaking uncontrollably. The GOD MOTHERS take the baby behind the alter.
JACOB AND ROSA, Danilo Durante’s adopted children, have seen a thing or two and instantly dive behind the thick and heavy altar. The men stand in shock. The women duck low.
JESSA
Please don’t die. Who will take care of my children?
Danilo puts his arm around his wife and escorts her to the first row of pews. He looks at her and whispers and she nods reluctantly that she’ll be okay.
Danilo notices how well trained his stepchildren are and he gives a kind glance at his wife, and gestures for the children to emerge. They don’t.
JACOB
You have to give the all clear signal.
The mayor doesn’t know what the signal is. And the kids don’t budge.
FATHER RAMOS
It’s just that their father…
Danilo
Yes, its so common place… fathers, even pathetic addicts, teach their children to dive for cover.
FATHER RAMOS
It’s not a bad idea.
Father Ramos joins the children behind the altar but he doesn’t kneel. The congregation is all flat on the floor.
The gunfire has stopped.
Danilo
This is very embarrassing. Please everyone get up. It’s okay.
The three men – Danilo Durante, Nathanial Rizal, Ulan Cruz – walk fearlessly to the rear of the church, through the vestibule and out onto the church steps.
The Good Mayor of Davao City
Davao City, officially the City of Davao, Lungsod ng Dabaw[citation needed] (Cebuano: Dakbayan sa Dabaw; Filipino: Lungsod ng Davao), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of 2,443.61 km2 (943.48 sq mi), making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of land area. It is the third-most populous city in the Philippines after Quezon City and Manila, and the most populous in Mindanao. [14] As of 2020, the city has a total population of 1,776,949 people.[10]
It is geographically situated in the province of Davao del Sur and grouped under the province by the Philippine Statistics Authority, but the city is governed and administered independently from it. The city is divided into three congressional districts, which are subdivided into 11 administrative districts with a total of 182 barangays.
Davao City is the center of Metro Davao, the third-most populous metropolitan area in the Philippines. The city serves as the main trade, commerce, and industry hub of Mindanao, and the regional center of Davao Region. Davao is home to Mount Apo, the highest mountain in the Philippines. The city is also nicknamed the “Durian Capital of the Philippines” and “Chocolate Capital of the Philippines”.
The Good Mayor – Rodrigo Duterte
Rodrigo Roa Duterte KGCR (/dəˈtɜːrteɪ/; Tagalog: [roˈdɾigo ɾowa dʊˈtɛɾtɛ] (audio speaker iconlisten); born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody[9] and by the initials PRRD,[10][11] is a Filipino politician who is the 16th and incumbent president of the Philippines. He is the chairperson of PDP–Laban, the ruling political party in the Philippines. Duterte is the first president of the Philippines to be from Mindanao and is the oldest, beginning his term at age 71; the record was previously held by Sergio Osmeña at the age of 65.[14]
Born in Maasin, Leyte (now in Southern Leyte), Duterte moved to Davao as a child where his father, Vicente Duterte, served as provincial governor. He studied political science at the Lyceum of the Philippines University, graduating in 1968, before obtaining a law degree from San Beda College of Law in 1972. He then worked as a lawyer and was a prosecutor for Davao City, before becoming vice mayor and, subsequently, mayor of the city in the wake of the 1986 People Power Revolution. Duterte won seven terms and served as mayor of Davao for over 22 years.
Duterte’s 2016 presidential campaign led to his election victory. During his presidency, his domestic policy has focused on combating the illegal drug trade by initiating the controversial war on drugs, fighting crime, and corruption, launching a massive infrastructure plan[18][19] and a proposed shift to a federal system of government. He also oversaw the controversial burial of Ferdinand Marcos, the 2017 Battle of Marawi and the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He declared the intention to pursue an “independent foreign policy”, and strengthened relations with China and Russia.[20] He initially announced his candidacy for vice president in the 2022 election, but in October 2021, he announced that he was retiring from politics. On November 15, 2021, he filed his candidacy for Senator.
His political positions have been described as populist[21][22][23] and nationalist.[24][25][26] Duterte’s political success has been aided by his vocal support for the extrajudicial killing of drug users and other criminals.[27] His career has sparked numerous protests and attracted controversy, particularly over human rights issues and his controversial comments. Duterte has repeatedly confirmed to have personally killed criminal suspects during his term as mayor of Davao.[28][29] Extrajudicial killings allegedly committed by the Davao Death Squad between 1998 and 2016 during Duterte’s mayoralty have also been scrutinised by human rights groups and the Office of the Ombudsman;[30][31] the victims were mainly alleged drug users, alleged petty criminals, and street children. The International Criminal Court also opened a preliminary investigation into Duterte’s drug war in 2018,[34] prompting Duterte to withdraw the Philippines from the body in response. He is the only president in the Philippines not to declare his assets and liabilities.[36]
Originally posted 2021-01-17 07:34:58.
