Duterte leaving behind a safe, secure PH – Andanar
“In contrast to what a handful of critics would want the international community to hear and read about our country, the Duterte administration leaves a legacy of a safe and secure Philippines,” Andanar said.
He also said the latest CHR report was only “a rehash of old issues,” to which the government has already responded.
Nevertheless, Andanar said the Palace is “pleased that this body has independently exercised its mandate, a testament to how the Duterte administration has allowed our democratic civic space to be enriched under his term.”
“Foreigners who come to the country as tourists are seeing how safe our streets and communities are,” he said.
Andanar said this only affirms “the more than half drop in the crime rate since President Rodrigo Roa Duterte took office in 2016, and validated by his high satisfaction, performance, approval and trust ratings at the end of his presidency.”
The acting presidential spokesman then asked the body to coordinate with the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat “so that its recommendations may be discussed with all the government offices it has put to task.”
In many of his speeches, Duterte would repeatedly hit CHR for conducting investigation on his bloody war on drugs, stressing the human rights agency should also investigate victims of illegal drugs.
Meanwhile, President Duterte expressed his gratitude to those who believed in him and brought him to the presidency.
In a speech at the Puregold SariSari Store Negosyo Convention 2022 in Pasay City on Wednesday, May 18, the President took time to thank his supporters who gave him the mandate to realize his desires for the country.
Duterte was elected president in 2016 after he promised to end corruption, criminality, and illegal drugs in three to six months. Before this, he served as the mayor of Davao City for almost 23 years.
During the event, President Duterte lauded small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for their ability to produce countless jobs for the country's growing labor force and for their contribution to aiding the government's goal of utilizing the people's talents as well as fighting hunger and poverty.
He said his administration has always recognized SMEs as one of the backbones of the nation's economy, but the Covid-19 pandemic gravely affected the industry.
“And if the Covid-19 pandemic has emphasized anything, it is that SMEs are vulnerable to external shocks such as financial crises, disasters, and forced changes in the business movement and environment,” he said. (With a report from Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)