Duterte gets high mark on governance

ON a scale of 1 to 10, Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd gave President Rodrigo Duterte 8.5 in terms of uplifting the lives of Filipinos for the past four years.

Sotto made the remark when asked to assess the President’s performance as the latter marked his fourth year in office on June 30.

“On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest, the President, in my scorecard gets 8.5 from war on drugs up to the time of Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019 [pandemic]),” he said.

The Senate chief said the Presidente “strove to uplift the people’s welfare with a firm hand and this is something that is seldom seen from the Executive Office.”

Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said Duterte’s strongman leadership “is the right antidote to stubborn Filipinos.”

“He should continue to prioritize his build, build, build program in the remaining 2 years of his presidency in order to help our economy bounce back and for him to leave a concrete and lasting legacy behind,” dela Rosa said.

Sotto said the President “reduced the noise and violence from the separatist and terrorists from the South.”

“He has contained the half century communist insurgency. Criminals syndicates have laid low,” he added.

He also cited the government’s independent foreign policy.

“[It’s] no longer marching to the beat of the United States. The economy is stable except for pagpasok ng (onset of) Covid-19, despite the foreign and local challenges. Local labor is quiet,” he said. “So, overall, I think hope is in abundance as far as I am concerned in the remaining couple of years of this administration.”

Asked what must be prioritized by the President, Sotto said, “We must relieve ourselves from the problem of pandemic and then of course continue with the economic gains that have been in place before the Covid- 19 [pandemic] and then of course address the transportation issues of the country and retain, and gain more, as far as peace and order is concerned.”