A Happy Birthday to President Duterte

WE greet Rodrigo Roa Duterte, 16th president of the Republic of the Philippines, on his 72nd birth anniversary today, March 28, 2017. He will spend the day with his family and close friends in Davao City. He has no scheduled public appointments today, no official public celebration. It has always been this way, and it will remain so today even if he now holds the highest official position in the land.

In the few months that he has held office after his election to the presidency last May, 2016, President Duterte has been moving virtually non-stop on a myriad programs and projects, and for a myriad causes, topped by his campaign against the drug trade that we never knew had become such a huge menace to the country.

At the same time, he has faced the world, met with its leaders, with the mixture of pride and pragmatism that won respect for our nation. Today we look forward to development programs with unprecedented assistance from such nations as China and Japan.

But it is in our own country, among our own Filipino people, that we sense today a driving force that should overcome so many old problems that the nation continues to face to this day. President Duterte has mounted peace initiatives that should end years of violence in many parts of the country, particularly in Mindanao.

The economic development program centering on infrastructures this year should soon begin a systematic government effort to solve the age-old problem of mass poverty in the country. With more economic activity generating more jobs, President Duerte told OFWs recently in Thailand, he hoped the time will soon come when overseas work is no longer a necessity but a choice for Filipinos.

Yesterday, on the eve of his birth anniversary, there was news that may have surprised many people around the world – President Duterte was leading a Time Magazine poll of the world’s most influential people – ahead of the Pope, the leaders of Russia and Canada and the United States and the giants of cyber space. President Duterte has truly become a symbol of change who has now become known far beyond the shores of our country.

Today we join the rest of the nation in wishing President Duterte all the best on his birth anniversary, knowing that while he may spend a quiet time with his family today, he will – sooner than we think – be back in full force to face and act on the many problems of our country.