How difficult is the Presidency?

Being president of a democratic country has always been difficult because democracy allows the people to voice out their dissent. It has become more difficult with the advent and advances of information and communication technologies that allow people to voice out and have their opinions heard faster and to a broader audience. Anyone with an internet connection will know of the travails of elected presidents from all over the world. It is now harder for government officials to cover up their misdeeds as there could be a digital trail of these transactions and actions. We are living in the era of digital ecosystems which makes political leaders more accountable and transparent. Even the unelected dictators are vulnerable and accountable, although at a later time as they are able to suppress information against them; but eventually it will get them. Think of all the world leaders that have been convicted, jailed, and killed in the past 40 years from the four corners of the world.

Being president of a developing country like the Philippines is doubly hard because the level of economic development is both the cause and effect of the social and political problems. High poverty levels cause the crime problems, (including the drug problem) and the crime problems deter economic investments. Graft and corruption in the government caused by inadequate income levels perpetuate the mendicant mentality of those beholden to the politicians, and leads to further graft and corruption. Inadequate peace and order deters foreign investments which are needed to create more jobs, and the lack of job opportunities worsens peace and order.

If we look at the issues confronting the DU30 government now; the Abu Sayyaf kidnapping and terrorist threats, the NDF/communist battles, the drug problem, the Kadamay squatters occupying government housing, the mining controversies, and the rest of the peace and order problem, are all primarily economic opportunities related. Even the peripheral issues like the China relations and incursions, our relations with other Asian and world countries are tied up with the implications of these countries to our economic wellbeing. The strained relation between the DU30 government with the Church, the media and other critics is due to disagreement of whether poverty is the cause of the drug problem or the drug problem is the cause of poverty.

Given these problems, running or managing the country is a balancing act of trying to address the demands and imperatives of the different constituencies. The analogy is that governance is like walking on a plank above troubled waters. The turmoil in the water and the size of the plank is affected by the actions of the government and the reactions of the people. The objective of the government is to widen the plank and to calm the waters. The personality and rhetoric that is DU30 is a given that may be only slightly tamed, so it is incumbent upon his Cabinet, assistants, and all his supporters to advise him and initiate actions to make the government succeed. There are some like Lorenzana, Dominguez, Diokno, Lopez and others that are doing the positive, but there are also overzealous members of the government that are overacting and stifling legitimate dissent and therefore narrowing the plank and roiling the waters more. There are even toxic DU30 supporters, including those on social media, who are bullying critics as a way of ingratiating themselves to the president hoping to get a government position. These are the people that the president does not need and will not be able to help him.

It is only a 6-year term and nothing is forever, so there is only a little over 5 years left to walk the plank successfully and get across without falling down. A walk in a wider plank over calm waters would be an advantage.