People are satisfied

PEOPLE are generally satisfied with and highly trusting of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. The business sector, taipans and tycoons, and ordinary homeowners are impressed with the Duterte law and order and anti-corruption campaign.

Of course, there are equally multitudes that are unhappy with Duterte’s governance style while others, with exaggerated expectations, are impatient for employment, anti-poverty measures, and social justice which have yet to show tangible results at the grassroots.

Truth to tell, apart from the President’s repetitive monologues and tirades, there is also a growing climate of fear and trepidation that is causing concern and uncertainty.

First, there is little to be gained by the President insulting the listeners with vulgarities and foul language from the seriousness of the subject or occasion which is drug trafficking and the economy.

By this time, audience is not only bored with the subject but also with the foul language.

Second, President Digong Duterte’s fixation on the war against illegal drugs, however, has had collateral and beneficial results with the substantial reduction in criminality and corruption.

Indeed, while President Duterte’s strong message of honesty, incorruptibility, and probity in public office are gaining traction and momentum, unfortunately, the “change” may have been triggered by the fear of being caught rather than the real spiritual “transformation” of a people’s ethos and ethical behavior.

At the very least, Pres. Digong Duterte is viewed as a candid, austere, honest, and a real reformer.

With the previous Aquino administration, it will be noted, the elite business sector, the Church, and public servants have successfully covered up the shortcomings and blunders of Pres. Benigno Noynoy Aquino by saying with the wave of the hand that “Noynoy was at least honest” or whatever that word means or conjures as there are different shades or nuances of “honesty.”

Third, while it is truly refreshing to witness sincere attempts to search for peace, eradicate endemic poverty, drug addiction, and insurgency, and reaching out to other nations, this administration has too many irons in the fire, so to speak, and too many unnecessary and mundane conflicts that this administration has neither the resources nor expertise to tackle them all.

When all is said and done, Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte must aspire for greatness, be a patriarch and statesman rather than just a passing President who will be remembered for his foul mouth and extrajudicial killings.

You be the judge.

“Only a strong government can keep the peace, build infrastructure, enforce contracts and provide other public services.” — Jeffrey Sachs