Duterte on top of his game
FOUR years into his presidency, President Rodrigo Duterte remains on top of his game even if he is faced with the biggest crisis that may yet test him: The coronavirus pandemic.
A survey held in December 2019 showed that Duterte’s satisfaction rating was “excellent” at +72, surpassing the “very good” at +65 registered in September 2019 and being a new personal record that bested the previous record of “very good” +68 in June 2019.
With this record-breaking popularity, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said that Duterte has set the bar high for his successor.
“Setting the bar, that’s the right term — setting the bar for the next president, for the next generation of Filipinos,” Andanar said as he boasted about the Duterte administration’s remarkable achievements that surpassed the achievements of his predecessors.
The government’s accomplishments, according to Andanar, were indicative of a continuing legacy that shall persist even after Duterte’s term.
“He presents his words with great resolve and confidence, sometimes with good humor, but all the time with the compassion of a father to our nation,” Andanar added.
“The Commander-in-Chief is in command, and this is his continuing legacy,” the Palace official said.
Earlier, the government presented “The Duterte Legacy” campaign, which intends to promote the government’s accomplishments in bringing “real change” to the lives of Filipinos.
It focuses on the three key pillars of the Duterte administration’s legacy — peace and order, infrastructure development and poverty alleviation.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, in his opening remarks during the event, said that the President’s vision for a better Philippines “is already a reality.”
“The Duterte administration is driven by radical change, marked with multiple milestones in progress and development,” Medialdea said.
“The real change we have all yearned for, for so long, is now happening. We have made the significant starts, pioneered initiatives and accomplished impressive milestones as a nation during the first half of the Duterte administration,” he added.
Meanwhile, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said no other president accomplished what Duterte has done for the past three years.
“Honestly, there’s so many achievements, and I cannot even memorize them. It takes me a day to write all the achievements of the President, if you will compare it with the previous administrations,” he told TheManila
Times in an interview.
“All the promises of the President have been accomplished from the reduction of criminality rate to corruption, to drugs, to the improvement of the economy; the reduction of poverty,” he added.
Panelo, who also serves as Duterte’s top legal counsel, claimed that the administration was winning its war on illegal drugs.
“Definitely, otherwise, how would you explain the hundreds of thousands of surrendering, dismantling of drug factories, the arrest of drug pushers and drug lords,” he said.
“Much has been done in the past three years. The Filipino people can expect the same number of significant achievements, if not more, in the remainder of the President’s term,” he added.
He noted that Duterte has attained “countless and incomparable feats,” which include the signing of vital bills into laws, and executive measures.
These said measures include the free tuition in state universities and colleges, free irrigation to farmers, free internet access in public places, institutionalization of feeding programs for public school students, universal healthcare programs, free medicines and financial support to indigent patients, mandatory PhilHealth coverage for persons with disabilities; huge and unparalleled subsidies in favor of government hospitals; increase of Social Security System pensions for seniors; improvement of the wages of government employees; doubling of the salaries of soldiers, policemen, jail officers and firemen; prohibition on illegal labor subcontracting resulting in the regularization of hundreds of thousands of workers; and establishment of work-from-home arrangements.
Duterte also distributed Certificates of Land Ownership Award to thousands of agrarian reform beneficiaries and farmers.
“He has consistently pushed Congress to legislate for the return of the coco levy fund in favor of coconut farmers through a trust fund,” Panelo said.
For the past years, the Philippine government pursued the collection of around P6 billion from Philippine Airlines for overdue navigational fees and the landmark settlement by the government of about P40 billion with Mighty Corporation for the latter’s failure to pay excise taxes.
‘Independent foreign policy’
Panelo also highlighted the independent foreign policy pursued by the Duterte administration.
“President Rodrigo Duterte, as Head of State, has pursued an independent foreign policy by means of removing our country’s subservience to the West,” Panelo said.
“Notable effects of which are the return of the historic Balangiga bells from the United States and the reshipment of trash back to Canada while improving our relations with all other countries such as Russia, China and those belonging in the Southeast Asian region,” he added.
In securing the welfare of Filipinos abroad, thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) affected by amnesty programs implemented by several countries were flown home.
“For the returning OFWs, they were provided with training and livelihood assistance for their reintegration. An Overseas Filipino Bank was also established to provide efficient remittance services, low service rates and profitable offers to OFWs,” Panelo said.
Last year, a total of 101,918 Filipinos abroad received assistance through the augmented Assistance to Nationals Fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs and at least 14,542 through the Legal Assistance Fund.
Duterte has also fired military and high officials in the government for corruption or incompetence; even including his longtime friends and allies.
“The Palace has responded to all letters addressed to Malacañang by referring them to various departments, offices or agencies for immediate action. It also launched hotlines for emergencies (911) and citizens’ complaints (8888) and reduced government spending by prohibiting the use of luxury cars and air travel in business class and scrapping junket foreign travels of government officials, among others,” Panelo said.
“He has exemplified modesty in public service by forbidding the hanging of his portrait in all government offices and [promising the] serving inexpensive and simple food in government social events,” he added.
The President eliminated the tanimbala scam in the airports after his initial weeks in office, ordered the executive department to strictly comply with the freedom of information law, created a task force on media security, cut red tape in government, implemented a nationwide smoking ban in public places through an executive order, froze the proliferation of online gambling and ordered a halt to the construction of new casinos.
The President also promoted and protected the country’s environment, including the closure of the cesspool that was Boracay for its rehabilitation, the cleanup of Manila Bay and the prohibition on open-pit mining, Panelo said.
The Palace official said Duterte demonstrated “altruism as the nation’s father” by visiting Filipino troops regularly to boost their morale and by attending the wakes of slain soldiers, policemen, and other law enforcement personnel who died in the line of duty and taking care of their grieving families.
“The President has done all these, and these are just some examples, in his three years of national service, while giving his critics and detractors the free space to air their grievances,” Panelo said.
“Despite the political noise and virulent black propaganda against him and his family, initiated by his political enemies, he has not filed a single case against them,” he noted.
‘Better PH’
In his fourth State of the Nation Address, Duterte vowed not to waste the remaining three years of his term by dilly-dallying, promising to build a better Philippines than the one he grew up in.
He noted the accomplishments Filipinos made in the past three years, adding that the people should continue working hard for a better future.
“Our goal for the next three years is clear: A comfortable life for everybody, all Filipinos. We have made significant strides, accomplishments and milestones as a nation in the past three years. This momentum must continue with greater fervour in the next three years and beyond,” he said.
The President promised to do his best to make the Philippines a better country.
“I dream of glowing days ahead for every Filipino. I dream of a Philippines better than the one I grew up in. This is my pledge and commitment for just three years if I can. If I cannot, I am sorry. But, I shall continue to comply with my constitutional duty to serve and protect the Filipino until the last day of my term,” Duterte said.
“I will push harder in the pursuit of programs that we have started but always within the parameters of the law,” he added. “I will not merely coast along or while away my time during the remaining years of my administration. It ain’t my style. But, I will not stop until I reach the finish line. Then and only then shall I call it a day.”
The President also took responsibility for the consequences of what his administration did or failed to do.
“We are now entering a period of consequences. The consequences of what we did and did not do but should have done during the first half of my term. I assume full responsibility for that. As President, I cannot pass the blame to anybody; so, it’s on me,” he said.
“Though we cannot change the past, we will not squander the future,” the President added.
Duterte’s term will end in June 2022.