Group urges Duterte: Listen even to non-believers
A group of former government officials urged incoming president Rodrigo Duterte to listen to the majority of Filipinos who did not vote for him.
The Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) called on Filipinos to support Duterte, whose margin of victory over his rival was “indisputable and impressive” at almost 39 percent of the votes.
“But a greater number wanted another person to be the president. Voters also cast their ballots for their representatives in the legislature and in local governments. This is the second message of the elections: Mayor Duterte must also consider the views of the majority who did not vote for him, as well as those of other elected officials who bear their own mandate from the electorate,” the FSGO said in a statement.
“We do not elect kings or dictators. Philippine presidents govern with Congress and the Supreme Court as coequal partners,” he said.
The group said election results do not immediately erase the problems of peace and order, graft and corruption, hunger and poverty, climate change and environmental degradation the country needs to continue to confront.
It said the problems demand, beyond collaboration among the branches of government, the collective resources of the churches, the private business sector, and non-government organizations.
“Duterte has the privilege and the responsibility to unite and lead the nation to address these problems. Given the opportunity and in our respective areas of competence, we have the obligation to help him succeed in this task,” it said.
Among the signatories to the statement were Tomas Africa, former head of the National Statistical Coordination Board; Roberto Ansaldo, former agriculture undersecretary; Gerardo Bulatao, former agrarian reform undersecretary; Karina Constantino- David, former Civil Service Commission chief; and Edilberto de Jesus, former education secretary. The group also includes Fulgencio Factoran, former environment secretary; Victoria Garchitorena, former chief of the Presidential Management Staff; Milwilda Guevara, former finance undersecretary; Cielito Habito, former socio- economic planning secretary; Philip Ella Juico, former Philippine Sports Commission chairman; Lina Laigo, former social welfare secretary; Alberto Lim and Narzalina Lim, both former tourism secretaries; Juan Miguel Luz, former education secretary; Jose Molano Jr., chief of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas; Felicito Payumo, former head of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority; Victor Ramos, former environment secretary; and Ricardo Tan, former Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. president.
Bury the hatchet
Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo of the Liberal Party meanwhile called on the people to bury the hatchet and unite following the elections.
In a statement, Castelo said the May 9 polls were a one-day affair and that the entire nation should immediately unite after the Filipino people had spoken through the ballot.
“We may agree or disagree with the winners, but the most important thing is for us to come to terms with the election results and unite for the betterment of our country,” Castelo said.