After winning comes hard part – governing
THE FIRST ORDER of business was to get elected president of the Republic.
That part having been apparently done, presumptive president-elect Rody Duterte, still sitting as mayor of his Davao fiefdom, will soon wrestle with the hard part – governing this ungovernable nation of more than 100 million and meeting their rising expectations.
Duterte has to put together pronto an outline of his programs and priorities. This reminds us of the late comedy king Dolphy who, when asked if he was going to run for president, said something about being scared of what he would do if he won.
The last election campaign was remarkable in that the presidential candidates got away with running for the exalted office without having to present and defend a well-thought out program of government. (Maybe because nobody bothered to ask for it?) Mar Roxas of course had a ready-made Daang Matuwid program that was strung around his neck by his patron like an albatross. Too late did the Anointed One notice that the more he called attention to it the lower he sank in the surveys.
It seemed that most people, including the candidates, dismissed platforms as campaign clutter. Jojo Binay simply referred to his Makati template. Miriam Santiago tried to discuss hers, but got entangled in legalese. Grace Poe found it convenient to just point to her “puso.”
Duterte, making light of his own lack of platform, said he would just copy again from his classmates – which he did. Belatedly he now has a team of experts hurriedly putting together a program, much of it looking like a rehash of old promises and motherhood statements.
• Duterte’s economic agenda announced
HIS TEAM, led by former Agriculture Secretary Sonny Dominguez, announced days ago an eight-point economic agenda, in case anybody aside from businessmen is interested:
1. Continue and maintain the current macroeconomic policies. Reforms in tax revenue collection (in the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs) will be complemented by reforms within the bureaucracy of these agencies.
2. Accelerate infrastructure spending by addressing, among other things, major bottlenecks in the publicprivate partnership (PPP) program. Maintain the setting aside of five percent of the gross domestic product for infrastructure spending.
3. Ensure attractiveness of the Philippines to foreign direct investments by addressing restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution and the laws, and enhancing competitiveness of the economy.
4. Pursue an agricultural development strategy of providing support services to small farmers to increase their productivity, improve their market access, and develop the agricultural value chain by forging partnership with agribusiness firms.
5. Address the bottlenecks in land administration and management system.
6. Strengthen the basic education system and provide scholarships for tertiary education that are relevant to the needs of private sector employees.
7. Improve the income tax system to make it progressive to enable those who earn little to have more money left.
8. Expand and improve implementation of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.
• Are Duterte’s bizarre plans doable?
IN HIS USUAL forceful, sometimes profane, language, Duterte made various campaign promises depending on the crowd before him. The more bizarre they were the better, because the crowds and the media ever on the watch for the unusual lapped them up.
His promises, which somebody who has the time can organize into a program, addressed what ails the Philippines and what riles the people most: selective prosecution, the yawning gap between the rich and the poor, inadequate food, jobs, opportunities, and family shelter, et cetera.
But the most significant promise, which can be the acid test of his sincerity and capacity, is his promise to stop crime, official corruption and the drugs menace in six months. With that, he hit a raw nerve.
Being a lawyer and a former state prosecutor, Duterte knows the Bill of Rights and due process, yet he gave himself a six-month deadline. There is skepticism that he could curb crime and corruption even in double the time he gave himself, but let us see.
My guess is that, like what was done in Davao, Duterte would cause the liquidation of some big-time criminals to serve as samples – in the hope that their gory extra-judicial execution will strike fear into the hearts of the rest and make them mend their ways or evaporate.
To lighten the onus on law enforcers battling criminals, he said something about authorizing the police to shoot thugs resisting arrest. This is walking the thin line toward human rights violations. Related to this is his plan to reimpose the death penalty.
Since these ideas impinge on basic rights and the more enlightened concept of the nature of the human person, Duterte should write them down formally so they could be discussed more systematically.
Now and then, he drops more bits and pieces. He said, for instance, that by executive order he would lay down a Freedom of Information directive. Media might find this useful, but since it will not be a congressional act, does it apply only to the Executive department?
Days ago, he must have decided that what is good for Davao would be good for the nation. He announced he would impose a nationwide liquor ban and curfew for minors. The details may come only after he is sworn into office, but it is good that affected parties are now alerted.
He also has a plan to widen the ban on smoking in public places and enclosed areas. Maybe he should include making anybody caught throwing a cigarette butt eat it on the spot.
Will somebody in his staff please write these Dutertisms down and present them in a complete and orderly manner?