Abella on Rody’s first year: It feels like three years

President Duterte has been in office for barely a year but for his spokesman, who often has had to clarify his controversial statements, it feels like three years have already passed.

For Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the President’s staunch critic, Duterte failed miserably in his first year in office based on his accomplishments so far.

Duterte, who won the 2016 presidential race with more than 16 million votes, will mark his first year in office on June 30.

“You know it actually feels like three years already, right? Considering the amount of work to be done, considering the challenges and all the matters that have been ad- dressed,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a press briefing yesterday.

While the President remains popular among Filipinos, posting a 76 percent trust rating and a 78 percent approval rating in the latest Pulse Asia survey, critics have assailed him for his supposed lack of respect for human rights and his “unpresidential” antics.

But Abella is hopeful that the public would be more appreciative of the Chief Executive’s efforts.

“I certainly hope, I mean this is just my opinion since you asked, I wish that people would be more united in appreciating and not act as if they were not Filipinos,” he said.

Speaking at a forum held at the Senate yesterday, Trillanes was asked to rate the President’s first year in office and as far as he was concerned, he failed on every front.

“Lagapak. Talagang massive failure ang first year,” said Trillanes.

He said the President has nothing good to show for his first year in office as he failed to deliver on all of his campaign promises.

He pointed out the traffic problem in Metro Manila and other major urban areas has not improved and has even worsened since Duterte assumed the presidency.

The MRT-3, which was expected to be improved by the Duterte administration because of what Trillanes said was its strong will, continues to be a burden on the masses who have to bear its long lines and constant breakdowns.

On peace and order, Trillanes said there has been no improvement because the streets are still not safe, criminal activity continues to thrive and the threats to national security persist.

Trillanes said it does not help that the New People’s Army are attacking at will and are enjoying protection from the government because of the ongoing peace talks.

He said the masses are also feeling the effects of poor gov ernance as prices of goods continue to rise and unemployment is still a major problem.