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Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Slowly but surely

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Well-hidden—perhaps deliberately—behind the President’s usual abrasive language is what appears to be a patient strategy to put milestone reforms in place, one at a time, by making periodic breakthroughs that need to be followed up with a lot of work by his people.

On the issue of federalism, a key plank of his platform, Duterte had lately been sounding positively negative, saying that the country may not be ready for it, around the same time an opinion poll showed that most of the public opposed it, wanted to postpone it, or were either indifferent or uninformed.

But I didn’t hear a lot of this negativism among the grassroots leaders—from the youth, farmers, and indigenous people—who trooped to a briefing organized by the Department of the Interior and Local Government earlier this week in Dumaguete, the first of several such regional briefings planned throughout the country.

If anything, the grassroots was even more aggressive. One elderly gentleman called the proposed 12-year transition period “kalokohan” (clearly he wants to see federalism in his lifetime). A local mayor wanted to push a mini-PIRMA movement among the country’s mayors to show Duterte and Congress their support for this changeover.

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Perhaps sensing this positive undercurrent, the President reiterated his unilateral opposition to the current unitary state during his Eid’l Fitr speech in Davao City. He also promised to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law, asked MNLF founder Nur Misuari to join the BBL talks, and reiterated that he will step down in any transition to a new leader.

We hope that last point has reached the ears of his consultative commission, whose draft charter reportedly may allow a public official who’s finished two consecutive four-year terms to run again after an elapsed period (during which time their relatives within the second degree also cannot run for the same office).

It’s an eminently reasonable proposition, of course. But you can count on the opposition to attack it as another attempt by a sitting president to overstay in office. This has always been the bete noire of previous attempts at charter change. Perhaps the commissioners will consider writing an explicit prohibition against Duterte running after 2022, just to deny the opposition a most tempting bogeyman.

The President also put his name behind the TRAIN tax reform program—another key part of his governance—after it came under increasing flak for allegedly causing the current spike in inflation (the real culprits are actually rising oil prices, higher tobacco tax compliance, and price profiteering by traders). The man obviously isn’t easily scared by what’s unpopular.

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Also courting unpopularity was Duterte’s flat-out statement that the Philippines will always have to import rice, simply because of overpopulation and lack of arable land. To our recollection, it’s the first time any President has spoken so definitively on this issue, especially since his own Agriculture secretary had promised that the country will become self-sufficient in rice by 2020.

In fairness to that Cabinet member, it’s a promise that’s been made again and again by other administrations before this one. It’s an irresistible part of our populist folklore. But it seems that Duterte, being the practical local mayor that he is, won’t waste time running after a dream that’s simply no longer achievable.

The rice shortage crisis we narrowly avoided last month made it clear that “rice security, not rice self-sufficiency” is the proper mantra for us. The President’s unequivocal declaration ought to lead to innovative new policies in this sector—from signing long-term purchase agreements with rice-surplus neighbors like Thailand and Vietnam to using the tariff revenues from higher rice imports to subsidize poor rice farmers here, to exploring alternative crops and even occupations for those same rice farmers.

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In peace and order, Duterte finally lowered the boom on the communist Left, with whom he’s been playing a game of on-again, off-again peace talks. Lately, CPP founder Joma Sison claimed there would be an initial “stand-down” by both sides by June 21, preparatory to resuming peace talks on June 28 in Oslo. Sison even boasted that government had already agreed to two parts of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socioeconomic Reforms (CASER) being pushed by the CPP.

But Duterte countered by saying that he wanted to hold the talks in Manila and that he wanted to get the advice of everyone in his team before deciding about resuming talks. Having been denied his chance to pull off a fast-break, a disappointed Sison said his group has no choice but to resume their “revolutionary people’s war.” The old man will have to wait some more before seeing his homeland again, if ever.

Less spectacularly, Duterte has resumed his crackdown on vagrants in the streets, whom he’s instructed his policemen to throw into the Pasig River if they refuse to cooperate. It’s another earthy comment that his critics won’t be able to resist lambasting again, like a fish that’s drawn irresistibly to the worm on the hook. As the vernacular puts it, “madali silang pasakayin.”

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China is one issue where we think Duterte could be taking tougher stances. The public’s dander is up over stories of our fishermen from Pangasinan, Zambales and Bataan being forced by elements of the Chinese Coast Guard to give up their best catch in exchange for noodles, cigarettes and cheap alcohol.

Harassing our fishermen like this is obviously not essential to the grand strategic maritime plans of the Chinese. And it was President Xi himself who promised Duterte that this kind of behavior wouldn’t happen. This is clearly an issue that we ought to bring up, loudly and repeatedly, to Beijing’s attention.

Having said that, though, we wouldn’t go as far as Magdalo Congressman Gary Alejano, who’s accused government-owned PTV-4 of “betraying the country” by agreeing to air Chinese TV shows, dubbed in Tagalog.

We’re certainly impressed by the militance of Alejano, a former Navy officer. At this rate, he may be warning us soon that eating mami and siopao is like surrendering to a Chinese invasion. After all, who knows what they could be slipping into those delicious buns and noodles?

Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

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