THE nation must know now that while President-elect Rodrigo Roa Duterte won the presidency by over six million votes over his nearest rival, the incoming Du30 administration will have its pros and cons.
In fact, as a concerned citizen and a journalist, I have drawn the line on some of Du30’s advocacies: Restoring the death penalty, conducting executions by hanging, giving communist insurgents sensitive cabinet positions, releasing political prisoners to entice Joma Sison and Luis Jalandoni to come home, and attacking the Catholic Church.
I am not sure if it is true that Du30 really wants the three most graft-ridden and corrupt agencies—like the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs and the Land Transportation Office —abolished.
My gulay, how then will the government collect taxes, clear imports and also collect duties?
And how in the world will motor vehicles, now numbering about 6 million nationwide, be registered? How will drivers be given licenses? Du30 must think twice before uttering statements like these. Yes, we all agree that these three agencies are corrupt. But abolition is another matter.
Another thing: It seems that most, if not all, members of media, are not comfortable with the appointment of lawyer Salvador Panelo as Du30’s press secretary and spokesman. If that’s the case, Du30 still has time to change his mind.
The incoming president must realize that his press secretary/spokesman would interact with members of media on a daily basis. If media do not like this official, then their relationship with the president would also be adversely affected.
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Still, I would give credit to Duterte for other matters. For example, there is the burial of the Marcos remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The remains are now at an air-conditioned mausoleum in Batac, Ilocos Norte.
The burial at the Libingan would be in accordance with the law which says that veteran soldiers, former presidents, commanders-in-chief and defense chiefs could be interred there. The late Ferdinand E. Marcos was all of these.
It’s about time we buried the past and healed political wounds. We have been divided for too long.
Another part of history that Du30 wants corrected is the continued hospital detention of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for plunder in connection with the P336-million intelligence fund she transferred from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Mrs. Arroyo did not gain a single centavo from this transaction.
The charge is so flimsy that all her co-accused have been granted bail. Only she remains detained—obviously upon the orders of Malacañang because she is the poster child of this administration’s “Daang Matuwid” mantra.
Du30 had wanted to pardon Gloria, but she declined because a pardon by the incoming president would mean Gloria would accept guilt. She wants the case against her dismissed, which is the right thing to do.
I also commend some of the Cabinet appointments as well-advised, especially that of businessman Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez as finance secretary. I also praised the designation of Jess Dureza as adviser on the peace process, Perfecto Yasay as acting foreign secretary, and former Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo as chief of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
In fact, the business community welcomed Du30’s eight-point economic agenda which is perceived to be all about economic progress and development.
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While there are divisions and disagreements in the selection of canvassers and on the rules of canvassing by the joint Board of Canvassers of both Houses of Congress, I believe that the constitutionally mandated canvassing of votes for the president and the vice president has started.
Yes, there are lingering questions, not on the canvassing of votes for President-elect Du30, but on who really won as vice president—Bongbong Marcos or Leni Robredo.
I think it is logical that the announcement of the winner for vice president be put off until the people become convinced that the May 9 poll was truly fair, honest and clean.
But, with the tampering of the transparency server of Smartmatic and the loss of over a million votes for Bongbong overnight, Robredo’s anticipated proclamation is clouded with suspicion.
Santa Banana, can we afford to have a vice president who cheated?
I think this issue may eventually have to go to the Supreme Court to be decided by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
If Robredo becomes vice president, what would come next? Will Plan B to unseat Du30 be launched?
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An issue that the incoming president will have to face once he gives amnesty to all political prisoners is the homecoming of Joma Sison and Luis Jalandoni to talk peace with government.
This cannot be taken lightly by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Hundreds of soldiers have already died in encounters with the New People’s Army.
The words of these communist leaders cannot be taken at face value. How can they be sincere when they have so many conditions and when they come to the negotiating table with blood on their hands?
Du30 is a self-confessed leftist-socialist. There is only a thin line between this and being a communist.
Since he’s now the incoming president of a country that’s against communism as an ideology, whatever he says will not be taken lightly by a restive military and the people in general.
My gulay, if Du30 gives the communists the Department of
Social Welfare and Development which handles the dole program to the poor, that would mean that the communists will have a P62.3-billion budget to indoctrinate the poor.
I am not saying here that Du30 will just hand over the government to the communists, but he’s walking on thin ice by waltzing with the Reds. I’m not radically anti-communist, but rather a centrist. Considering the fact that communism is an outdated ideology (look at Russia and China), Du30 will have to perform a balancing act to get the military’s support.
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There’s a new attraction in town where your family and your loved ones can spend a nice evening. It’s Megaworld’s Venice Grand Canal Mall at Mckinley Hill in Taguig.
People are already crowding the place enjoying Italian cuisine and that 15-minute gondola ride with singing Filipino gondoliers clad in Italian costume.
People can enjoy a clear sky when it’s not raining.
It’s good respite from the maddening crowd and traffic Metro Manilans have to endure.
The gondola ride may be pricey at P500 per person, but at least you don’t have to go abroad.
