President Duterte may have created a virtual tidal wave around the world. He has used foul language against Pope Francis, United States President Barack Obama, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Amnesty International, the UN Human Rights Watch rapporteurs, the American soldiers in Mindanao, Australia and even the Jewish community.
But I would rather focus on what he has done, so far. He has gone against criminality, illegal drugs and corruption. And definitely, all things considered, Duterte is winning the war. The very fact that his war against illegal drugs has led to the decrease of crimes by 50 percent resonates with the people who have given him unprecedented trust and acceptance.
In Colombia alone, the government has been fighting drug cartels, big and small, for the past 30 years. In Mexico, big cartels, like the Sinaloa, which already has it tentacles in the Philippines, is still a menace to contend with despite the arrest of its drug lord in the US.
In the US, cocaine is a menace worth no less that $6 billion, while in Europe, Russian drug syndicates have made their presence known.
The reason I believe Duterte can still change is that he has enough humility to accept his mistakes and apologize for them. The very fact that after a speech, the President bows to his audience, shows this.
In this respect he is so unlike his predecessor, BS Aquino III, when never apologized for anything, much more accepted his mistakes.
In fact, Aquno tolerated everything, including the mistakes and incompetence of his friends.
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The arrest was made right next door to Camp Crame. This should make Malacañang, Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana realize that some of the very guns used by the Abu Sayyaf Group to kill military personnel come from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
President Duterte, who has been visiting military camps for the last several weeks, should at least make the PNP and the DND dig deeper into this case.
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The appointment of Mark Villar, congressman son of former Speaker and Senate President Manny Villar and Senator Cynthia Villar, as secretary of Public Works and Highways was controversial from the start.
The Villars have many housing projects—it’s simply conflict of interest.
Sure enough, the service road leading to Merville Park Village and Moonwalk Subdivision has been extended all the way to C-5, a road development passing through the subdivision and property developments of the Villars.
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The year 2016, being an election year, was predicted to be a promising one for the broadcast companies. True enough, the deluge of political ads on television translated into billions of pesos in revenues, especially for the country’s two leading radio and TV network the ABS-CBN and GMA-7.
Based on ABS-CBN’s Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation (MD&A) for the first half of the year, the Lopez-led company generated consolidated revenues of P20.990 billion from advertising and consumer sales, or 19 percent higher than the same period in 2015.
Rival station GMA Network, which is owned by the Gozon, Duavit and Jimenez families, on the other hand, reported that its gross revenues reached P8.760 billion, or 32 percent higher than the 2015 figure.
The bottom line of two rival networks, however, is more telling of which network is in fact ahead—financially speaking, to be sure. GMA-7 reported a net income of P2.378 billion, P264 million or 11 percent higher than ABS-CBN’s P2.114 billion. For the first quarter, GMA-7’s net income was at P1.013 billion, still higher than ABS-CBN’s P761 million net income by P252 million or 32 percent.
These figures are there to analyze. Congratulations to Henry Gozon of GMA-7 and his staff.