"Do the people think Duterte has delivered on his promise?"
"Do the people think Duterte has delivered on his promise?"
As the new year approaches, it is a good time to evaluate whether President Duterte has fulfilled his promise of change.
We will also know whether the people would vote for candidates endorsed by the President.
So far, the people appreciate the bloody war on drugs, criminality and corruption despite the setbacks.
On the war against corruption, while the President has made inroads, people also see that he is just recycling and reappointing his friends and even promoting them.
All in all, I think change has not come.
Fortunately the President has three more years to go.
But this is why I say that 2019 will be a year of reckoning. The results of the election will show whether the people believe that Mr. Duterte can still deliver on his promise of change.
As of now, I would say things do not look good for the President. The killings done in the name of the drug war have brought about a climate of impunity. And it will get worse as the polls approach! For so long as the police cannot stop guns for hire, private armies and the proliferation of firearms, I am afraid we will see worse things to come.
In my almost 70 years as journalist, it’s the same story all over again. Politicians greedy for power and influence will do anything, even kill their rivals, to stay in power.
And we say we are a predominantly Catholic country.
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I have covered ten presidents, walked the corridors of power and seen history in the making. I can say with certainty that President Duterte has been relatively fair to the press.
There were instances, however, when he exhibited a streak common to his predecessors—a dislike for criticism. Look at what happened to Rappler. And he also threatened ABS-CBN with non-renewal of franchise when it was accused of not airing his ads during the 2016 campaign.
Generally I think Philippine press has been free.
As for me, I’d like to think I am a fair opinion writer. I praise and criticize as needed.
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Bullying in school is nothing new. I say it’s part of growing up among male students.
What happened at Ateneo Junior High School reminds me of the time when an American student bullied boy named Mario Tiaoqi, who later on became Energy Secretary. They had a classmate, Joseph Ejercito, who stepped in to protect his friend Tiaoqi. Erap challenged the American to a fight at the boy’s restroom.
Both Erap and the American student were called to the principal’s office.
The American boy was expelled while Estrada was dismissed. The difference is that you can no longer enroll in other schools if you are expelled, but when you are only dismissed, you still can. Erap went on to finish high school at San Sebastian.
As for the American, Patrick Hilton, he went back to the US and eventually settled in Miami.
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The Commission on Elections should monitor the spending of candidates this early.
The President’s senatorial candidate, Bong Go, has been campaigning nationwide and helping calamity victims.
The President said Bong Go was a billionaire—just how he got there, we don’t know. All we know is that the company of his father and stepbrother cornered contracts amounting to P2.4 billion, according to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
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As of now, here is my list of probable winners in the senatorial race, not necessarily in order:
Grace Poe, Cynthia Villar, Pia Cayetano, Nancy Binay, Sonny Angara, Koko Pimentel, Jinggoy Estrada, Imee Marcos, Bong Revilla, Lito Lapid.
Not far behind are Juan Ponce Enrile, Serge Osmena and Bato dela Rosa.
It also means the people do not want a return of the Yellows.
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The way I see it, performers in the Duterte Cabinet are Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, NEDA Director-General Ernesto Pernia, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra. May their tribe increase.
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