“They are so many and so complex that I wonder why people still seek this position.”
Santa Banana, there are a lot of challenges awaiting the next president and vice president, whoever they may be.
The first challenge is how to handle what could be the “new normal” just in case the COVID-19 pandemic eases much further.
Then, there is the continuing problem of rising incidence of poverty. The pandemic worsened the lot of the poor and the jobless. Almost four million people lost their jobs.
The aspirants should come out with a plan on how to solve the problem. This is a gargantuan one!
One thing that the next president could do is to have the 1987 Constitution amended, particularly its economic provisions which restrict the entry of foreign investments. That restrictive and suppressive 60-40 provision must be changed if we expect foreign investors to come.
Still, there is the question of how much. Amending the charter is never easy. People are always wary that our national leaders may take advantage of the opportunity to perpetuate themselves in power.
Another problem in constitutional amendments is our government structure.We have two chambers — the House of Representatives and the Senate that must have to vote for constitutional amendments. That alone is a problem hard to tackle.
Then, there is still the problem of illegal drugs. This is continuing since President Duterte’s “war” on illegal drugs has been a big failure. He thought killing everyone involved would solve the problem. He does not realize that addicts are victims, too. This has led to the accusation that he has committed crimes against humanity.
The next president must realize that there is no substitute for a holistic approach in dealing with illegal drugs. It starts with prevention, law enforcement, prosecution, and then rehabilitation, which constitutes 50 percent of the problem. It is just a matter of supply and demand for so long there is a demand for illegal drugs, cartels and syndicates are always there to furnish the supply. Even the US and Europe have this problem.
And then there is graft and corruption, another Duterte “war” that failed.
Having been a journalist for over seven decades, I know for a fact that so long as there is human discretion and intervention in government transactions and contracts, the temptation to steal is always there.
Just to solve this problem is a big challenge for the next President. Duterte made it work by recycling corrupt officials to other posts in government. Only a saint can possibly stop smuggling and corruption at Customs.
Still, there are ways to minimize this problem. Government could well resume the hiring of pre-shipment inspection by the Societe Generale de Surveillance like it did years ago until politicians, who were benefiting from the corrupt system, wielded their influence.
They launched a well-funded campaign for the cancellation of the SGS contract for being too expensive.
There is also that ongoing territorial dispute with China.
Santa banana, will all these problem, I wonder why people still run for presidency. It takes a strong leader to meet these challenges.
* * *
In my more than seven decades as a journalist, I know that during the last months of his reign, the President normally become lameduck president. And it seems that President Duterte is no exception.
His former “alalay” or sidekick Bong Go is now, my gulay, hinting that he may have to withdraw his presidential bid. From the start, my gulay, I had always had the belief that Go was being forced by Duterte to run for president, if only to cut down the lead of Bongbong Marcos.
Duterte is against Bongbong having Sara become BBM’s running mate obviously ran against her father’s wishes.
Nothing could show how big and wide the divide between father and daughter is with Sara becoming Bongbong’s vice presidential candidate.
Bong Go should just quit.
