High satisfaction rating for a thinking president

Amb. Teddy Locsin, Jr. and Pres. Rodrigo Duterte.

I could not agree more at the way the country’s current ambassador to the United Nations, Teddy Locsin, Jr., described Pres. Rodrigo Duterte as a thinking president.

Locsin was quoted to have issued the following statement about Duterte, saying: “Let us make the effort to think as hard as he does. He is old. I sense he is tired. But he is resolved that, while there is breath in him, not just to talk change like past presidents, but make change. And die in the trying.” If we do not take advantage of this man’s leadership, we shall miss our last chance of real change.”

The ever erudite and eloquent Locsin, who penned a moving and much applauded speech delivered by then president Corazon Aquino before a joint session of the United States Congress in September of 1986, seven months after dictator Ferdinand Marcos was deposed and booted out of the country, may be the exact opposite of Duterte, yet in more ways than one both belong to the same pea pod.

It is the similarity of their persona, their attitude towards public service and their patriotism that has brought these two men together, undoubtedly.

In the same manner that I relish Locsin’s journalistic prowess and miss listening his editorial segment titled “Teditorial” for ANC’s nightly newscast, The World Tonight, I won’t mince words that I am also an ardent supporter of President Duterte and his administration.

It is both Duterte and Locsin’s seemingly similar temperament, their knowledge, their strong will and no nonsense approach, and their acerbic language, when needed to be spoken, that make them hold each other in high regard and, importantly, what makes Duterte tick with the Filipino people.

It should not surprise no one, therefore, that Duterte continues to enjoy high satisfaction rating despite his controversial statements being uttered like, “God is stupid”, or that “there are many rape cases in Davao City because of the many beautiful women living there.”

Quite a number of people and some sectors of society may be offended and political opponents may take advantage in lambasting Duterte for their own political expediency, but is being presidential more important than thinking about what is good for the country and its people?

This is what is paramount to every well-meaning president and fortunately Duterte’s dedication and competence cannot be questioned, thus, he continues receiving high satisfaction rating because majority of Filipinos have never given up their trust and confidence that the president could turn around the country for the better during his watch.

Perhaps, Locsin was right when he further said about Duterte that, “If we do not take advantage of this man’s leadership, we shall miss our last chance of real change.”

What dire consequence, indeed!

 

 

To go on killing or give up killing on war against illegal drugs

 

It is very unfortunate that I have to write about the subject upon deciding to resume blogging after my second successful total knee replacement surgery.

I could have chosen something pleasant to write about but the reality that the country is facing today relative to President Duterte’s war against illegal drugs continue to be the defining thrust of his administration now and, perhaps, for the rest of his term, that the end result could either break us or make us citizens of a nation with potential future. Thus, the subject makes it all the more important for me.

It cannot be denied that we are a nation trying to survive an identity crisis that has been so demeaning all these many, many years – that of being a corrupt nation with equally corrupt political officials.

We have seen presidents come and go with reform policies and programs for a better future for the country and it s people. But at the end of their terms the country is no better than before and the Filipinos find themselves mired even more in the morass of corruption, criminality and illegal drugs.

The fact that I mentioned illegal drugs does not mean that this scourge was not there before Duterte’s presidency came into the picture. Corruption comes in many forms and shapes, but like the way politicians and government officials discovered that there was money for their deep pockets in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), they also found out that there was even a continuous flow of dirty money in illegal drugs worthy of being nurtured for political purposes regardless of the negative consequences it had on the poor users, just like the PDAF scam had an adverse impact on the marginalized Filipinos for which it was intended for.

One impressive difference between past presidents and Duterte today is that the latter knew, after experimenting in Davao City as its mayor, what illegal drugs can do to people’s brain and what bad publicity can do to a place resulting from crimes committed due to its usage.

Duterte took his task as mayor to heart and turned the city around by using his unorthodox style of leadership manifested by guts, political will and bullets – all for the love of his city and his belief that the residents deserved a better life.

Duterte won the presidency in 2016 because most Filipinos got dissatisfied with conventional politicians leading the country. They had had enough.

Part of Duterte’s presidency is history now and it looks like that the remainder of his term will have history repeating itself as many times over for there is no turning back now in his fight against narco-politics that if not controlled will determine the destiny of this nation.

The country today is undergoing birth pains in charting its destiny brought about mainly by drug related killings that are so prevalent and far reaching, even to include the Marawi siege.

Many are speaking out now against what they call the ‘slaughter of mostly poor Filipinos’ especially in the wake of the outrage over the killing of Kian Loyd de los Santos, a grade 11 student, during a police drug operation in Caloocan City last week.

Yes, there is a very high probability that the policemen responsible for Kian’s arrest may have committed murder, but should we allow this unfortunate incident to derail the momentum  Duterte’s administration has in bringing deliverance to this country from the menace of illegal drugs engulfing the country today? Duterte himself has not minced words in his doubts about the killing of Kian. Even the Philippine Ambassador to the UN, Teddy Locsin Jr., showed his disgust about the killing when he called the arresting cops “hijos de putas!”

I am not losing hope for this country with Duterte at the helm and even if the killing continues, for to give up killing, which cannot be avoided if the drug lords, peddlers and users insist on destroying this country and its youth, is tantamount to letting the unscrupulous  people triumph over the vast number of Filipinos praying for deliverance.