When Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is sworn in as the new chief executive next Thursday, the country will not only gain a new leader. It will also lose the existing one. While there is much uncertainty as to what the next six years will bring, there is a measure of comfort that the six-year Aquino administration is drawing to an end.
To be sure, the administration of President Benigno Aquino III began on high moral ground. Elected into office on a wave of sympathy for his just-deceased mother, Mr. Aquino presented himself as the savior of a miserable land. He would bring the light of transparency into the nation, he said, and eradicate corruption and poverty. He would correct the ill practices of the past, bring plunderers to justice and occasion a golden age of good governance and economic growth.
What actually happened between mid-2010 and today is a poor approximation of the scenario he painted. The past six years instead saw arrogance and self-congratulation amid incompetence. When things went wrong, the administration blamed its predecessor or some other party. When things went well, it took shameless credit for milestones including those not entirely of its own doing.
The emphasis on superficial claims—achieving nominal GDP growth, rushing a law said to bring “final peace” to Mindanao, or jailing officials involved in irregularities provided they are not administration allies—took its toll on the people who had expected much and now feel short-changed.
Indeed, the decrepit state of public transportation, the crippling traffic situation in Metro Manila, the inability to attain food security and the failure to protect farmers, the gaping income inequality and the pervasive culture of impunity have become the defining characteristics of this administration that is thankfully coming to an end.
As we make the transition, it would be good to wisen up. We should refuse to be made to feel high with larger-than-life personalities who make sweeping promises of change. Look at the fine print and see if there is substance to back the pronouncements. Ask questions and do not allow the officials to determine what will and will not be discussed. Be alert for potential vested interests and develop an intolerance for doublespeak.
We don’t want to be in this same sorry state six years from now.
