BEFORE the last election campaign, supporters of then-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte made a virtue out of his on-again off-again attitude toward seeking the presidency.
“The mayor loves to confuse the enemy,” one campaign spokesman said. “He holds his cards close to his chest. He doesn’t want anyone to read them. It’s just a strategy to confuse the enemy.”
For better or for worse, that strategy paid off and Mr. Duterte became the country’s 16th president last year on a promise of change.
Today, seven months into his term as President, Mr. Duterte still seems to be applying the same strategy of being unpredictable—but this confuses not only his enemies, but the general public, people who rely on him for leadership and guidance.
For instance, when the President spoke Sunday before victims of a powerful earthquake that caused widespread damage and panic in Surigao City and pledged to release P2 billion to help them recover, there was no reason to doubt his sincerity and willingness to help. No reason, that is, except denials from the Palace issued the next day by his own spokesmen, who said there was no P2 billion fund for Surigao after all. That money, they said, was aimed at cushioning the impact of the government’s plan to shut down or suspend 28 major mines over environmental concerns.
A denial of that denial came a day later, again from the Palace, leaving shaken residents of Surigao, who face the monumental task of rebuilding their damaged city, dazed and confused.
The mining closures, too, have brought uncertainty to an industry that pays more than P16 billion a year in taxes.
The Finance Department eased some of these concerns by announcing that the President and his Cabinet had agreed to review the closures ordered by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources—only to have those assurances dashed when Mr. Duterte warned mining companies that they would be shut down if they did not clean up the mess left by their operations.
Nobody wants to do business in an uncertain environment, and the confusion over the mining closures could cost the country billions of dollars in investments that might have come in under more stable circumstances.
As President, Mr. Duterte is expected to bring some form of stability, and not keep everyone guessing. But what can we expect from a politician who says that only two out of every five statements he makes is true? Mr. Duterte says he finds this funny; we find it is a recipe for confusion that does nothing to help the country move forward.
