"So far the VP's record is mixed."
"So far the VP's record is mixed."
The big news last week was the President’s exasperated challenge to the Vice President, after all those years of her mudslinging from the sidelines, to return to his Cabinet and run the anti-drug war herself.
It was a challenge that Robredo picked up, after some hemming and hawing. Some of her social media supporters have been crowing that her decision caught the administration by surprise, allegedly because Duterte didn’t expect her to take the bait.
Such comments mystify me. After three years of Duterte and his stratospheric survey ratings, it seems there are still critics of his who think he can be caught by surprise by anything. This is a guy who plays his cards very close to his chest, and the Yellows only have themselves to blame for their incorrigible wishful thinking.
So far the VP’s record is mixed, no thanks to all the fake news that infests social media. It was reported that she wanted the UN to intervene; this story turned out to be not quite true. It’s also been said that the police now have to observe a “zero guns, zero killing” protocol. This is laughable, but if the story is gaining traction, it just shows how little the public believes that Leni is aware of reality on the ground.
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If we step back a bit, we’re presented with the sight of a 72-year-old president, increasingly subject to the frailties of old age, seemingly trapped at the helm of a thankless war against drugs—one that he anchored his entire campaign on, but which he has now found, from bitter experience, to be much different if waged across an entire country and not just within his home city.
This is a war where he’s being undermined by ninja cops, second-guessed by the opposition, and threatened by do-gooders in Europe and the US with lawsuits after he leaves office. If one doubts the overpowering influence of the drug lords and their enablers at the highest echelons of our government, one need only read about how the Sinaloa cartel—the same one that planned to expand into the Philippines during the PNoy years—recently raided a Mexican prison to free “El Chapo”s son, after assassinating the Mexican cops who had arrested him.
Who needs this kind of aggravation? If the VP’s backers think they can ride this dirty war into the Palace in 2022, good luck with that—the same way I wished their senatorial slate good luck earlier this year. And it frees Duterte to focus his remaining years in office on building a “kinder and gentler,” more conventional, more durable legacy—one that would be much more helpful to the potential candidacy of Mayor Sara after he steps down.
What might the President wish to shift his attention to? For one, the on-again, off-again initiative for constitutional reforms—not just federalism, mind you, but also long-overdue political and electoral overhauls: anti-balimbing, anti-dynasty, campaign finance reform, genuine “proportional representation” in Congress in lieu of the bastardized party-lists.
A companion initiative can also be launched to change, not just the system through the Constitution, but also the way our people behave every day. Simple things like clearing the roads, cleaning up our beaches and rivers, no smoking, no public drinking, no red tape in government offices, no drugs in the barangays—these will go a long way towards making our country more livable and our people more worthy of this beautiful country.
Abroad, Duterte has already moved the country toward cooperation with China on joint development of our underwater resources like oil and gas. Using economics and business to bypass political stand-offs is also a strategy that sits well with our Asian neighbors. That by itself could position the President as a major leader and influencer in the region.
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A raft of recent favorable news on the economy is also creating a tailwind behind Duterte, which he can then ride in building his durable legacy. Among them:
New investment approvals by the Board of Investments totaled P765 billion for the nine months ending last September, mostly in the ICT sector. This is double the number for the same period last year.
NEDA has become more pragmatic by including at least 26 PPP projects in its pipeline of over a hundred flagship projects. In light of sad stories like the failure of MWSS to develop another wholesale source of water, the limitations of government trying to go it alone are now seen as putting at risk the President’s ambitious Build, Build, Build program.
Significantly, the giant US courier service Federal Express is returning to the country, ten years after transferring its Asia-Pacific hub from Clark to Guangzhou. Other American companies that plan to expand here include food giant Cargill and consumer products houseword Procter & Gamble. The ongoing trade war between the US and China may be prompting even non-Chinese companies to consider relocating here.
The economy grew by 6.2 percent in this third quarter, the second fastest growth in Asia. With even more spending expected from the Asian Games here in December, we may hit government’s target range of 6-7 percent growth for the whole year, although this will be harder to achieve next year amid continuing global uncertainties.
The Philippines will be attending the first-ever G-20 ministerial meeting in Hokkaido aimed at encouraging responsible tourism in line with the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). Together with Indonesia, we’re the only countries attending from ASEAN and from the “developing world.” This is a feather in the cap, not only of Tourism Secretary Romulo-Puyat, but also DENR Secretary Cimatu after his cleanup of Boracay and now Manila Bay.
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Today’s Mass readings give us the proper perspective on the hardship of human life, our lot in the world after the devil entered it out of envy. Suffering may indeed be a punishment for those who are wicked. But for those who are just, it may be counted as a blessing, because they are being proven like gold in the furnace and prepared to rule by God’s side (Wis 2: 23 – 3: 9).
Thus we should endure life’s travails, and carry out our chores, with forbearance. “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do” (Luke 17: 7-10) The earlier and deeper we learn the lessons of humility, the more we are “greatly blessed” and the quicker we shall “be found worthy of God himself.”
These are words that all those televangelist prophets of the “prosperity gospel”—mostly from outside the Church—may wish to take to heart.
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