Solons cite his sincere efforts to make life better; ‘incomplete’ in other pressing issues

House of Representative allies yesterday gave President Duterte an “A” for his sincere efforts at making life better for Filipinos, although they disagreed on the good and bad points of his first 100 days as Chief Executive.

At the Upper Chamber of Congress, senators gave the President a fair assessment, while Church leaders believe he did well in his first 100 days in office.

Reps. LRayVillafuerte (PDP-Laban, Camarines Sur), Sarah Elago (KabataanPartylist), and Carlos Isagani Zarate (Bayan Muna) lauded Duterte for scoring high in his peace initiatives with the Left and the Moro secessionist groups.

“Finally, we have a one-of-kind leader who is not hesitant to implement out-of-the box solutions to the problems that have buffeted by our countrymen in the past administrations,” Villafuerte said.

In a scale of 1 to 10, Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III gave the President a grade of 9 for prioritizing the war on illegal drugs.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said there is still a lot of room for improvement,especially in the area of foreign relations. But so far, the President’s actions in the first 100 days are being felt by all Filipinos.

“I think there is still a lot of room for improvement. The administration can still improve in foreign relations and in putting faster economic reforms. For me, I give him 8 out of 10.”

Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said he is open to give the President a rating of 7 out of 10 considering that Duterte started strong and carried out unconventional solutions to the country’s most pressing needs.

“He has shown tremendous political will and is even willing to make unpopular decisions as long as it will be beneficial in the end,” Ejercito said.

“But after 100 days, President Duterte still has to realize that he is no longer a local chief executive. We hope to see him quickly adapt into the presidency, because his conduct represents the nation, and his words can shape national policies,” he added.

Ejercito, however, said he hopes the President would give attention to infrastructure projects and power generation, which is considered a huge factor for economic development.

Sen. PanfiloLacson, for his part, said he is willing to give the President 7 or 7.5 out of 10 as a grade.

“The President deserves high marks in his first 100 days in office despite some gaffes due to numerous controversial foreign policy pronouncements. I give special mention to the much improved peace and order situation due to significant reduction in crimes against persons and property,” Lacson explained.

Lacson, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, said the fight against dangerous drugs, regardless of criticisms from human rights groups locally and abroad, has gained remarkable headway.

“A reassessment of the administration’s shift in our foreign policy, as well as the country’s economic thrusts and direction is in order,” he said.

DESIRE TO EFFECT CHANGE

Although Duterte’s administration is not “perfect,” church leaders said they could see his sincere desire to effect change in the country.

“I think he is doing well. Although sometimes he has a way with words and he is very loud…you can see that he has an objective,” said Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, a member of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), in an interview.

He cited the Chief Executive’s campaign promise to rid the country of illegal drugs as an example.

“That was his promise. Is there rape now that is drug-related? Maybe, there still are but not that many unlike before. Do you feel more safe now when you walk in the street or do you feel safer before?” asked the Lipa prelate.

Arguelles said while he is not in favor of Duterte, he appreciates the latter’s defense of the poor.

“He wants to improve the lives of the poor and I want him to continue doing that,” he said.

Bishop Noel Pantoja, national director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC), also believes that Duterte’s promise of change is now coming little by little.

“(Its) not perfect but the promised change is coming despite challenges,” he said in a separate interview.

‘INCOMPLETE’ GRADE

But Elago said the Chief Executive deserves an “incomplete” grade for not addressing all pressing issues that affect the Filipino.

Elago said the principal criticism of Duterte’s first 100 days in office “comes from his inaction on most of the issues concerning education.”

Zarate agreed with the House minority blocs that criticized the inability of government to act on the worsening traffic problem that has hit Metro Manila and Cebu.

“Most of the transportation problems left by the previous Aquino administration continue to bedevil the hapless public,” said Zarate.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said he is inclined to give the President a rating of 5 out of 10.

Trillanes, who criticized the President for his brutal campaign against illegal drugs and his pronouncements against the United States and the country’s other allies, noted there were no significant changes in other areas of governance.

“He’s a 5. Aside from the war on drugs, there are no drastic policy changes on the other areas of governance,” Trillanes said.

“Worse, we’re now the laughingstock of the international community,” he added.

DON’T BE CARRIED AWAY

Villafuerte, a former local chief executive like Duterte, appealed to all sectors not to be carried away by the undue political noise as even international institutions remain bullish on the Philippine economy remaining on its upward trajectory – and possibly even surpassing preliminary growth forecasts – if the government could go ahead on its plan to fill the massive backlog in infrastructure and socioeconomic investments it had inherited from the previous administration.

The WB said in its Update that “the Philippine economy may surpass the forecasts if authorities can further ramp up spending on public infrastructure as planned.”

In a joint statement, militant youth groups KabataanPartylist, League of Filipino Students, College Editors Guild of the Philippines, and the National Union of Students of the Philippines said Duterte deserves an “incomplete” mark for his first 100 days as they pointed out that despite the “significant advances” in fulfilling his campaign promises, Duterte’s execution of other pledges are still in the “early phase.”

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Ben R. Rosario, Hannah L. Torregoza, and Leslie Ann G. Aquino

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