DU30 rides high on political will

Recently, Mr. Duterte ordered an audit of the performance of local officials in the fight against drugs and warned that those who would not meet the standards could be stripped of their control over the local police.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s strong political will is credited by many for his long list of accomplishments as he marked yesterday his second year in office.

The main criticism against the previous administration was former President Aquino’s lack of political will that led to flip-flops in his policy decisions while camouflaging his non-achievements with a vindictive campaign against his political opponents which he claimed part to rid the nation of its “corrupt past.”

Criminal raps, including plunder, were filed against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on her second year while impeachment proceedings were initiated at the House of Representatives against late Chief Justice Renato Corona.

In contrast, tangible achievements in the robust economy and the huge reduction in crime incidents were the hallmarks of Mr. Duterte’s second year in power.

The President remains a popular leader among Filipinos two years since assuming power, political analyst Ramon Casiple said in a televised interview.

Casiple said Mr. Duterte remained popular mainly as a result of his efforts to boost the economy and his determined effort to end crime.

On peace and order, Casiple said he expects the crackdown on illegal

drugs to continue until the end of Mr. Duterte’s term in 2022.

“You would expect that it will continue until 2022,” he said.

For the past two years, Mr. Duterte focused on achieving his three-point agenda against illegal drugs, criminality and corruption.

According to data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, a total of 123, 648 drug personalities were arrested from 91,704 anti-drug operations conducted from July 1, 2016 to March 20, 2018. A total of 4,075 drug personalities were killed in these operations.

In the same period, 2620.50 kilos of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) with a street value of P13.46 billion were seized. As a result,5,327 barangays in the country were declared as drug-free.

Because of the aggressive anti-drug drive, lesser crime incidents were reported by the people. The First Quarter 2018 Social Weather Survey, done on March 23-27, 2018, found 6.6 percent (est. 1.5 million) of families reporting victimization by any of the common crimes within the past six months, or 1.0 point below the 7.6 percent (est. 1.7 million) in December 2017.

Likewise, the Philippine National Police reported an 18-percent decline in the number of crime incidents in the country from January to April 2018 compared last year.

Mr. Duterte’s feat in improving law and order was supported by the latest Gallup Global Law and Order report which showed that the Philippines now enjoys the same level of safety with Australians, Israel, South Korea, Croatia and Poland with a score of 82.

Singapore was rated top in the poll with a 92 score.

The poll questioned 148,000 respondents if they feel safe walking alone at night in the area where they live. Respondents were also asked whether they experienced being assaulted or losing property in the last 12 months.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque attributed the country’s improved ranking in the poll to the government’s campaign against criminality, one of the priorities of Mr. Duterte’s administration.

“We now have a confirmation that our communities have become safer and more peaceful,” Roque said. “Our campaign against criminality has resulted in the perception by our countrymen that they are safe when walking alone at night,” he added.

Roque noted that the Philippines’ score of 82 was an improvement from the 76 it got in 2016 and was higher than the average score of 72 for East Asia.

According to the Comparative Crime Statistics by the PNP, 149,491 crime incidents were recorded nationwide in the first four months of 2018 which is lower compared to the 183,242 cases in the same period in 2017, or an 18.42 percent decrease in the crime volume.

Despite making inroads in the fight against illegal drugs and criminality, Mr. Duterte remains unsatisfied with his accomplishments.

Recently, Mr. Duterte ordered an audit of the performance of local officials in the fight against drugs and warned that those who would not meet the standards could be stripped of their control over the local police.

Aside from these, President Duterte has fired a number of officials linked to corruption and has reiterated his warning he would not hesitate to fire more if he gets “even a whiff” of their involvement in corrupt practices.

Improved social welfare, health and education programs were also achieved within the first two years of the President in office.

President Duterte signed on Aug. 3, 2017 Republic Act 10931, also known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

The law provided free tuition and miscellaneous expenses of students enrolled not only in State Colleges and Universities (SUC) but also in many educational institutions run by local government units, or Local Universities and Colleges (LUC).

An estimated 1.3 million Filipino students would benefit from the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act for this coming school year as the government is all set for the full implementation of the law.

The free education law benefits not only those taking college degree courses but also students taking vocational-technical education in institutions accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The Free Irrigation Services Act (Republic Act 10969) was signed into a law by President Duterte on February 2 this year, as another landmark social legislation.

Under the new law, farmers tilling eight hectares and below are exempt from payment of irrigation fees to the National Irrigation Authority, other state agencies and irrigators’ associations. However, those with more than eight hectares, including corporate farms, will continue paying irrigation fees.

The law also condones unpaid fees, including interest and penalties, farmers owed to NIA. Also condoned were loans, interest and surcharges obtained or incurred by IAs from NIA. As of 2017 NIA said P12.31 billion in irrigation fees remains unpaid.

In the area of health care, President Duterte signed into law on Aug. 3, 2017 RA 10932, also known as “An Act Strengthening the “Anti-Hospital Deposit Law.”

The measure increased the penalties against hospitals or clinics that refuse to treat patients in emergency or serious cases unless they could provide a certain amount as deposit.

As part of President Duterte’s promise to look after the health of Filipinos, the House of Representatives also approved on third and final reading House Bill 5784 or the “Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Act.”

The bill renamed the current National Health Insurance Program as the National Health Security Program which will provide health insurance coverage for all Filipino citizens and guarantee everyone access to medical care, regardless of their financial capability. However, the Senate has yet to approve the counterpart measure.

Among the key legislations to stimulate business activity in the past two years of Mr. Duterte’s include the enactment of RA 11032 or the “Ease of Doing Business” law which prescribes a uniform guideline for the processing of business documents.

The law requires government agencies to act on applications within three days for simple transactions, seven days for complex ones, and 20 days for the highly technical ones.

It also requires the establishment of one-stop-shops in every city or town and encourages local government units to automate their permit and license processing systems.

Apart from encouraging business activity the measure has the additional benefit of addressing the problem of corruption in the bureaucracy and fixers who profit from delays in the processing of business documents.

Moreover, there were also new laws that simply made the lives of Filipinos a little easier, such as the 10-year validity of Philippine passports and the five-year validity of driver’s licenses.

These achievements demonstrate President Duterte’s resolve to fulfil his campaign promises to the Filipino people and that he has no intention to cling to power.

The President indicated he has no other desire but to improve the welfare of the Filipino people but it would make his job a little easier if he gets more support from the public whom he serves.

(The second installment reviews the achievements of Mr. Duterte in the fields of the economy including tax reforms under the TRAIN and changes the administration initiated in the energy sector, and the financial markets)