Alejano: Duterte has strong words but empty promises

MANILA, Philippines — The double-digit drop in the number of Filipinos who believe that President Rodrigo Duterte can fulfill his campaign promises is a sign that his leadership is based on strong words but not concrete solutions, according to an opposition congressman.

Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano enumerated the broken promises of Duterte since he assumed the presidency in June last year on the back of a strong anti-crime and -corruption platform.

One of these was his vow to end criminality and drugs in three to six months, according to Alejano. Duterte later admitted that he underestimated the scale of the problem and said that tackling these issues might consume his six-year term and even beyond.

"Habang tumatagal, lalong lumiliwanag na hindi tinutupad o natutupad ang mga pangako ni Duterte (It's slowly becoming clear that Duterte is not fulfilling his promises)," Alejano said.

"In fact, many of his promises have been broken: eradicating crime and illegal drugs in three to six months, solving Metro Manila's traffic woes in six months, totally banning short-term contracts among workers, signing a bank secrecy waiver and many more," according to the opposition congressman.

He added that Duterte also failed to stay true to his word to resign should he fail to fulfill these campaign vows.

"Malinaw na ang istilo ng pamumuno ni Duterte ay dinadaan lamang sa matapang na pananalita at pag-uudyok ng damdamin imbes na paghatid ng konkretong solusyon, (His style of leadership is based on strong words and emotions instead of concrete solutions)" he said.

Alejano claimed that Duterte's leadership was creating division instead of unity, hatred instead of inspiration and killings instead of healing.

Polling firm Social Weather Stations on Sunday released the results of its Third Quarter 2017 survey showing that only 35 percent of adult Filipinos expected Duterte to fulfill most, if not all, of his promises.

Of this figure, 27 percent say that the chief executive could accomplish "most" of his promises while eight percent believe that the firebrand leader could fulfill all his campaign promises.

This figure is significantly lower than the number of people who believed that he could achieve his promises in September 2016 which stood at 56 percent, according to SWS.

Since June 2016, the number of people who thought that Duterte would fulfill his vows has continued to plunge, from 63 percent that month to 56 percent in September to 52 percent in March 2017.

The latest SWS survey show that a much bigger figure, 57 percent, think that Duterte will fulfill only a few of his promises. Six percent meanwhile think that none of these pledges will come true, according to the polling firm.

Alejano said that blaming the previous administration would not work anymore as Duterte had been in power for more than 16 months, time enough to face and address the issues facing the nation.

"Ang resulta ng SWS survey ay patunay na sinisingil na siya ng taumbayan sa kanyang mga pangako na sa hanggang ngayon ay patuloy paring napapako (The results of the SWS survey were proof that the public was now looking for signs that he could accomplish his pledges many of which he'd failed to fulfill)," he said.