Duterte’s unconventional leadership just what Philippines needed – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — The nation needed President Duterte’s “unconventional” but “very effective” leadership style, Malacañang said yesterday, as it claimed that the outgoing administration was able to introduce change that the people deserve.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said that while the Duterte administration had many ups and downs, it is leaving behind a “far better” Philippines.

“Six years of borrowed time proved not enough to fully enjoy his unconventional but very effective style of leadership that the world has not seen before. Some were shocked, others lost for words. But all in agreement that this is the kind of leadership that we as a nation needed,” Medialdea said during the first day of the Duterte Legacy Summit in Pasay.

“In the last six years of borrowed time, we were able to establish the needed change that our countrymen and women deserve – serbisyong tunay na malasakit (service with real concern), especially to those that needed it most,” he added.

Medialdea said the administration has always been determined to bring its promise of “real and lasting change” to every Filipino. The administration’s programs and projects were made to ensure that everyone would be given a “more comfortable and dignified life,” he added.

“Listen to our fellow Filipinos telling their stories of genuine change. This is important because our success as workers in government is not gauged by the number of monuments we have built, nor is it weighed by the amount of funds we have accumulated. Instead, it is measured by the actual lives we changed for the better,” the executive secretary said.

Medialdea claimed the country managed to bounce back to a “better” financial standing despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Despite our limited resources, we have braved the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic and have become a major and more resilient nation through our whole-of-government response,” he said.

Medialdea cited the flagship “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program as well as efforts to ensure health care is accessible to everyone through the Universal Health Care Act and the establishment of Malasakit Centers.

He also cited the free college education in all state universities and colleges, efforts to substantially restore peace and order and reduce the proliferation of illegal drugs, greater access of households to necessities like clean water, housing and electricity; free irrigation to farmers, as well as reforms designed to institutionalize efficiency, transparency and integrity in state transactions.

The government, the executive secretary claimed, is also close to eradicating communist insurgency and extremism that he said “hampered growth and destroyed the lives of thousands of Filipinos.”

“So all my fellow workers in government, take to heart that you have all made this change possible. While this may be a closing chapter of a great moment for our nation, I am confident that President Duterte’s legacy will not only be talked about in the years ahead but will also be felt by the generations to come,” Medialdea said.

“I stand here before you as we savor such a bittersweet moment. On one hand, we may feel sad that in a month’s time, the term of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will come to a conclusion. And on the other, delight, knowing that the administration has done well,” he added.

Duterte’s critics claim that his presidency is marred by human rights violations and his supposedly soft stance on China’s aggression in the South China Sea. His allies insist that his policies brought positive change to the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bong Go said the incoming Marcos administration should continue Duterte’s war on drugs to ensure reforms now in place would be preserved. – Cecille Suerte Felipe