Duterte faces acid test amidst ouster calls

(Last of three parts)

He had captured the highest position in the land, banking on unorthodox, populist demeanor that drew a large following among young voters and middle-aged professionals. Many Filipinos saw in him a champion unafraid to speak his mind against rich, influential families and the powerful Roman Catholic Church, which have maintained a stranglehold on Philippine politics for many years.

His three-pronged strategy was meant to re-establish law and order, render socio-economic growth inclusive to Filipinos, and restructure the system of government. His motto: “Tunay na Pagbabago” or radical change continues to resonate in many regions where poverty stands as high as 60 percent.

The suppression of three primary evils – crime, illegal drugs, and corruption – resonated in his first 100 days and became the centerpiece of a nationwide campaign two years into his six-year term.

Elevation of city-level ordinances patterned after Davao’s, such as curfew on unescorted minors past 10 PM, and the ban on the sale of liquor and alcohol intoxication in public places, was to have occurred with joint enforcement muscle from the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Aside from losing momentum in resolving decades-long insurrection by communist forces, he also failed at obtaining a permanent ceasefire. “It lacks grasp on the depth and breadth of the Communist Party and the movement it has spawned for nearly 50 years,” said Pastor Alcover of the Nationalist Alliance for Democracy, a right wing political organization that counts retired armed forces generals among its members.

But he gained relative success in curbing the Moslem insurgencies in southern Philippines, where both the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front embraced federalism as a solution for addressing demands for self-rule in a region dominated by Christians.

Maintaining the macro-economic policies of his predecessors, especially on fiscal, monetary, and trade affairs, he attempted expansion in basic services of government for creating an environment fit for incoming foreign participation in the economy, but ran into snags in his mega projects, among them the railways for Luzon and Mindanao, economic zones in Mindanao, and maritime port roll-on, roll-off links with Borneo and Davao.

His calculated moves for overhauling the unitary presidential system and shifting the bureaucracy to a federal-parliamentary system through a constitutional convention continue to face opposition in many fronts, especially on the proposed lifting economic provisions in the national charter for granting foreign ownership of property and select industries.

Catholic prelates, who oversee a vast network of religious organizations nationwide, have been known for influencing protest actions that toppled two Philippine presidents, Ferdinand Marcos into Hawaiian exile in March 1986 and Joseph Ejercito into resignation in March 2001.

Abbey B. Canturias

Philippine Institute of Applied Politics