We belong to East and West

BALI — For the last few days up to Christmas, I will be staying at the Kaba Kaba Estate in Bali, Indonesia for a family reunion.

It was my daughter, Marta who suggested the place. We live in different parts of the world – She and her sister Veronica live in London, a son Eduardo has been in Singapore for many years as the secretary general of PECC, and two sons and myself live in Manila. My husband Alberto Pedrosa who had been Philippine ambassador to Brussels, Luxembourg the EU died many years ago. We lived in exile in London for 20 years during the Marcos regime.

We are Filipinos but count experiences in other countries. We are in a sense citizens of the world. The years in the West, the education of our children combined to make up our mixed lifestyle and interests.

To me in the last phase of my life, Marta’s suggestion that we all meet in Kaba-Kaba Villa was a good idea to put together how we lived as a family and as individuals.

I looked forward to the trip. I had been in Bali a few times. But these trips were part of my work as a journalist. Here, I am writing on a desk in Kaba-Kaba Estate in silence which can be heard to share an FB friend’s post of an article and pictures of Lee Kuan Yew, Mahathir Mohamad and our own President Rody Duterte.

The FB friend wrote about strong leadership and how these three men achieved change in their own countries and how their leadership were democratic achievers.

“It was leadership that provided the greater good for the greater number and providing safety nets for the displaced sectors. In assessing an administration, we should use multiple scorecards, and not focus on rhetoric, or specific-per-event assessments. It’s a matter of netting the achievements with the costs.

“Human rights” has been a constant issue with critics and Western countries. All the above strong leaders were invariably accused of human rights violations (obviously we are discounting the extreme examples who also exist) … for all nations that progressed. (Note that Nikki Haley, the US envoy to the UN, said the United Nations Human Rights Council was a “hypocritical” body that “makes a mockery of human rights” and the International Criminal Court was disallowed from investigating any US national, and investigators were threatened with arrest.) Human costs should be concerns to be addressed. The leader still needs to be one with a sense of the collective good, and some criticism is part of the democratic process to keep everyone within the acceptable range, but not to become the obstacles to the overall good. After all the attacks by the opposition and Western media, even they admit that the elections, where supportive candidates to the administration won in a clean sweep and surveys show unprecedented popularity of 80 percent for President Duterte, show there is overwhelming popular support for the President’s programs and direction.

For the first time, the Philippines is raising funds not primarily for covering interest or loan payments but for infrastructure and human resource investments like funding for the free college tuition, universal healthcare, etc.… these alone already constitute fundamental programs to benefit generations to come.

Infrastructure development spending grew from 3 percent to 5.1 percent of GDP (to grow to 7 percent by 2022). Much needed roads, rail, seaports and airports are being completed in the thousands of kilometers. The Philippines no longer boasts of the world’s worst airport and has greatly expanded capacity leading to a tourism boom and fast-tracked countryside development, among others.

Some critics ask why the public projects are delayed when some of the same critics and their allies are the instigators of delaying the processes or fail to mention the problems are structural and also experienced by other administrations for years.

Lowest unemployment ever, lowest poverty self-rating. OFW welfare protection in states no one dared to touch all have led to improving sense of national dignity.

Unexpected and despite the distress, cleanups of Boracay island, Manila Bay and now Pasig River and other areas across the country, are unprecedented.

Duterte has in fact removed many officials on allegations of corruption, within a week, even lifelong friends, including from the Departments of Justice, Tourism and Health, and Bureau of Customs – unlike the other administrations supported by the critics. This administration has collected hundreds of millions of dollars of unpaid taxes from several big-time business people, whom previous administrations had never been able to even touch.

More than any other president, Duterte has tried time and again to arrange peace with the Muslim and communist groups. He is sometimes attacked for returning to the table after attacks, but has achieved the Bangsamoro Organic Law, and the quickest resolution of an ISIS terrorist cell attack (Marawi) in recent world history.

We are not grade school kids debating against an obvious hyperbole, that it should take only “six months to clean up.” Clearly, while drugs is a growing worldwide problem, the majority of Filipinos (surveys already show this) and foreigners now feel safe going out late at night even in slum areas, and international business people in general no longer have to just stay in a few enclaves.

South Korea, China, Japan, the United States and other Asian leaders have publicly or privately commended President Duterte’s leadership from promoting economic progress and social stability to managing security challenges. SK President Moon: “Duterte’s leadership has led to economic development and social stability.” Putin, Abe, Trump, Xi also indicated they want to be personal friends with Duterte.

It would do well for the country to remember that relationships and progress don’t move in a straight lineup, and there is no such thing as perfection. We should appreciate a leader like Duterte who has been able to do good that has previously been considered impossible, while also expressing our opinions and criticisms of what can be improved.

Moreover, the government can only do much, the individual Filipino has to carry his share. We are always a community.”

Back to Kaba-Kaba Estate where I am writing this column. It is among Bali’s most exclusive villas – a spectacular eight-bedroom estate spread over more than three acres, staffed by a private chef where we had Indonesian food similar to Filipino cuisine.