The Measure of a Man

We have officially entered the penultimate year of this administration last June 30. The last four years are testament to the leadership of President Rodrigo Duterte, yet many still do not understand, or refuse to understand, his unorthodox ways.

In the fourth quarter survey for 2019 of the Social Weather Stations, the results of which were released in March, the results showed public satisfaction with the President was at a record-high “excellent” net rating of +72. This was up by seven points from his “very good” +65 rating in September last year. It is the highest satisfaction rating of any president since the late Corazon Aquino’s +72 in October 1986.

President Duterte was also the only president to breach the 90% mark in terms of trust rating. According to Pulse Asia, he has the highest trust ratings compared to his three predecessors – Joseph Estrada (whose highest was 44%), Gloria Arroyo (55% in October 2001, plunged to record-low of 10% in February 2010) and Benigno Aquino III (highest rating at 80%).

This has prompted some political pundits to remark that President Duterte, the much-maligned, much-criticized probinsyano from Davao City, must be coated in Teflon. The figures must have also resulted in some vigorous hair-pulling among the chief executive’s critics.

To say that the President is polarizing is putting it nicely: You either love him or hate him. There is no middle ground. And this is not necessarily a bad thing. We need the support of Filipinos to implement the programs of the administration just as we need a robust opposition to keep us in check and on our toes.

My only concern is that we seem to lack critics who offer logical criticisms that are actually good for this nation.

Some have ridiculed him for the most petty of things: his Visayan accent, the way he dresses up, and the size of his nose that has ridiculously become bigger and bigger in certain political caricatures.

Others got stuck in his language. Colorful and punctuated with curses here and there, his words may not be that of the elite and of the self-professed decent people, but it is certainly the language of the masses fed up with the system traditionally ran by oligarchs who have enriched themselves while leaving ordinary Filipinos at the gutter. And yes, it is also the language of a simple man upon whose shoulders lie the burden of protecting and uplifting the lives of 108 million of his people.

There were those who raised the issue of human rights, citing alleged abuses in the government’s war against drugs as well as raising the specter of fear with the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act. But violations of human rights have never been, and never will be, a state policy of this administration. They claim a systematic, government-sponsored attack, yet do so without offering proof and despite evidence to the contrary.

So how should we measure the success of this administration, and perhaps, in the process, the President’s commitment and love for this country and its people?

Do not take my word for it. I am, after all, a member of his communications team. Measure the man, instead, by looking at the tangibles.

• Under the Basic Education Facilities Program, a total of 137,098 classrooms were constructed in various schools nationwide as of May. To support the Department of Education’s Learning Continuity Plan, 271,538 ICT equipment have been delivered to schools as of May, and another set of 119,850 ICT equipment will be delivered before the end of the year.

• From 2016 to 2019, a total of P7.2 billion was spent for the construction of at least 197 evacuation centers nationwide. As of June 2020, 129 evacuation centers have already been completed. The government aims to build at least one evacuation center per province to minimize disturbance to school buildings being used as evacuation centers post-disaster. Out of the 81 provinces, 65 have at least one completed evacuation center.

• To boost tourism, P104.5 billion has been allocated to date to develop 3,667 kilometers of access roads to enhance connectivity to tourism sites. As of May, 1,950 kilometers of tourism roads have been completed.

• A total of P38.6 billion was spent for the construction or improvement of 3,859 kilometers of farm-to-market roads to help farmers across the country. As of May, 1,540 kilometers of these roads were completed.

• This month, the 89-kilometer Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway or TPLEX will be fully utilized from Tarlac City to Rosario, La Union, reducing travel time from 3.5 hours to 1 hour and benefitting 20,000 travelers daily.