Throwing down the gauntlet

At a time when our state officials are wanting in solicitude – amid the high self-rated poverty and self-rated hunger among Filipinos – I am thankful that we have a leader like Sara Duterte who genuinely cares for our plight. In a sea of political Judases – whom she helped catapult into power – and Machiavellis – opportunists who currently kowtow to their political nemesis – the Vice President stands out as a public servant focused on solving the problems of the people.

No longer constrained by a Cabinet appointment, Inday Sara finally spoke up on issues threatening our survival as a people and as a nation. In a message of gratitude and solidarity with the six Muslim tribes that vowed to protect her and her family, Inday Sara said the Filipinos deserve a better government for the Filipinos to become the best.

Critical stance

She also expressed alarm that many Filipinos are getting poorer and hungrier by the day. The rising cost of food, fuel and power drove the country’s inflation to 4.4 percent in July, beyond the government’s projected range. The Philippine Statistics Authority said the overall inflation was due to the higher year-on-year increase in housing, water, electricity and gas index and faster annual growth rate of heavily weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages.

More than half of Filipino families, or 58 percent, felt they were poor based on a Social Weather Station (SWS) survey conducted between June 23 and July 1. It was the highest since June 2008, when self-rated poor families stood at 59 percent. Non-poor and poor Filipinos also experienced hunger, with Metro Manila registering the highest number of “hungry” Filipinos. Seventeen percent of those surveyed said they had nothing to eat in the past three months. The rate of total hunger among the non-poor was 12.7 percent. For the self-rated poor, it was 21.3 percent.

Thus, I welcome her critical stance on the government’s failure to resolve the existential threats to our lives (absence of a flood control master plan), sovereignty (allowing the International Criminal Court personalities to undermine our legal jurisdiction), right to health (excess funds of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. remitted to the national coffers instead of increasing medical benefits for members and lowering their premiums), public order and safety (shortage in police to population ratio) and personal security (lax airport protocols that threaten the privacy of individuals).

Indeed, we are fortunate to have a Vice President who directly deals with on-the-ground realities and engages with people, particularly those from the disadvantaged and marginalized sectors. Proof of this is the program accomplishments of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) from May 2023 to April 2024. Her office provided medical assistance to 119,234 individuals, burial assistance to 30,120 families, relief goods to 205,692 families, Pansarap program buns to 14,472 students and Libreng Sakay to some one million commuters.

The OVP also assisted in the planting of 266,072 trees via the Pagbabago campaign and distributing 22,311 food boxes through the R.I.C.E. program. Around 26,000 people also benefited from the Magnegosyo Ta ‘Day program.

These are some reasons Sara has stayed as the nation’s most trusted and approved leader since the second half of 2022. According to Pulse Asia, her June approval rating stood at 69 percent, up by two points from March. Her trust ratings remained at 71 percent.

As a sovereign people, we do not deserve insensitive and insipid officials whose goal is to perpetuate themselves in power and fill their coffers. We should demand a cleaner and more competent governance from the national and local leadership. We need leaders who faithfully serve the people like Inday.

Constitutional succession

Last week, the SWS reported that President Bongbong Marcos Jr. registered a net satisfaction rating of +27 percent, up from +20 percent in March. Compared to his predecessors, former presidents Rodrigo Duterte and Noynoy Aquino, the rating of PBBM is quite dismal. In the same period (or two years after assuming the presidency), Duterte and Aquino achieved +45 and +42 ratings, respectively. I am curious to know how Sara fared in the latest SWS survey. Last December, she garnered a “very good” net satisfaction rating of +61.

In throwing down the gauntlet, Sara has accepted the challenge to provide alternative policies and solutions to the socio-economic and political ills of the country. I see her as a viable leader of a New Opposition that prioritizes the people’s interests over personal matters, espouses genuine governance transparency and accountability, eschews transactional politics and resists all forms of dictatorship and repression.

While Sara is no longer an alter-ego of the Chief Executive, she is the designated constitutional successor. The 1987 Charter states that the vice president shall become the president should the incumbent die, resign, be permanently disabled or be removed from office (Article 7, Section 8).

Since the 2022 elections, the President has dismissed accusations of substance abuse. In recent months, at least two individuals have claimed knowledge and information about his alleged drug use.  

The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies any form of addiction as a chronic disease. Continued drug use or addictive behavior causes persistent changes to occur in the brain. Addicted people are at risk of relapsing into their problem behavior and require long-term or even life-long treatment. They tend to face consequences like difficulties at work or with their family, not to mention legal problems. Like other mental disorders, addiction is the result of interaction between a person’s biology and their environment, especially if these illegal drugs are easily accessible (Eastern Mediterranean Office).

With the fate and future of more than 110 million people in his hands, the President must prove to every Filipino that he is in the right frame of mind to continue leading the nation. If indeed he is saddled by a chronic illness or health disorder, I respectfully suggest that he allows the constitutional successor to take over in an acting capacity. He knows his current Vice President is not power-hungry and would not usurp his elected position. Otherwise, she would not have gifted him the presidency on a silver platter in 2022. Upon regaining his full health, the Chief Executive can rest assured that his Second-In-Command would return the reigns of powers to him.