We expect a lot from President Rodrigo Duterte, the most trusted and approved president we had. We were convinced by his campaign promise that he would eradicate illegal drugs should he win the presidency. True to his word, the President has doubled his administration’s effort in fighting illegal drugs. The recent report of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency states that 123,648 drug suspects were arrested out of 91,704 anti-drug operations conducted from July 1, 2016 to March 20, 2018.
Still, the President must take urgent action on other equally, if not more important matters such as education, health, social welfare, agriculture, and transportation. In order to achieve optimum results in these areas, the President relies on members of his official family. What can upset the President’s performance is the unsatisfactory performance of his Cabinet members. It has been said that Cabinet members are the President’s alter egos. Actions falling under their responsibility are deemed, generally, as actions of the President himself.
Let me share one example. In December 2016, my province, Quezon, was one of the provinces badly hit by typhoon Nina. In our district, the third district of Quezon, several public schools, roads, bridges, and agricultural lands were damaged by the typhoon. After the typhoon, I called for a joint meeting of the local government executives, and the Secretaries and Region IV-A Directors of concerned government agencies, particularly the Department of Agriculture, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Education, and the National Economic and Development Authority, to discuss the overall rehabilitation of the typhoon-stricken areas of the province. A year and four months hence, and some schools, such as those in the towns of San Narciso and San Andres, have not been rehabilitated by the DepEd, leaving our students suffering from dilapidated classrooms.
Another matter of concern is Boracay. Last year, I also called the attention of concerned agencies, particularly the Department of Natural Resources, to look into the environmental hazards, and to find ways to improve water quality in Boracay. Now Boracay is being threatened by closure, as proposed by the DENR, together with the Department of Tourism and the Department of Interior and Local Government. Should this closure be pursued, losses to our economy could reach P56 billion. The problem could not have gotten this far if the concerned agencies only acted upon the matter with urgency.
Recent events also put the Department of Justice at the center of public criticism. Despite the President’s strong anti-illegal drug stance, prosecutors of the DOJ issued a decision dismissing the charges against self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, businessman and alleged drug lord Peter Lim, and other drug personalities linked in their network. Espinosa’s public confession, sworn before a Senate committee, was not included as evidence in the complaint. To say that the nation was befuddled is an understatement. Now that the parties are allowed to introduce additional evidence on review, two key witnesses and respondents to the case were killed. Max Miro, right hand man of Espinosa died while resisting arrest on March 10. Jun Pepito was killed by yet unidentified riding men in tandem in December last year. Whether or not these deaths bear any relation to the cases against them, and their alleged bosses, is anyone’s guess.
Metro traffic is a worsening problem. Our economy loses P3.5 billion a day due to metro traffic congestion, as reported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. While we wait for the fruition of the administration’s infrastructure projects that may provide long-term traffic solutions, I expect the Department of Transportation to at least provide urgent solutions to ease the current traffic condition.
In the agricultural sector, we were alarmed by news reports on the depleting rice supply of our country. The National Food Authority announced that our rice supply is only enough for our country’s rice requirement for two days, and that its nationwide inspection revealed that no more NFA rice were available in the market. The arrival of imported rice is originally scheduled on June, but the agency is being pressured to make the imports arrive this month. We need not resort to rice importation only if our Agricultural Department got matters like this well planned out. We have enough agricultural lands, but what is the agency doing to maximize these? Food security is an urgent concern and I hope the Secretary of Agriculture is aware of this.
Two years into the administration, we ask the President to review, and I state here, review the performance of his Executive family to determine whether their actions contribute to the progress of our nation.