The outrage that comes from the killing of minors by the police may well be the turning point in this administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.
We have this survey that says majority of Filipinos do not believe that those killed by the police actually fought back, or were drug dealers.
Now the same survey taker found that President Duterte’s satisfaction ratings have slid to “good” from “excellent.” I feel vindicated!
Earlier, before the release of this latest results that saw a drop in Filipinos’ perception of the President, I said it was illogical that they could still trust him while doubting his war on drugs.
These developments are, I think, good and bad for the President. They are good because they can rethink the fact that the war on drugs is not merely a peace-and-order problem that can be solved by just killing everybody.
It is bad in the sense that unless the President rethinks his method of ending the illegal drug menace, the decline of his trust and satisfaction ratings would begin a freefall. That would be bad for the President because it could lead to something else.
Malacañang may not realize it but if his allies like Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano insists in his line of reasoning, local and international perception could only worsen.
I can only laugh when police claim that there is “zero mark” in extrajudicial killings when no less than 39 members of the United Nations have raised concerns about the culture of impunity here.
President Duterte should be thankful all this is happening in his second year. He still has to backpedal and rethink his strategy.
The administration claims that the drug war casualties are all drug dealers. They are insulting our intelligence.
What the police and their allies are saying contradicts this assertion made by the police themselves.
So when officials like Cayetano and Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella lie on behalf of the President, do they think the people are too stupid not to know?
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The President is going after Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno with an impeachment case brought against her by administration allies. He is also going after Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales who wants to look into his family’s alleged unexplained wealth. Now the world thinks our country is in chaos.
Remember martial law is still in force in Mindanao and the President often says a nationwide martial law is always an option for him. With all this, who would be brave enough to invest here?
The significant drop in foreign investments—90 percent!—simply validates the fear that investors have. Read this and weep: Foreign equity placements other than reinvestments have already declined compared to last year’s. Here in Southeast Asia, even Cambodia is ahead of us!
The 2016 Asian Business Outlook Survey published by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore and the US Chamber of Commerce said, among the companies they surveyed, only 22 percent chose the Philippines as a possible expansion location. Vietnam tops the list at 34 percent.
The Duterte administration should be worried about this.
This leads me to wonder—what ever happened to those pledges of investment that the President supposedly got during his overseas trips?
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The brouhaha over fake news really boils down to the fact that freedom of expression is not unlimited.
When I write in my column that a person is a crook, I can be sued for libel. I may have the right to express myself and have the freedom to write what I think, but there are laws protecting people.
When bloggers peddle disinformation, that is their right. But in asserting that right they transgress the rights of others.
It is different altogether when the bloggers are in government.
This is where congressional investigation can come in, in aid of legislation.