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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Will he or won’t he?

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Right from the start of his presidency, Rodrigo Roa Duterte every now and then has talked about the imposition of a Revolutionary Government—a one-man rule beyond the Constitution, to solve the country’s problems.

With threats of destabilization by his political enemies and critics, especially from the Left, President Duterte talks of a revolutionary government more often than before.

Santa Banana, the question that comes to mind, since he does not seem to be joking as he often does, is this—will he or won’t he?

President Duterte must realize that while the majority of Filipinos prefer a strong leader, if he declares a revolutionary government, he would be riding a tiger he can never dismount, because it will devour him if he does.

I believe we do need a strong leader, somebody like Lee Kwan Yew, who transformed Singapore from a weak city-state to a first-class nation. Lee had his critics, of course, from inside and outside Singapore, but he succeeded just the same.

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President Duterte is a lawyer and former mayor. He is not so stupid as to not realize the consequences of his actions.

I do not doubt that he faces more challenges than the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos did. During that time, he did not have the ISIS to contend with.

* * *

Another question is what would happen now that the leaders of the Marawi siege are dead. Will the siege, now on its fifth month, finally end? Will the President lift martial law in Mindanao?

Those who know what is happening on the ground will tell you that terrorism will continue throughout Mindanao. In fact, some say that the Abu Sayyaf and the Maute Group will retaliate at some point and just attack another city in Mindanao.

Military intelligence also tells us that recruitment by the IS-inspired terror groups are being intensified, and that terror cells are already in place. It would seem that recruitment can go as high as P100,000 for each jihadist. Just where the money comes from is a matter of speculation.

Others in the know say that firearms are coming from the Middle East.

President Duterte should not lift martial law in Mindanao just yet. He has to prevent the IS-inspired terror groups’ activities from spilling over into other parts of Mindanao and the country.

** *

Now that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has taken over as the sole agency that will implement the President’s war on drugs. It is a big challenge to go after narco-politicians and financiers of the illegal drug trade, but an even bigger thing is to stop the supply of drugs to this country from outside,

For as long there’s demand for illegal drugs, there will be supply. Thus the important thing is to rehabilitate drug users, who number between 3 million and 4 million, according to the President himself.

I keep repeating that going after the pushers is only half the problem. The more urgent problem is rehabilitating the users.

* * *

The Pulse Asia survey on the war on drugs said that 88 percent support the drug war of President Duterte. The survey also showed that while the majority of people support the drug war, 73 percent acknowledge that extrajudicial killings take place. Of course they do, despite the semantics of Malacañang and the police. For them to insist that no EJKs are happening is to insult our intelligence.

** *

The Philippine National Police claims that the two-day jeepney strike nationwide was barely felt. The Metro Manila Development Authority also claimed the effect was minimal.

Of course it was not felt because Malacañang declared a two-day holiday for students and government workers!

I believe in modernization of the “king of the road.” It’s about time. Jeepneys must be safe. I have seen their evolution; I used to take jeepneys as a student and before I got married.

As the years passed, jeepneys became dilapidated. Their phaseout is necessary. It’s the duty of the government to make public transport safe.

The strike should not prevent the government from doing what is for the common good.  

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