Professor Ramon Beleno III of the Ateneo de Davao University says President Rodrigo Duterte fulfills most of his campaign promises but gains more enemies along the way. Beleno said in a press conference on Monday, June 12, at SM City Davao, that Duterte’s war on drugs and anti-corruption campaign earned him a number of oppositions particularly from human rights advocates and liberal minded people.
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Duterte fulfilled most of his campaign promises but gained more enemies along the way, claimed a local professor here.
“We took note of the different campaign and promises of President Duterte. Our observation is that he’s fulfilling most of his promises. Although ang problem is in doing so, maraming siyang nakakaharap na kalaban, maraming nasasagasaan,” Ateneo de Davao University Professor Ramon Beleno III said in a press conference on Monday, June 12, at SM City Davao.
“I have seen how corruption bled the government of funds. I have seen how illegal drugs destroyed individuals and ruined family relationships,” Duterte said in his inauguration speech last year.
Beleno said that President Duterte’s anti-drug and anti-corruption campaigns gained him more enemies.
“Marami siyang pinatamaan na mga tao including those people who have been long connected with the government and those people who have been trying to control the government. I’m referring to the upper class, ‘yung mga mayayaman,” Beleno said.
Beleno added that the change Duterte is doing in the country is good, unfortunately, the question is for “how long can he sustain it.”
According to #RealNumbersPH, a report by the agencies involved in the anti-drug campaign, only 19.6 percent or 1,847 out of the 9,432 homicide cases were recorded as drug operations-related while 1,894 or 20.1 percent were not drug-related and 5,691 or 60.3 percent were still under investigation.
This is in contrast to what Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations claim that over 7,000 deaths were recorded because of the government’s “war on drugs”.
Beleno also raised concern on Duterte’s “automatic way” of relieving officials in the government because of corruption.
“Before walang ganoon, we don’t see heads rolling pag may issue of corruption. In fact ang iba napro-promote pa. Pero ngayon kasi, nakikita nating tinatanggal. Ang problema lang it was too swift na ang duda ko baka walang due process,” Beleno said.
President Duterte said that in March alone, he already fired 92 officials from different government agencies particularly from Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and regulatory boards because of issues of corruption.
Beleno took into account Duterte’s firing of officials including those who has served the government for a long time.
“We can’t just fully understand what he’s doing at this point. We think it’s really for a long term effect. It’s actually an institutional change. Not just change for now but actually a change that will actually last for a long time,” Beleno said.
Meanwhile, based on a survey conducted by Pulse Asia Research, Inc., Duterte’s national trust rating remains high despite the 7 percent decrease from December last year’s 83 percent to this year’s 76 percent during the March 15-20 period. (davaotoday.com)
