Opposition lawmakers give failing mark to Duterte
President Rodrigo Duterte’s first year in office got a failing remark from opposition lawmakers on Sunday in a forum at the University of the Philippines.
“My grade for the first year of Duterte administration is 3 out of 10 because first of all he killed the Filipinos, he’s the president he should not do that”, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said .
Trillanes said he will credit three points to the Duterte administration for raising the awareness about the drug problem in the country.
Trillanes was joined by Senators Risa Hontiveros and Bam Aquino along with Magdalo Representative Congressman Gary Alejano, Congressman Teddy Baguilat Jr. in forum held at the Bahay ng Alumni.
Hontiveros said she will give Duterte a grade of 8,000 to 12,000 grade the same numbers of people killed on the war on drugs campaign.
“I’m afraid I could not even give him a passing grade although there are some positive things that happened last year”, she said.
“The sheer weight of of extrajudicial killing, the sheer weight of misogyny the sheer of the lying that has been going on …is chasing those away”, she added.
The first year of Duterte administration is “a climate of sexism, misogyny and political persecution”, she said.
Alejano said, “It’s hard to give numbers because there is no basis of the rating but for sure President Duterte failed in my opinion”.
He said the different government agencies are “confused” with the direction of the president.
“First are the moving parts, different agencies of the government cannot really…know where to go. As a matter of fact the cabinet officials are confused they just don’t tell the president that is why…they just do what the president says and justify it”, he said.
Baguilat said Duterte has not yet fulfilled his campaign promises.
He said people are still waiting for the president to end contratualization, protect the rights of the indigenous people to their ancestral land and stop extra judicial killing.
Senator Leila De Lima delivered a message though Trillanes and said the human rights in the Philippines are “under attack”.
“The battle is also being waged in people’s minds. And that’s where the war will be won or lost”, she said.
She said there are 7,000 to 10,000 people killed in the war on drugs program of Duterte administration since June 30, 2016.
Delima alleged that according to some insider accounts police received money for “executing drug suspects, planting evidence at crime scenes and carrying out most of the killings that have been blamed on vigilantes".
She claimed corruption inside the PNP force is “spreading”. The police officers were offered P20,000 to P5 million for killing drug personalities.
“They are using hospitals to hide the real number of casualties of the war on drugs”, Delima said.
Aquino said the Philippines economy is “holding up and doing okey” in the Duterte administration.
He said the budget of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program which started from the former President Benigno Aquino III administration has expanded from P10 billion to P70.20 billion.
“The Philhealth program expanded because of syntax reform that was pushed and made by the previous administration. The four Ps (the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) from 76 million by the end of 2016 to 93.4 were already covered National Health Insurance act of 2013”, he said.
Aquino said there is a “P53.22 billion budget for the expansion of Philhealth coverage which targets the healthcare coverage and zero base dealing for all Filipinos”.
The K12 program of President Aquino continued under the Duterte administration is a success amid critics and protests. About 98 percent of grade 10 students continued to Grade 11, he said. Alanna Ambi/DMS
