I HAVE written before on this topic in one of my previous columns. When Duterte was elected President of the Philippines, I said: vox populi, vox Dei. That means: the voice of the people is the voice of God. In other words, it was the will of God that Duterte was elected president and we have to respect that. But that does not mean that we have to respect him in everything that he is saying and doing. We have to respect him with reservations.

For instance, what Duterete is saying about women and doing with women, I personally wish that Leni Robredo, who was elected as vice-president, could have taken over from Duterte as president of the Philippines. I believe she would have been better as far as women are concerned than President Duterte. But Duterte is our president and we must try to live with him as long as he lasts his term. In case Duterte is successfully impeached, then Leni Robredo can automatically take over the presidency. That would be a blessing for the Philippines.

Duterte is our elected president and we must try to live with him as long as he lasts his term. There is always a possibility that he may be impeached and if our legislators succeed in that then Leni Robredo can automatically take over the presidency. Or we can replace Duterte with people who have respect for the law and treat people with human dignity.

Donald Trump was elected by the American people. That is very clear but he was elected by Americans who have something against black or brown people. Like Obama who was elected as a first black president, he did a very good job as president of America. Personally, I believe that Hillary Clinton should have been elected as president. She would have been the first female president in the United States and it would have been advantageous for women in America.

Donald Trump is banning Filipino immigrants from the States, denying them visas, I am sure the majority of the American people are against this. I know they like Filipinas as domestic workers. They are known as friendly people.

On another note, here in PN Roa Subd. There was another principal appointed. Since his appointment, surveys have shown that the learning abilities of the students in elementary and high school have gone down below the normal level. The new principal tries to do something about this, but the manner in which he is doing this is not accepted by the teachers. He is very strict towards the teachers and the teachers are reacting against him. Clearly, he needs to deal with them with more understanding.

One reason that the learning abilities of the students are going down may be the use of cell phones and other modern communication techniques.

Instead of listening to the teachers, the students are playing with these devices. They don’t learn how to read and write and they don’t learn mathematics. I am sure the school authorities should forbid the use of these devices in school and during the class hours.

I heard that some teachers in the high schools in our village, Canitoan, have been distributing illegal drugs to the students. The teachers were caught in the act and have been put in prison. How could they do this?

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