NEW York is the city that does not sleep. In the Philippines, do we have a president who cannot sleep? With all the problems confronting our nation a good slumber is a luxury.
First of all, we have the continuing Marawi crisis where the time frame keeps changing. Government troops, of course, after defeating the home- grown terrorists, have to ensure the fight does not spill over to other areas in Mindanao and to the rest of the country.
When we talk about illegal drugs, parallel to the challenges of enforcement is the fight against corruption.
The problem of cartels involving rice trading and garlic importation are sidestepping the bigger problem of farmers which is the global warming due to climate change. Then we have this husband and wife rift turning into a national issue with alleged hidden wealth and possibly election controversy adding to the lists of concerns.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s Golden Age includes huge infrastructure projects that will entirely change the country’s landscape in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. I bet Digong wishes he has the Midas touch so that whatever he touches will turn into gold.
Pending in Congress is the tax reform bill that our president would like prioritized. Should this bill pass, which includes the increase in fuel tax, and sweetened beverages excise tax, then probably the government’s financial concerns will be resolved. The question is how the citizenry will accept and deal with this additional tax burden which will have a domino effect in the price of other commodities.
He made some promises during his presidential campaign that he would want fulfilled. However, there are budget constraints. Duterte has approved the free tuition law but his finance department is in a quandary where to get the budget.
Dispute over Philippine seas, if based on the responses we get from the Foreign Affairs Secretary, make analysts wary saying that diplomacy is entirely different from acquiescence.
Constitutional change to give way to a federal form of government is being pushed by the president among other reforms. Concerted efforts to ease traffic in major thoroughfares sometimes disrupt the equilibrium of economic opportunities. Two hundred pesos a month promised to the poor cannot even be considered a palliative.
Well then, if our president cannot sleep, all things considered, we can say he is not sleeping on the job.