IN ONE of the speaking engagements of the president, he bluntly admitted his not so poor over-all rating at five to six, apparently in a scale of 10 when it comes to fulfillment of his promises during his presidential campaign, three years ago.
Among the changes he promised are the universal health care, universal education and the campaign against corruption which are all marked done and satisfactory. The remaining two however, EDSA traffic solution and the war against drugs, based on his self-proclaimed ratings were only at the average.
The president also admitted during the same campaign rally that the war is tough because there is no law and order. And if there is no law and order, everybody is in quandary. Obviously the president is referring to the death penalty law which we need today but was abolished few years ago.
The president made his own business in his own backyard but the ripple reached the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the deaths related to the drug war. It is on this premise that the administration has withdrawn from the agreement to the Rome Statute molded by the ICC.
He only has three more years to fulfill his commitment to the Filipinos, and then at the end of this period, the same people will rank him and recollect either President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is among the noble leaders or a humbug whose words are bunk and wish-wash.
For a drunkard, to wake up the following morning suffused with matters that were egressed from his mouth during the highpoint of savoring the wine, is a fulfillment. But for a hardworking president like ours, this should not be the case. First, he has not forgotten the basic we all learned from grade school that before you speak, think. Second, he is man enough to leave behind a good legacy as promised; else killing people who were suspected to link with illegal drugs is a catastrophe that the history cannot strikethrough; especially to the family and relatives of the victims, counted as collateral damage to this war.
To conclude, the president’s self-rating during that gathering will not debase the party neither affect the fate of the senatorial candidates he endorsed in many provincial sorties. It was actually an appeal to the Filipino people to support his chosen senatorial candidates. Because he believed that only when these candidates get seats in the senate that will satisfy the number of votes they need to pass a death penalty law against the drug traffickers. When this happens, the Filipino people can claim victory and the war will end coterminous to the president.
(abrigodann@gmail.com)