FOR the time being at least, we shall not have a patrician president.
PNoy and the Liberal Party made the stupendous mistake of thinking that the voter wanted more of the same. Yes, PNoy always had good ratings compared to his predecessors, but this was because he delivered on what the 2010 voters wanted, namely to reduce corruption.
According to the Transparency International League Table, the Philippines improved from being 134th in 2010 to 85th in 2014. An improvement of 49 countries was unmatched by any other country.
There was some backsliding in 2015 when the Philippines dropped ten places to become 95th.
Nevertheless the net improvement of 39 countries is cause for some congratulation.
Unfortunately, the link between poverty and corruption is not as strong as some have thought. The reduction in corruption coupled with good economic growth did not result in reduction in poverty. We were unsuccessful in achieving inclusive growth.
The Liberal Party has lost the opportunity to establish a Liberal ideology. This is manifested most strongly in the “K-12” education act
It has an illiberal culture, particularly in the unconstitutional imposition of four years secondary schooling for all students. (The Constitution specifies that only elementary education should be compulsory).
Illiberality is also present in the unnecessary, indeed irksome, prevention of qualified secondary school students from entering college.
In most countries, the difficulty is for students to reach the entry standard required by the tertiary institution. The Philippines has become the only country in the world where qualified students who would otherwise be welcomed by colleges and universities are prevented by government red tape from doing so.
The passage of the K-12 Act together with puerile propaganda from the Department of Education (DepEd): “there is a clamor for Senior High School.” There is no such clamor.
Several cogent petitions assailing K-12 reached the Supreme Court (SC) by early 2014. In March 2014, the SC requested written responses from DepEd, Department of Labor and Employment, and the Commission on Higher Education. Presumably these bodies replied within “10 days” as requested by SC.
The replies were supposedly evaluated by SC and perhaps two years later are still being evaluated. The SC has not yet made its resolution. Too late!
Students who may eventually want to enter college are being restricted to languish in secondary schools, even though they have already reached the standard of entry required by colleges.
Therein lies a major failing of K-12. There is no visible consideration of the interactions between secondary and tertiary education. Students are required to attend two further years in secondary schools without any visible change in college level education.
We gain the impression that Cabinet meetings in the PNoy government, especially those related to education, were muted affairs in which Bro.
Armin Luistro FSC, complete with an enormous crucifix, uttered patronizing platitudes which were unchallenged by a supine Cabinet.
We expect more from Duterte. His bank accounts suggest that he is no plebeian, but neither is he patrician. I hope and believe his Cabinet meetings will be characterized by controversy, colorful language, and robust discussions. This is how road maps leading to inclusive growth are created.
I salute the voters who have taken the high risk option.