‘Join me in a rough ride’

Rody: Biggest problem is erosion of faith in gov’t

MANILA, Philippines - Real change is coming, and the ride will be rough.

Rodrigo Roa Duterte, sworn in yesterday as the nation’s 16th president, invited people to join him in the ride, as he vowed to restore public trust in government and its leaders.

He would do this, he said, by coming down hard on the corrupt and keeping his campaign promise to curb criminality, particularly the drug menace.

“The fight will be relentless, and it will be sustained,” Duterte promised in a 14-minute speech at Malacañang’s Rizal Hall. As he had promised, his speech was free of profanities.

Addressing concerns about his “unorthodox” methods that “verge on the illegal” in fighting crime, he stressed that being a lawyer and former prosecutor, “I know the limits of the power and authority of the president. I know what is legal and what is not.”

“My adherence to due process and the rule of law is uncompromising,” he said as he told critics, notably the Commission on Human Rights, to “mind your work and I will mind mine.”

Change is coming, he said, but change, “to be permanent and significant, must start with us and in us.”

“The ride will be rough, but come and join me just the same,” he said. “Together, let us take the first wobbly steps in this quest.”

Later in his speech, he asked everyone “to join me as we embark on this crusade for a better and brighter tomorrow.”  He was applauded 22 times.

He maintained the country’s ills are “mere symptoms of a virulent social disease that creeps and cuts into the moral fiber of Philippine society.”  Exacerbating the situation, he pointed out, is the “erosion of faith and trust in government.”

“I see the erosion of the people’s trust in our country’s leaders; the erosion of faith in our judicial system; the erosion of confidence in the capacity of our public servants to make the people’s lives better, safer and healthier,” Duterte said.

“Indeed ours is a problem that dampens the human spirit. But all is not lost,” he added.

President Duterte is seated with former presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada, outgoing Senate chief Franklin Drilon and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte during yesterday’s inaugural at Malacañang.

He also appealed to Filipinos to get directly involved in the quest for change the country badly needs. He stressed there would be no letup in his effort to make life easier for the people, as it has been his goal to restore and even fortify their faith in government.

The former Davao City mayor emphasized his mantra of “real change” and malasakit (compassion) were not just campaign slogans conceptualized to secure votes.

“These were battle cries articulated by me on behalf of the people hungry for genuine and meaningful change. But the change, if it is to be permanent and significant, must start with us and in us,” Duterte said.

“To borrow the language of (National Artist for Literature) F. Sionil Jose, we have become our own worst enemies. And we must have the courage and the will to change ourselves,” he added.

Duterte said no leader, however strong, would be able to succeed in anything unless he has the support and cooperation of the people he is tasked and sworn to lead and serve.

“Love of country, subordination of personal interests to the common good, concern and care for the helpless and the impoverished – these are among the lost and faded values that we seek to recover and revitalize as we commence our journey towards a better Philippines,” the President said.

Listen to the people

Duterte, who won by a landslide in the May 9 polls with 16.6 million votes, asked fellow workers in government to help him strengthen the Filipinos’ trust in their government.

“It is the people from whom democratic governments draw strength and this administration is no exception. That is why we have to listen to the murmurings of the people, feel their pulse, supply their needs and fortify their faith and trust in us whom they elected to public office,” he said.

Duterte, who earlier vowed to lead a government for the helpless, hopeless and defenseless, said the foundations of his administration would be built upon the ideas of American presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

Quoting Roosevelt, Duterte said the test of government is “not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide for those who have little.”

He also recited Lincoln’s famous lines about social classes.

“You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong; you cannot help the poor by discouraging the rich; you cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer; you cannot further the brotherhood by inciting class hatred among men,” the President said.

Duterte also assured Filipinos his leadership is about protecting the country’s interest and not  just of a few.

“Let me remind, in the end of this talk, that I was elected to the presidency to serve the entire country. I was not elected to serve the interests of any one person or any group or any one class. I serve everyone and not only one,” Duterte said.

“That is why I have adapted as an article of faith, the following lines written by someone whose name I could no longer recall. He said:  ‘I have no friends to serve, I have no enemies to harm.”

Duterte has vowed to curb crime within the first three to six months of his term and to wage a “bloody war” against illegal drugs. He is pushing for the revival of the death penalty – preferably by hanging – and the giving of bounty to those who would kill drug lords.

Some quarters have expressed fear his anti-criminality drive would lead to extralegal killings and human rights abuses.

In his speech, Duterte acknowledged his methods had drawn flak for supposedly being unorthodox and bordering on the illegal.

“In response let me say this: I have seen how corruption bled the government of funds, which were allocated for use in uplifting the poor from the mire that they are in. I have seen how illegal drugs destroyed individuals and ruined family relationships,” Duterte said.

“I have seen how criminality, by means all foul, snatched from the innocent and the unsuspecting, the years and years of accumulated savings. Years of toil and then, suddenly, they are back to where they started,” he added.

“Look at this from that perspective and tell me that I am wrong.”

Stick to rules

Duterte also reminded his Cabinet members to refrain from changing and bending the rules of government contracts, transaction and projects already approved and awaiting implementation.

“I abhor secrecy and instead advocate transparency in all government contracts, projects and business transactions from submission of proposals to negotiation to perfection and finally, to consummation,” he said.

“Do them and we will work together. Do not do them, we will part sooner than later.”

Duterte also emphasized his administration is committed to implement all the signed peace agreements that are “in step with constitutional and legal reforms.”

He said he was delighted by the general response to his call for peace. “I am elated by the expression of unity among our Muslim brothers and leaders, and the response of everyone else to my call for peace. I look forward to the participation of all other stakeholders, particularly our indigenous peoples, to ensure inclusivity in the peace process,” Duterte said.

He did not mention the Bangsamoro Basic Law, the passage of which was stalled following the Mamasapano carnage in January last year.

He ended his speech with extemporaneous remarks. “Why am I here? ” he asked. “I am here because I love my country and I love the people of the Philippines. I am here, why? Because I am ready to start my work as President.”

Rody's marching orders:

1. Cut red tape, reduce requirements and processing time for transactions, remove redundant requirementsREG

2. Refrain from changing and bending rules for government contracts, transactions, projects already approved and awaiting implementation

3. Advocate transparency in all government contracts, projects, business transactions