President is barking up the wrong tree

I admire what our President Rodrigo Duterte is trying to do for the country. Before anything else, I can say that I truly believe he is trying to make things better and safer for all Filipinos. After all, he promised in his campaign speeches that should he win, change would come, and we only need to look back over the past six months to see that he has kept his word in that aspect.

Duterte has waged an all-out war on drugs and corruption in the country and we have all felt the backlash of his hard stance against both. And again, we can’t say we weren’t warned. I believe he even used the words “the streets would run red with blood” if he were to assume office and the blood has most definitely been shed. Since he assumed the presidency over 6,000 suspected drug users, pushers, and more have been killed, some in drug busts, some by vigilantes. Either way, blood has been spilt just as he promised.

I did not vote for our president. I can admit that freely because I was very vocal about my political proclivities back in May. However, I can honestly say that I only wished him success when he took on the office. After all, the president’s success would mean success for the country. And that is something we should all want and strive for.

Unfortunately, since the president began, he has been doing and saying so many things that I find I can’t back and support. His bloody war on drugs has taken so many lives and yet we still have yet to see how this has made things different or better in the country. What’s more, as I mentioned in a previous column, the real victims of this so-called war are the poor people. Those with a little bit of power and money are able to avoid the bloodshed. So how is this helping the marginalized and oppressed – the very people that our president has sworn to protect?

Additionally, the president has continued to take things extremely personally and has thrown international relations to the wind. There have been many instances where he says on thing and does another and of course we can’t forget how he has bent over backwards for his friend Bongbong Marcos and the Marcos family. One can’t help but question how he remains “impartial” when he puts the needs of those closest to him above the needs of the people.

Again, for the most part, I try to see the good in what the president is doing. He is the leader that was elected by a landslide so in the true sense of democracy, I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. But again, he makes it really hard because he keeps contradicting himself and “shooting from the hip.” One day he will make a really good promise – one that we all look forward to – and then the next day, he takes it all back.

For example, his latest tirade is something I can neither understand nor support. On this subject, we find ourselves on opposite sides of the fence. I am talking about his sudden ire against the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), which is headed by Governor Amando Tetangco of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). He is accusing them of corruption and inefficiency and even threatening to send them to jail.

It’s ludicrous and, I feel, among one of the top absurd things that the president has said. Just earlier on in his presidency, Duterte lauded Gov. Tetangco for doing such a great job and offering him another six-year team for BSP, and now he is threatening to “whack” them all for failing to give him information on drug money and on personal accounts with suspected ties to drugs.

His very statements alone sound insane. What does he even mean “whack” them? And then threatening to send them to jail or label them as connected to drugs themselves if they don’t give him what he wants. It sounds like the mad ravings of a petulant child who is not getting what he wants and is therefore taking it out on everyone around him. This type of tirade is not new to the president. In fact, he is becoming known the world over for not thinking about his words and just saying whatever pops into this head. While for an ordinary citizen that is already alarming, it becomes that much more alarming when coming from the mouth of a man who wields so much power.

I have known Governor Tetangco for a very long time personally and I truly believe in both his ability to lead with intelligence and fairness and his skills and efficiency at his job. I  believe he is a true patriot and I have said as much in previous columns. We all know Central Banks face numerous challenges in developing economies and I think Gov. Tetangco has done an admirable job navigating these challenges and doing the best he can for the country. I was extremely happy he was given another term to continue his good work.

Now, however, it looks like all his hard work may be in jeopardy because the president is not getting exactly what he wants when he wants it. I know President Duterte is getting heat for his war on drugs targeting only those without money or power but if wants to go after the “big fish” he needs to find a way to do it legally and above board with the transparency he has promised since the beginning of his term. He can’t just lash out at whoever is around because he isn’t getting the results he wants.

We all knew that his promise would not be delivered in six months. The way things are here to weed out drugs and corruption is a herculean task that will require patience, strategy, and time. Hopefully the president comes to see that once he cools off. He needs to realize that he is surrounded by allies and just because someone is not 100% on board with his methods doesn’t mean they are corrupt or part of the drug problem.