The Measure of a Man

(Last of two parts)

• The 5.58-kilometer NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 elevated expressway connecting McArthur Highway and C-3 was opened last year. The 2.6-kilometer C-3 - R10 Section (Exit Ramp), on the other hand, was opened in June. Travel time from NLEX to Radial Road 10 in Navotas City (and vice versa) was reduced from 1 hour to just 10 minutes, ensuring not just the movement of people but the timely delivery of goods to and from the Port of Manila.

• After nearly two decades and three administrations, the construction of the LRT-Line 1 Cavite Extension Project is now progressing, with 48% completion rate. The 11.7-km extension line will cut travel time between Baclaran and Bacoor, Cavite from 1 hour and 10 minutes to just 25 minutes. Partial operation for the first five stations is eyed by the last quarter of 2021.

And amid this pandemic that has shuttered even the strongest nations worldwide, President Duterte has done the best that he could to save lives and save the economy.

The national government, in partnership with the private sector and local government units, was able to execute the conversion of 11 public and private structures in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Laguna and Davao City into Mega Community Quarantine Facilities or We Heal As One Centers with total bed capacity of 2,584. Thirty units of Container Vans were also repurposed into mobile rooms which can be used as additional COVID-19 isolation facilities.

The chief executive’s early and decisive measures to combat the contagion saved thousands of lives. Epidemiological Models by the FASSSTER Project in April and the University of the Philippines COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team as of June showed that government interventions such as the lockdown have prevented as much as 1.3 to 3.5 million infections. The lockdown gave us time to expand our testing capacity from just around 300 actual tests per day in March to more than 18,000 average daily tests this month.

It is true that our economy shrank by 0.2% in the first quarter of the year -- the first contraction in two decades. Our unemployment rate in April stood at 17.7 percent. But President Duterte’s leadership has ensured we will be able to weather this health crisis.

Again, don’t take my word for it. Believe, instead, the BBB+ credit rating, the highest in our compass system, and the decision of international credit rating agencies to affirm our sovereign rating and keep them at investment grade level despite the pandemic. This is nothing short of a vote of confidence amid a sea of credit rating downgrades and negative outlook revisions worldwide, and some puddles of criticisms on the domestic front that we have failed miserably to protect businesses and jobs.

They say that the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. And the past four years, and most especially the last four months, were nothing but challenging.

President Rodrigo Duterte will present his report card, so to speak, when he delivers his fifth State of the Nation Address on July 27. The man will face the nation again – flawed, never perfect, and yet as always, with the determination to do what is right.

(JV Arcena is the Assistant Secretary for Global Media and Public Affairs of PCOO. Prior to joining the Philippine government, he previously worked for the US Department of State’s Asia-Pacific Regional Media Hub. A former journalist and Palace reporter of TV5, JV covered politics, elections, global and regional issues, calamities, the judiciary, among others.)