The president’s constant zigzag

Zigzag is defined as having abrupt alternate right or left turns. This can pertain to a road, a maze, or in our current situation the actions of our president. When it comes to our president here in the Philippines, we never seem to know which way the wind blows. President Duterte, since his election, has made it clear that he doesn’t always do or mean what he says. Whether it’s jokes or misunderstood proclamations, I’m sure I am not the only one who wishes that our president would just make up his mind.

Over the past few months (well, years if we are to be really honest), we have all struggled to put stock in what the president says. After all, here’s a quick run down of just some of the promises made that were eventually broken or “amended” – solving the country’s drug problem in six months, crossing the ocean in a jet ski to confront the Chinese, behaving after he was elected, assertion of the Hague ruling, stamping out corruption, and punishing abusive cops just to name a few.

Well, here we are two years later and it doesn’t look like a single one of those has actually happened – or is even close to happening. In the end, the president cannot make up his mind. He may feel very strongly about something right now only to change his tune in a couple of days. It makes my head spin (and I am sure I am not the only one) trying to decipher which of his statements are actually real and which are just said “on a whim.”

In either case, this is becoming a big problem now because the country finds itself on a precipice and we need strong, determined leaders with a solid plan in place to help bring us back from the edge. I wrote in a previous column that the president blamed the rising inflation rate on the rising cost of oil but that is just a small part of the problem. Mismanagement of resources like rice and weak economic policies are the real culprits and the rest (rising oil costs and etc) are just exacerbating the already existing problem.

What needs to happen now is for the current administration to revisit their priorities and put the most important ones on top of the list – people in the country are starving and the desperation is almost palpable in the streets as stealing and crime go up exponentially just so people can survive. The government has to – for once – put their needs first. The president needs to honor his 16M voters and do what is best for them. Stop focusing on federalism or other unimportant topics and instead look to strengthening the economy again, truly addressing the rice shortage (instead of blaming it on drug addicts), revisit or remove TRAIN 1 which has contributed greatly to our economic woes, and junk TRAIN 2 which will only make it worse.

These are the issues that need to take center stage now – not which blogger said this or which opposition leader’s amnesty needs to be revoked. If the president really cares about the people it’s time he put their needs first.

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San Miguel Corp. is getting a lot of support for its unsolicited proposal to build an “aerotropolis” in Bulacan. An aerotropolis is a metropolis with an airport at its center. This one in particular would be built in Bulacan and would have a capacity of over 100 million passengers annually within its 2,500 hectare location – over three times the capacity of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The project, which had been awarded an original proponent status by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), is set to have six parallel runways and will be completed under build-operate-transfer scheme in six years with SMC to operate the airport under a 50-year concession. They will also build an expressway that will link the airport to the North Luzon Expressway in Marilao, Bulacan.

It’s definitely an ambitious project but I believe that SMC can push it to fruition. Ramon S. Ang even assured the media that SMC could definitely fund this project on their own and I believe that. I also believe that – properly done – the private sector can help the government when it comes to augmenting national infrastructure as long as they have the funds and expertise. Plus it is high time we help decongest the runways here in Manila. Over the past few months it has looked like Armageddon at the airports with passengers waiting for hours for their flights to land or leave. Having more options close to the city could definitely help in that aspect.

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In his continuing battle to make life difficult for immigrants and protect the “haves” in America, US President Donald Trump is making it even harder for foreigners to come to American and remain if they have received public health benefits such as food aid, public housing, or Medicaid. This is just another step in the current administration’s anti-immigrant policy and crackdown on both legal and illegal immigration.

In the short term what could potentially happen is that people might begin to avoid public aid programs and just suffer losing shelter or deteriorating health problems for fear of being denied a visa. Homeland Security, to their defense, has said this proposal will promote immigrant self-sufficiency and protect finite resources in the US. But let’s call a spade a spade – this is just another way to boot immigrants out of the country. To generalize immigrants as those taking the bulk of government resources when it comes to non-monetary aid like housing or food stamps is ludicrous. There are more than enough American born citizens to do that job. In fact, many immigrants rank among the hardest workers in the country. Why shouldn’t they be allowed the same benefits?

Not to mention – resources are not limited or finite per se in America, but rather unequally distributed. This is true in most countries but in America (and here in the Philippines) it is particularly harsh – the “haves” are so far from the “have-nots” and instead of finding ways to spread resources around equally they are only concerned with accruing more.