Monday, July 25, 2016

DU30 SONA 2016

For someone like me who has seen and heard State of the Nation Address of several Presidents before President Rodrigo Roa Duterte - DU30, this is the first one that did not refer to statistics.  The SONA 2016 of DU30 trully stated the what the nation, the Philippines, is really in.  He emphasized on what needs to be done and how it should be done. The main problems of the country on illegal drugs, criminality and corruption was clearly stated on why the country could not move on.



DU30 did not point a finger or put blame of past administrations.  He simply stated that the issues were not properly addressed making the country suffer more.  The most important part of his SONA was being able to see what exactly was happening with people applying for passports and the anguishing fishermen at Laguna de Bay.  That simply shows that he knows and recognizes the plight of the ordinary Filipino.  

The point of his SONA is what the Philippines is, how it is now and what needs to be done to move on.  He was clear on issues regarding appointment to the cabinet.  What is important to him is that the line of thinking of people working with him is the same as his.  It was a wonder why Peter Cayetano was not there.  Lilia de Lima was good not to be there.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Duterte against Drugs, Criminality and Corruption

Since the start of President Rodrigo R. Duterte's campaign, he emphasized on being against drugs, criminality and corruption.  All those are interconnected because drug peddling is a crime and is one main cause of corruption because politicians and police protect the drug lords.  Surely, politicians that protect drug lords got their funding from them.  That is an assurance the drug lords will continue to enjoy their protection IF they win the elections in 2016.

Not for long DU30 started to climb as the favorite candidate for president.  He was considered rude and swore in many instances to emphasize his desire to give Filipinos a better and safer life.  Naysayers and the elite criticized him for that and said he did not deserve to be president of the Philippines.  However, with all that, he became more popular as he was speaking his mind and is down-to-earth.  No fakes.

When criminals like drug lords and their protectors sensed that he was the favorite, they started eliminating people who would point to them.  The guilty did not pull the triggers.  It was a simple as identifying the 'small fish' and ordered their men to eliminate them.  Whoever pulled the trigger did not have any idea because they believed the orders came from their officers, not knowing they were covering their tracks.  How else would those small fry have ended that way if not someone on top knew them?

Duterte did not instruct them to kill those people before he took oath as president.  How could he?  Pnoy was still the president until 12 p.m. of June 30, 2016.  He was still responsible for all those murders and salvaging, whichever it will be.  In short, his pronouncements triggered a spate of killings to cover the tracks of the guilty ones.  Maybe drug lords started eliminating their runners or pushers.  Who, then, told the drug lords to do that?  Simple logic, right?  Their protectors who did not want any strings attached!

The strategic mind of DU30 made things happen even before his 'watch'.  Guilty panicking idiots started reacting even before he took his oath.  The 3 to 6 months Duterte stated to curb illegal drugs, criminality and corruption does not include the months before he took office.  He knew guilty people will be killing each other to cover their tracks even before his term starts.  The guilty panicked and tried to eliminate those who would point to them either as drug lords or protectors.

In the past

The past administration had arrests and raids of big drug 'syndicates'.  It is highly possible and probable that those arrests and raids were to protect drug lords under their wings.  There were no cases known to put those guilty in their proper place.  It could have been easily manipulated to tell those caught to re-direct their 'goods' to the protected drug lords to centralize operations.  With that, everyone gets a 'fair' share of the loot and those caught will have no problem.  They can easily escape and go back to their country of origin.

The country's problem has been handed from earlier politicians down to the recent past administration.  They have spent huge amounts for campaigns that could have been funded by drug lords.  It was simply funneled to those who donated who also got a fair share percentage of the donation.  It does not take complicated math or accounting to do that.

Here's a simple example:  Winners of a huge amount in Lotto or Sweepstakes do not necessarily have to claim from PCSO.  All they need to do is approach moneyed people and sell their winning combination less ten (10) percent or something like that.  That saves the moneyed people from heavy tax (CPAs can tweak it) because they can claim to have won lotto and make campaign donations!  The lotto winner does not care at all as long as the money is their less a little amount.

The present

Currently, the administration is flushing out the evils of government.  This is a clear indication of closing the gap between the "haves and have-not".  President Duterte surely knows where evils in government exist.  For appointing Arnel Ignacio as AVP in PAGCOR, it is with great hope that he finds out how military or PNP people make money as lenders.  They can easily be in cahoots with the bank for casinos.  They prey on gambling addicts.

The Philippines is regionalized and Pres. Duterte might only be able to regulate his appointees or trusted men as what Marcos did.  The mistake of Marcos of trusting people in high positions and abusive military men caused his fall.  One example is, why did the military go after long-haired males?  Most of long-haired males were just for the fad and not subversives!  That is probably one thing that BBM has to justify.

What is the future?

The future does not mean anything to people like me who are in their twilight years.  What matters is what is in the future for our children, grandchildren and succeeding generations.  Duterte is the best change for the Philippines.  No predictions or speculations on what the future will be, but what has shown in the past few days of DU30's administration, the future looks bright.  Hopefully his trusted people in government will not make the same abuses as those that Ferdinand Marcos has trusted.

Was he right about Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel Ramos?  Tell me.