essay about duterte administration

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How Duterte changed the Philippines in six years of his presidency

Asia philippines.

Infrastructure development, job creation and drive against crime ramped up in his watch

• Reports culled from official data show 12 "themes" of Duterte's presidency.
• Massive infrastructure development, opening up key sectors in the economy to 100% foreign ownership poised to push country's competitiveness in Asean.

Manila: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year watch ends on June 30, 2022. On May 9, more than 67 million Filipinos will pick his successor. Real-time results are expected within hours.

After spending six years in the most challenging role as head of state and Commander in Chief, the 16th president of the Republic will retire to a more laid-back life (the 1987 Philippine Constitution allows only a single term for president and vice-president).

What Duterte did in 6 years

During his 2016 campaign, Duterte made a number of promises, the foremost of which is the “war” on drugs and corruption. How did Duterte perform during his 2,191 days as the head of state?

There are plenty of numbers of note. We’ll focus on the ones that directly affect the security, pockets and well-being of the average Filipino citizens.

We divided his presidential performance into 12 main “themes”. Based on campaign promises vs accomplishments, here’s a lowdown on what what happened next:

1. 'BUILD, BUILD, BUILD'

This is one of the main themes of Duterte’s presidency. It’s a push-back on infrastructure under-investment in the past. It's one of his centrepiece moves, spread across some 20,000 projects  backed by a bold funding push that combines private and public money, amounting to an estimated $343 billion (Php18 trillion).

The result so far: 31,977 kilometres of road projects, including construction, maintenance, widening, upgrading, and rehabilitation completed, according to official figures. The government itself is funding a Php150.76-billion ($1.9 billion) worth of trail transport projects, in addition to privately-funded rail.

Despite the pandemic, infrastructure spending in 2021 hit 5.1% of the country’s GDP. Infrastructure spending is set at Php1. 262 trillion ($24 billion) in 2023 — 5.2% of GDP output — rising further to PhpP1. 321 trillion ($25.29 billion) in 2024, about 5% of GDP.

More than 6,300 bridges and 12,394 flood-control projects were completed. In Mindanao, 112 social and tourism port projects were completed as of September 2021. Moreover, 233 airport and 484 seaport projects were completed (construction, maintenance, widening, upgrading, and rehabilitation).

The privately-funded 77-billion-peso ($1.4-billion) Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) will roll out on December 2022 (initial run), cutting travel time from North Avenue in Quezon City to San Jose del Monte in Bulacan from 3 hours to 35 just minutes — and bringing a greener ride too. Another privately-funded project, the Php44-billion ($840 million) Manila Skyway, a 39.2-km elevated “flyover”, which took nearly a quarter of a century to complete was inaugurated recently. 

Right-of-way contests, usually fought in lower courts, are notorious for being biggest obstacles stalling infrastructure projects of national significance in the Asian country. Duterte's team cleared the way for this project to finally see completion.

Pre-pandemic, some 6.5 million jobs were generated from 2016 to 2020 (and close to 1.5 million jobs from March 2020 to August 2021) amid the pandemic, thanks to BBB. The programme has accelerated the government’s public infrastructure expenditure — from an average of 1.6% of GDP from 2001 to 2010 and 3% of GDP from 2011 to 2016 to an unprecedented 5% to 6% of GDP under Duterte.

Note: About 1.7 million Filipinos are born each year (191 births per hour, as of 2019 PSA data). There’s the hope that new laws that open the country to foreign investments would help boost job creation. But the pandemic has also scuttled job-creation efforts.

3. MIGRANT WORKERS

Duterte fought hard to ensure the security and welfare of overseas Filipino workers, especially during the pandemic. And he did. For one, he signed RA 11641, which created the Department of Migrant Workers, on December 30, 2021.

About 2.2 million Filipinos abroad will benefit from and will be catered to by this new department. His economic managers also ushered in the creation of an OFW Bank as an all-digital bank.

4. NATIONAL ID SYSTEM

On August 6, 2018, Duterte signed RA 11055 or the Philippine Identification System Act into law. It’s an unprecedented move. For one, it will boost the targeting of social or cash-transfer programmes and individuals in a crisis situation. So far, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recorded over 50 million registrations for the National Identification system in 2021, amid the pandemic.

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It is also expected simplify public and private transactions, promote financial inclusion, accelerate the delivery of social protection and raise the profile of Filipinos overseas. No other Philippine leader has pursued this project as assiduously as Duterte.

The national ID database system is a game-changer in the life of Filipinos and foreign residents in the country due to its expected knock-on effect on enhancing security and government efficiency.

5. MINDANAO DEVELOPMENTS

On July 26, 2018, Duterte signed RA 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), giving Bangsamoro region greater fiscal and political autonomy. Following the ratification of the BOL by the residents of then-existing ARMM in January 2019, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was created in March 2019 for peace, stability and growth in the region.

The creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is among the Duterte administration’s notable moves. It's a peace breakthrough, and is expected to spur growth in the southern part of the Philippines. The Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM), created under Administrative Order No. 3 on June 28, 2017, is to facilitate the rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction of war-torn Marawi City.

Around 80% of the rehabilitation works have been completed. Major projects include the rehabilitation of mosques in cooperation with private partner-developers, the construction of major public facilities, infrastructure, financial and livelihood projects.

Duterte, who hails from Mindanao, knows how to achieve peace and stability in the region. Greater autonomy for the Bangsamoro region is expected to reap more peace dividends for the country.

6. ENVIRONMENT

The rehabilitation of Manila Bay and Boracay are two of Duterte’s notable "green" legacies. To speed things up, the president signed Administrative Order No. 16, creating a Manila Bay Task Force. The dolomite beach project on shorelines of the bay has improved the Bay area. Duterte almost single-mindedly pushed this bayside cleanup plan. The rehabilitation of Manila Bay has given a fresh start to Manila’s tourism drive and its liveability.

In 2018, he pushed for the rehabilitation of Boracay Island, against many dissenting voices. He forced a fix of the island's creaking sewage system by shutting it down to tourists for six months.

The Boracay task force’s job was extended to 2022 to sustain the ecological balance and preserve the island for both local and foreign tourists. Duterte made the tough call to shut down the popular resort despite the protests of business owners. But it was rapidly degenerating into a “cesspool”.  

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7. FOREIGN RELATIONS

The Duterte administration launched initiatives to improve the country’s relations with neighbours and the rest of the world through the United Nations and ASEAN. Duterte has worked to enhance relations with China through bilateral visits and cooperative mechanisms. The closer ties helped create a more congenial environment for managing issues in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

His diplomatic team has pursued the country’s Arbitral Award in forums such as the UN General Assembly in 2020 and 2021 that defined the Philippines’ rights in the WPS. Under the Philippine Country Coordinators of the ASEAN-China Dialogue, the Philippines has successfully negotiated the first draft of the Code of Conduct in the SCS that will be acceptable to all concerned countries, according to the Presidential Communications Coordination Office.

8. KEY LEGISLATION, ORDERS

On February 17, 2020, Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) No. 104 to improve access to healthcare through the Regulation of Prices in the Retail of Drugs and Medicine Act. It imposed price regulation through a price cap, or maximum retail price (MRP), a maximum wholesale price (MWP), or both, on 86 most commonly-used drug molecules or 133 drug formulas, selected based on set criteria.

Meanwhile, RA 11463 or the Malasakit Centers Act became law in 2019, which provides convenience to Filipinos needing government’s health response nationwide. The Malasakit Center is a one-stop-shop where indigent patients can efficiently access financial and medical assistance from agencies such as PhilHealth, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), among others. There are more than 130 fully operational "Malasakit" Centers nationwide (149 as of latest count), serving and assisting more than 3.3 million Filipinos since 2019.

Two key economic legislations had been passed, and two more are under consideration by the legislature. First is Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Act and the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (Create). The first tax (Train Act) was signed into law by Duterte on December 19, 2017, and took effect on January 1, 2018.

Republic Act (RA) 11213 or Tax Amnesty Act complements the Train Law, allowing taxpayers to settle long-outstanding tax dues. It provides a 6% estate tax amnesty rate on the unsettled estate of decedents who died on or before December 3, 2017, or Php5,000 or whichever is lower. It also provides an amnesty on tax delinquencies on all national internal revenue taxes.

The second tax package, the Create Act, was signed into law on March 26, 2021. The law kicked in on April 11, 2021, making it is the largest fiscal stimulus package for businesses in the country’s history, providing private enterprises more than Php1 trillion ($19.12 billion) worth of tax relief over the next 10 years with a significant cut on the tax rate for corporations.

Two other tax packages are under consideration by the legislature — the Real Property Valuation Reform Bill and the Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (Pifita).

10. INVESTMENTS

A new law signed on Monday (March 21, 2022) is the latest move by the Duterte government to boost competition in sectors long dominated by a few local players . In the long term, this is expected to boost the country's competitiveness in the Asean community as well job creation.

Before this law was passed, foreign direct investments (FDI) had jumped significantly under Duterte’s watch. Official data show the approved investments in 2015 was Php686.9 billion and Php686 billion in 2016. It recorded a spike in 2017, 2018 and 2019 — with Php908.7 billion ($17.3 billion), PhpP1.1 trillion ($21 billion) and Php1.14 trillion ($21.8 billion), respectively.

In 2020, despite the pandemic’s onset, the country registered PhpP1.02 trillion in approved investments. After posting more than 6% gross domestic product (GDP) pre-pandemic, it went into negative territory at the height of the coronavirus-driven lockdowns.

The Philippine economy, however, showed steady growth starting from the second to fourth quarters of 2021. With its aggressive COVID inoculation drive, growth came back with rates of 12%, 6.9%, and 7.7%, respectively, after a decline in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.

11. DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE

If internet speed is used to measure development, the Philippines has already made great strides. Faster internet — a 523% increase in average internet speed across the country and 5,000% surge in digital payments — had been achieved in the last six years. These are unprecedented are two of the most tangible, if not the biggest, achievements of Duterte watch so far. It would be a high bar for the next administration to match.

Given the enormous challenges Filipinos faced during communist/separatist rebellion, terrorist threats, rampant use and trade of illegal drugs, natural calamities, the coronavirus pandemic, and the resulting job losses and extreme poverty, mounting a quick, effective and appropriate response had been an uphill battle. Only a satellite-based hybrid broadband system could beat this.

But in terms of democratising internet access, the spread of fibre-to-the-home technology to many of the country's remotest parts has taken the mostly young population of the country to the meta age. One challenge: Grade of service. If the service providers are not regulated well, or if bad service is tolerated, or not penalised, it would defeat the whole purpose of infrastructure buildup. On the other hand, the high cost of satellite data access could limit its use.

Duterte’s team had shown things can be done in a way that would benefit ordinary citizens and cement their trust in government.

12. ANTI-DRUGS, ANTI-TERROR DRIVE

The war against drugs was the hallmark of Duterte’s campaign and presidency. Voters gave him a landslide win, and he vigorously pursued the drive. Official government figures show key numbers: 224,215 anti-illegal drug operations. In addition, there had been 24,253 Barangays (villages) cleared of drugs (as of December 2021).

Php73.83 billion worth of drugs were seized, and close to 1,000 drug dens, and clandestine laboratories were dismantled. To deal with the threat of terrorism, Duterte created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Meanwhile, the conviction of 197 Maguindanao massacre suspects also happened under Duterte’s rule. Among those convicted included eight members of the Ampatuan clan in the November 2009 Maguindanao Massacre. The case was concluded in a landmark decision in December 2019. The survivors and the families of the massacre victims were given government aid. The search continues to catch the remaining suspects of the gruesome mass murder.

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A DUTERTE READER: Critical Essays on Rodrigo Duterte’s Early Presidency | Edited by Nicole Curato

Ithaca, New York: SEAP Publications [an imprint of Cornell University Press], 2017. ix, 337 pp. (Tables, graphs.) US$23.95, paper. ISBN 978-1-5017-2473-2.

In June 2016, Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte was elected president of the Philippines. He was the first politician from Mindanao to claim the seat at Malacañang Palace. He vowed to “kill them all,” alluding to anyone involved in the trade and consumption of drugs. He promised that the fish in Manila Bay would fatten up from feeding off the bodies of drug addicts that would be dumped into the water. Within the first quarter of his rule, Duterte made derogatory comments about US President Barack Obama, the Pope, the European Union, and the United Nations, at the same time expressing his admiration for Adolf Hitler. To the horror of many observers around the world, Duterte committed himself to extinguishing drug addicts in the Philippines on the same scale as the Holocaust. In response to such grotesque and macabre promises, Duterte’s supporters in the Philippines and beyond cheered enthusiastically.

The 16 contributions in the collection A Duterte Reader: Critical Essays on Rodrigo Duterte’s Early Presidency step into the world of Duterte’s outrageous logic, which nonetheless offers its supporters what the book’s editor, sociologist Nicole Curato, calls a “compelling fantasy ” (17, emphasis in original). This first collected commentary on “Dutertismo” was published a little more than a year after Duterte’s victory. Unlike other edited collections, which are often organized into themes, the curated essays appear to have no clear trajectory, as they touch on a diverse range of topics: political commentary, social justice and human rights discourse, communication studies, cultural theory, etc.

Award-winning investigative journalist Sheila S. Coronel’s essay unravels the “No Man’s Land where policing and criminality become indistinguishable” (168). In this uncharted territory of “extortion, theft, abduction, and murder in which the police are both enforcers of the law and its worst offenders,” the police emerge as “entrepreneurs looking for maximum gain” (189). Political scientist and activist Nathan Gilbert Quimpo argues in his essay that this ensanguined war on drugs is only possible due to the return of the Marcosian “national boss rule” (160). Quimpo critiques Duterte’s vision of national development as hinged on a brand of security that interrupts law and order itself. Walden Bello supports Quimpo’s insights, adding that the ongoing war on drugs could only be executed by a “fascist original” such as Duterte. Bello points out that unlike other fascists, Duterte does not target the Left, but liberal democracy itself.

Cleve Kevin Robert V. Arguelles presents an illuminating discussion of Duterte’s “other war”—the one that seeks to strike down the democracy fought for in the EDSA revolt of 1986 by “promoting public amnesia over collective remembering” (265). While Arguelles raises the importance of memory in critically assessing Duterte’s regime, Jesse Angelo L. Altez and Kloyde A. Caday curiously offer a sympathetic tone, arguing that the solid support for Duterte in the South “emanates from a legitimate longing for inclusion among the diverse people of Mindanao” (111). Altez and Caday take the route of telling the other side of the story, dangerously crafting a romanticized version of indigenous Mindanao’s support for Duterte.

Ideological contestations based on different political persuasions occasionally simmer between the different essays. Patricio N. Abinales and Leloy Claudio point out the “fraught alliance” between Duterte and the Communist Party of the Philippines who, they write, “have been jubilant over their political windfall of having elected an anti-imperialist, supposedly left-wing president” (98). This alliance, they argue, cannot be sustained as the Communists will eventually return to their call for a national democratic revolution, while on the other hand, Duterte will show more prominently his allegiance to former dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos’ family, “the original sworn enemy of the CCP” (102). However, Abinales and Claudio do not seem to make a distinction between the “communist” and the critical “Left,” which in the context of the history of red-baiting in the Philippines could inflict harm by endangering the lives of those at the forefront of political critique. Nonetheless, Abinales and Claudio’s essay offers a captivating conversation with that of Emerson M. Sanchez, whose essay presents a “cursory inventory” of actions by militant leftist groups, arguing that “the left’s voice has not been muffled but has always been critical” and that they have not let their guard down as other commentators suggest (289–290). These two essays will be of interest to readers who are looking to balance competing discourses among commentators in Duterte’s time.

Editor Curato is correct to point out that today’s political machinery in the Philippines is no longer composed only of guns, goons, and gold, but now includes gigabytes as well (6). The rise of vitriolic political trolling in the Philippines is addressed in the contributions of Jason Vincent A. Cabanes and Jayeel S. Cornelio. They propose that it is no longer tenable to reclaim the spaces of communication now infiltrated by political trolls—professionals or everyday loyal supporters of Duterte. Anthropologist Anna Christina Pertierra discusses how the media, celebrity, and popular entertainment press upon the “melodramatic dimensions of Philippine politics” (227). She argues that the emotions generated and stirred by political drama, which are now more visible than ever before, are “serious business” and cannot be ignored as “these moments generate the emotional ties that push people to support politicians in times of tension and transition” (227). The above-mentioned essays will be of interest to media practitioners who are seeking to reimagine ways of mass mediation and engagement, amid the persistence of trolls and fake news.

The authors in the collection suggest in different ways that Duterte’s rise to power, the popular support he has gained, and his instrumentalization of drugs (and the fight against them) to attain his promised change, did not happen overnight. We see an attention to structure and consciousness in John Andrew G. Evangelista’s essay, in which he argues that Duterte’s homophobic and sexist tirades are all too familiar in the systemically hetero-patriarchal Philippines. Readers will also sense this attention to historical continuity leading to Dutertismo in the essays by Carmel Veloso Abao, Jayson Lamchek, Julio C. Teehankee, and Adele Webb. Overall, the collection provides needed critical commentary at a time of accelerated political crisis.

Duterte’s war has only become bloodier. Many accounts as of the time of writing (March 2019) indicate that the death toll has reached over 27,000. Future conversations could go beyond articulations based on Western social science frameworks. What do we make of the “drug war” and lifeworlds linked to it when viewed through the lenses that are contingent upon the experience of communities, whether in Manila or beyond? Many authors in the collection call for the need to reimagine people’s investments in political and critical action in the time of Duterte. What creativities exist in today’s expanding modes and spaces for protest and critique? These questions are not yet deeply addressed in the contributions but a second installment will hopefully address these in due course.

Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA                                                                     

Last Revised: November 28, 2019

• Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

The Duterte Reader: Critical Essays on Rodrigo Duterte’s Early Presidency ed. by Nicole Curato (review)

• Arjan P. Aguirre
• Ateneo de Manila University
• Volume 66, Number 4, December 2018
• pp. 542-545
• 10.1353/phs.2018.0040
• View Citation

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The real priorities of the Duterte Administration

Numbers Don’t Lie

By Andrew J. Masigan

T he old adage, “put your money where your mouth is,” is as true today as it was when it was first written in 1930. One can make promises and profess support for all sorts of causes until they are blue in the face. None of it matters until they put money behind their words. The areas and causes where one spends their money are the definitive reflection of their true priorities.

President Duterte is a difficult character to figure out. Not only is he inclined to utter words impulsively to pander to the crowd, we have also learned that he has a penchant for denying things he said before (even if they were recorded). When trapped by his own utterances, it is not beyond him to claim that they were all a joke.

During the election campaign and up to his first year in office, President Duterte made grand populist promises to hypnotize the nation into a euphoric state of optimism. He promised a golden age of infrastructure where spending on roads, bridges, and ports would amount to no less than 7% of GDP. He promised to elevate our quality of life by increasing spending on mass housing and social development projects, including education. He promised to end corruption, end illegal drugs, end social injustice, end political dynasties, and to enforce judicial reforms.

By his own admission, he failed to control corruption and failed to end the drug trade. Two keystone promises broken, right there. Ironically, corruption is worse today than it had been in decades, while the war on drugs proved to be destructive and damaging rather than restorative.

He also failed to end social injustice and political dynasties. Social injustice (and inequality) is at its worst since the Marcos years and political dynasties are more entrenched than ever. That makes four keystone promises broken.

On the surface, it would seem that the Duterte Administration succeeded in infrastructure development. But looking at the statistics, it is not the case. At the beginning of its term, the Duterte government promised that infrastructure spending, as a percentage to GDP, would reach 5.4% in 2017, 6.1% in 2018, 6.8% in 2019, and 6.9% in 2020. After reneging and lowering the spending quota two times, data shows that the actual spending ratio stood at only 5.1% in 2017, 6.3% in 2018, 5.5% in 2019, and 4.6% in 2020.

While actual spending on infrastructure falls short of its twice-adjusted targets, it is even over stated. This is because this government re-defined what constitutes infrastructure. “Infrastructure,” in the context of nation building has always referred to transport and logistics-related projects. What they did was to include science-related and technology-related projects as well (which are separate line items in the national budget). Thus, the real spending roads, bridges, and ports is really much lower than what government purports it to be.

The Duterte administration has also claimed credit for projects that were signed and sealed well before its time. This includes the Skyway stage 3 (approved 2014), LRT-2 Extension (approved 2012), NLEX-SLEX Connector Road (approved 2013), CALAX (approved 2015) … and the list goes on.

What is most disturbing, however, is that infrastructure spending was used as a tool for patronage politics. The General Appropriations Acts shows that the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) increased from P580.87 billion in 2020 to P694.82 billion in 2021 (a P113.95 billion increase). But looking closely at the line items, you will find that “Local Programs,” which is another word for pork barrel funds, increased from P198.82 billion to P280.62 billion, an P81.8 billion increase! Pork barrel finances patronage-driven projects by local politicians, like basketball courts. Appropriating 40% of the DPWH budget for this purpose is scandalous. It is the amount Mr. Duterte is effectively paying to buy loyalty.

Again, I emphasize — the areas which this administration appropriates the national budget for is a reflection of its priorities. That said, it is clear that social development and social welfare are at the bottom of this government’s concerns.

Spending on education actually decreased by P30 billion in 2019 compared to the year prior. It increased by a small increment in 2020 and 2021. Meanwhile, the budgets of the Departments of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Health (DoH) remained practically static from 2017 to 2020.

What stings acerbically is that following the pandemic, government appropriated the lowest budget among our ASEAN peers to ease the plight of our people. Financial assistance ( ayuda ) last year was grossly insufficient and painfully scarce. Economic relief to micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) was hardly felt. Worse, the conditional cash transfers program of government was cancelled for 2021.

For perspective, Mr. Duterte’s government spent 3.5% of GDP on its COVID-19 response and civilian support. Thailand spent 9.6% of GDP, Malaysia 4.9%, Indonesia 3.8% and Vietnam 3.6%. I reckon we have the most unsympathetic government in the region.

Even today, government remains liberal in enforcing restrictions but is unable to provide financial subsidies to displaced workers and MSMEs. Civil society is left on its own to survive the financial pangs of the pandemic.

So which sector received the sharpest increases in budget appropriation?

Topping the list is President Duterte’s contingency fund which increased five-fold. From P2.5 billion in 2016 (last year of the Aquino administration), it catapulted to a whopping P13 billion in 2020. These funds are used for intelligence, communications, and other “confidential operations.”

The second office that received a sharp budget spike is the Philippine National Police (PNP). The PNP’s budget increased by 123% from P76 billion in 2016 to P169.7 billion in 2021.

The third largest beneficiary is the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) whose budget increased from P62.2 billion in 2016 to P120.7 billion in 2021, a 94% increase.

So, why did the AFP and PNP receive the highest increase in budget appropriations? A noted political analyst opined that it is only the military and the National Police (along with Supreme Court) that have the power to neutralize President Duterte’s abuses. By filling their coffers with more funds than they have ever seen before, Malacañang had effectively neutralized them.

As I look at how the nation’s financial resources are spent, it is clear to me that the national budget is/was used not as a tool for social or economic development, as it should be. Rather, the budget has always revolved around President Duterte himself. It served his needs, his political agenda, his personal operations, and the perpetuation of the Duterte brand.

Thank you to the Institute for Leadership, Empowerment and Democracy for providing facts and figures for this piece.

Andrew J. Masigan is an economist

[email protected]

Facebook @AndrewJ. Masigan

Twitter @aj_masigan

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The State of the Nation Address or SONA is one of the most awaited annual events of the nation. The SONA coincides with the formal opening of Congress. It is also the time when a sitting president apprises the nation of the real situation, his past accomplishments, and the challenges that lie ahead.   The SONA will give the President’s constituencies the opportunity to gauge whether or not the administration has fulfilled its promises.

It is safe to assume that in this year’s SONA, the President will mention, and lay down his plans not only on domestic issues but also on how to deal with pressing external challenges. No matter how he dodges issues affecting our relations with China and its acts of aggression to encroach on our sovereign rights, US and lately Iceland and the United Nations Human Rights Council voting to launch an investigation into thousands of killings in the Philippines’ brutal war on drugs, these issues loom large in the consciousness of the nation which Duterte cannot simply shrug off or sweep under the rug. For the sake of the nation, it behooves the President to come up with a rational, well-laid response to these pressing issues instead of merely resorting to inanities and hallow threats.  

Balance sheet of Duterte’s 3 years

For all Duterte’s perceived moral flaws, his administration has achieved some successes that many Filipino appreciate. In my view, Duterte has done well with the Bangsamoro and with the economy although I have caveats on the latter.  

In the last two weeks, President Duterte made several excellent judicial appointments for the Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals, and the Regional Trial Court. I know very well two of the new CA Justices – Justice Angeline Quimpo-Sale was my classmate in the University of the Philippines College of Law and my town mate from Cagayan de Oro, and Justice Alfredo Ampuan who was my student twice in the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila Graduate School of Law. Newly appointed Court of Tax Appeals Justice Rhona Modesto San Pedro is a contemporary from UP Law.

In addition, a few weeks ago, an excellent lawyer that worked with me in the Ateneo School of Government – Arnold Martinez – was appointed Regional Trial Court Judge of Laguna. I praise President Duterte unreservedly for these great appointments. These 4 are brilliant, honest, and principled lawyers. The judicial system and country will be better as a result of their appointment.  

On the negative side of the ledger, this administration has done very badly in defending our national territory from China’s aggression , in its human rights record, and in upholding democracy.

The best of Duterte

At the start of his administration in 2016, Duterte made it clear to see the passage of the Bangsamoro law. Last year, he again reiterated his promise to give the Muslims in Mindanao the basic legal tools to chart their own destiny within the constitutional framework of our country. True to his word, Congress passed the measure and Duterte signed the Bangsamoro Organic Law (Republic Act No. 11054), also known as Bangsamoro Basic Law on July 26, 2018. After decades of armed conflict, the guns and cannons are now silent. With their own government, the Bangsamoro people is now beginning to enjoy the right to self-determination, which is basically their collective right to achieve their own political, cultural, and economic privilege.  

It’s not over yet, with the failure of the national government to rehabilitate Marawi  a big red flag, but things are looking good for the Bangsamoro. Most of all, it is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that should be congratulated for its leadership in getting this to happen. Their Chief Minister Murad Ibrahim and the ministers in his cabinet have not disappointed and have shown steadfast leadership, energy, competence, and vision. The national government should be congratulated for cooperating to get us to this point. Presidents Fidel Ramos, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Noynoy Aquino, and now Duterte thankfully have been consistent in this regard. Only President Joseph Estrada wrongly followed the path of war.

Under the Duterte administration, Congress passed the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law or Republic Act No. 10963 which took effect on January 1, 2018. TRAIN relatively decreases the tax on personal income, estate, and donation. However, it also increases the tax on certain passive incomes, documents (documentary stamp tax) as well as excise tax on petroleum products, minerals, automobiles, and cigarettes.  

Despite its benefits to the revenue generation efforts of the government, the TRAIN law has affected many poor sectors  who have been impacted negatively by its inflationary effects. I do give the government credit for successfully lowering the inflation rate, with the help of course of the lowering of global prices on petroleum (which was also a significant contributor to the earlier increase in the inflation rate).  

Infrastructure development is an essential component of economic progress. The Duterte has recognized this early on when he launched his administration’s Build, Build, Build Program. The country cannot attract foreign investments if the roads and streets are dilapidated and when people cannot properly do business because of traffic. The Japan International Cooperation Agency found that traffic congestion in Manila, caused mainly by poor infrastructure, led to losses of about P2.4 billion in 2012, and could triple by 2030. The Build Build Build Program accelerates infrastructure spending and develops industries that will yield robust growth, create jobs, and improve the lives of Filipinos. Public spending on infrastructure projects is targeted at P8 to 9 trillion from 2017 to 2022.

My caveat about the Duterte infrastructure program is in its environmental impacts. As I have written before, projects like the Kaliwa River Dam and the Chico River irrigation project will result in massive displacement of people and destruction of nature.  

The government must also ensure that it does not bind the nation to onerous foreign loan agreements that make repayment unduly burdensome for the economy. Critics say that many of these loans, particularly with China, are shrouded in mystery or are onerous and one-sided . These include the loans that will finance the Kaliwa and Chico projects.

The environmental record of the Duterte administration has been mixed. Secretary Roy Cimatu is a visionary, decisive, and competent leader. I generally support what the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is doing in Boracay and Manila Bay. However, once again it has failed us in its decision to approve a coal power plant in Palawan and in recommending the renewal of the Financial Technical and Assistance Agreement of OceanaGold in Nueva Vizcaya in the face of opposition by all levels of local government and the affected indigenous peoples and local communities.

The worst of Duterte

Much has been said about the controversial war on drugs, the centerpiece campaign of the Duterte administration. Needless to say, eradication of drugs is of utmost importance. And for this, the President must be commended. We are all too familiar with the deleterious effects of illegal drugs to the victims and to their families. Yet, the prosecution of this “war” is causing havoc on human rights. The human rights record is in such a dismal state because of this war on drugs such that international bodies like the Amnesty International, the European Union, and lately the UNHRC have come to condemn it. As a member of the civilized community of nations, we are duty bound to respect civil liberties, protect human rights and obey international law. The government cannot allow itself to become a rogue regime that defies world opinion and routinely violate international law and norms with impunity.  

Duterte’s record on responding to China’s aggression is not good. Here is a “ friend ,” according to the Duterte administration, who is forcibly taking our territories that under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and The Hague Arbitral Award belong to us.

The Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll indicate that an overwhelming number of Filipinos , 93%, want the Philippine government to assert its territorial rights over the West Philippine Sea. The government exists not only to uplift the quality of life but also to protect the territorial integrity of the country. In asserting our sovereignty and sovereign rights, war is not the only option on the table. There is a wide array of peaceful and diplomatic means to forcefully say to China what is ours is ours! Pandering to the desires of the aggressor is to lose by default these claimed territories that can seriously compromise the independence and food security of the present and future generations of Filipinos.  

And then, finally, there is the record of President Duterte in suppressing dissent and not tolerating criticism. The continuing detention of Senator Leila de Lima , the unrelenting weaponizing of law against Rappler , and just this week the sedition charges filed against Vice President Leni Robredo , some bishops , and other opposition figures are examples of this lack of respect for democratic principles that has characterize this government. What is worrisome is that there are signs that this dictatorial approach to governance will be institutionalized and made permanent through charter change. – Rappler.com

Tony La Viña teaches law and is former dean of the Ateneo School of Government.  

For highlights of President Duterte’s 4th SONA, check out our  live blog .  

For related stories, visit  Rappler’s 2019 State of the Nation Address page .  

Rappler takes a deeper look at the first half of Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency – it’s highs and lows, its achievements and shortcomings: Duterte Year 3: The Halfway Mark  

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