Promises

Much has been expressed about what the new president should focus on as he pursues six years of leadership.

The Philippines has once again reached that stage where it is no longer regarded as “the sick man of Asia.” The recovery has been short of miraculous even without past and current presidents’ introduction of structural changes in the economic landscape.

We all know how crucial the billions of dollars that our overseas Filipino workers have been sending home over the last six decades to give their families to buy the basics of life: food, shelter, and even education.

And we know how good leadership by a president and his administrative team have managed to complement all the blood, sweat and tears that have been expended by our Filipinos, here and abroad, to keep alive and raise their families’ standard of living.

A model president

So what makes a good president? What qualities do we need at this time? How should he lead the country during his term, capitalizing on the gains of his predecessor and laying the ground for future growth, which in incoming president Rodrigo Duterte’s example, should be beyond 2022?

A model president, without doubt, is one who will be able to make his citizens happy. We have seen throughout history how this can be relative. For example, despite all the economic ravages experienced during the long dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos, he still has a sizable number of loyal believers.

President Joseph Estrada, on the other hand, was a popular president who won by an overwhelming majority vote. Yet, his style of leadership was hounded by stories of inefficiency and corruption, which ultimately led to his impeachment.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, despite her economic savvy, was hounded by talks of corruption during her term. Yet, she no doubt should be credited for bringing about higher economic growth for the country – more than the past three presidents before her had accomplished.

Incoming president Rody’s predecessor, President Aquino, is no pushover either. While often criticized for his dawdling pace in deciding on deemed important national matters, he needs to be credited for continuing the country’s economic growth despite a landmark global financial crisis.

Economic agenda

No doubt, an economic agenda adopted and promoted by a president will be critical in ensuring prosperity for the nation, and in turn raising satisfaction levels of constituents. It helps that his (or her) predecessor has laid down sustainable policies that encourage national growth.

In the case of incoming president Rody, continuing on the gains made by his predecessor makes good governance sense. Not an economist (he is a lawyer by academic training), he has chosen to leave the matter to a trusted colleague, one who has had a solid track record when he was in government.

Unfortunately, after delivering what is supposedly the incoming president’s eight-point economic agenda, Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez declined the offer to join the Duterte Cabinet as Finance Secretary. Still, as the search continues, the bared economic program seems to be well thought out to immediately earn the business sector’s approval; it’s up to the next economic czar to see things through.

Being broad strokes, the eight items in the list are at most uncontroversial. But then, this is expected especially since the incoming president has declared time and again that it will support the programs the Aquino government had started.

Overall promises

So what’s left will be his overall governance platform, one which presumably won the overwhelming adulation of close to 16 million voters comprising 38.6 percent of those who cast their votes, making incoming president Duterte one of the most popular presidential candidates in Philippine history, if not the most popular.

Topping the incoming president’s agenda, as aired throughout his campaign, will be peace and order, specifically, “suppress(ing) crime, the spread of drugs and corruption in three to six months.”

While there are already pundits who cast big doubts on this promise (“impossible,” they chime), this still reflects Filipinos’ hunger for an end to lawlessness on the streets and in government. And while it will be truly difficult to totally eradicate crime, drugs and corruption, the trust is there.

In a sense, this capitalizes on what the current administration has been pledging all along: a “daang matuwid” where corruption does not obscure governance, where there is peace and order in the streets. The former is best demonstrated by the incarceration of former President Arroyo, and the ouster of the former Chief Justice Renato Corona from the Supreme Court; and the latter, by a military that has been, to some extent, reformed.

What the outgoing and incoming presidents have in common is a supposedly clean record of corruption (although the latter had been dragged into a late election period controversy of having a filed an inaccurage Statement of Assets and Liabilities).

The resolution of this will be a critical determinant in the ability of government to move forward in the next 12 months.

Definitely, the country has a cliff-hanger with the new government. How the new administration will weather whatever storm it meets will depend on the incoming president’s future calls.

By the way, we have the oldest elected president in national history. There’s no doubt this will also have a bearing on it all.

Filoil Flying V joins CWBL 2016-2017 season

Raffy Villavicencio, head of FilOil Flying V Sports, confirmed the participation of the Villavicencio group of companies in the maiden season of Country Wide Basketball League (CWBL) Philippine Basketball Championship.

Villavicencio said the team would represent Davao in the nationwide commercial league in recognition of the strong presence of FilOil Flying V in the province. He believes the team that would be formed would be competitive, and would give the basketball fans of Davao a team to be proud of.

CWBL is a nationwide commercial league in partnership with ABS-CBN television network. All games that will be played in various localities will be covered “live” by television and will be telecast nationwide thru ABS-CBN Sports + Action channel.

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