When President-elect Rodrigo Roa Duterte shall assume the presidency of the Republic as the sixteenth Philippine head of state and head of government on 30 June 2016, he shall do so with too much expectation from more than a hundred and ten million Filipinos. That was the same or perhaps even more expectation that accompanied President Benigno S. Aquino III's assumption to office in 2010. That might also be of the same intensity as the expectations of the people after the 1986 EDSA revolution that catapulted President Corazon C. Aquino to power. But at the end, there were too much frustration.
We should remember that President Digong made a bold promise that he would eliminate the drug problem and the crime upsurge in six month time. If you took that hook, line, and sinker, you will surely be in for some sort of disillusionment. On my part, I truly believe that President Digong can do it but not in such a brief span of time. I accepted his daring promise as truth sprinkled with some dose of hyperbole. But indeed, I believe that he can do it and he will do it, given enough time and support. Criminals and drug lords should by now be packing their bags. Their days are numbered.
What I really appreciate in the incoming president is his stress on discipline. I am happy with the proposed curfew for minors at ten in the evening. This should be legislated to avoid any obstructionist charge violation of human rights. This is a valid exercise of police power that the state can well undertake in pursuit of the greater public interests of the greater majority of the people. I also commend the propose ban on karaoke or public singing that creates public disturbance beyond nine in the evening. Also, I support the proposed ban on the sale of liquor beyond midnight in any restaurant, bar, hotel, and other public places.
I also hope that the president should pursue his plan to reinstate the death penalty for heinous crimes. And the following should be classified heinous crimes: illegal recruitment with more than three victims, trafficking in persons of minors whether male or female, rape of children, causing death through drugs, all forms of drug pushing, and all forms of drug manufacturing, acting as drug courier, and those crimes of money laundering like the Bangladesh transnational economic sabotage, and other internet crimes like hacking. They should all be punishable by death by musketry to be seen via national television.
Also, plunder involving more than a million pesos should be punishable by life sentence. If the amount reaches ten million, it should be punishable by death.The people may be expecting too much from the newly-elected president, and too much expectation may end up in people becoming frustrated and disillusioned. And so, as an unsolicited advice from a friend, we hope that President Digong decides on his top priorities, and focus on them as the critical few deliverables. At the end of the day, what matters most is that the people should feel some impactful and far-reaching positive differences in the life of the Filipinos.