DIGONG GETS A PASSING GRADE

In this photo, President Rodrigo Duterte apologizes to the Jewish community, explaining it was never his intention to derogate the memory of six-million Jews murdered by Germans, and he was only reacting to his critics who were referencing him to Adolf Hitler. He says this in his speech during the opening ceremony of the MassKara Festival in Bacolod City on Oct. 2, 2016 (ACE MORANDANTE/ Presidential Photo).

FROM ARCHBISHOP PALMA TO GOVERNOR DAVIDE

Amid the rising death toll in the war against illegal drugs, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma gave President Rodrigo Duterte a passing rate based on the latter’s overall performance in his first 100 days in office.

“I should say more than six,” Palma said, smiling when asked to rate the President on a scale of one to 10.

The President also got a high mark from business leaders in Cebu who found his uncompromising stand against illegal drugs, no matter how bloody it got, as a “strong message for change” that is actually good for business.

Local government officials, many of whom have turned their backs on the erstwhile dominant Liberal Party and are members or allies of the President’s PDP-Laban party, also sang him praises over his success in curbing crimes.

While the Catholic Church is worried about the alleged cases of extrajudicial killings, Palma, the former president of the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said President Duterte nonetheless made numerous efforts to improve the lives of Filipinos and to combat illegal drugs and crimes.

The 66-year-old prelate particularly cited the President’s attention to the plight of workers, the environment and the services offered by the government.

“He has made serious efforts to curb abuses in trying to make the people and the government work. Majority of our people has given him a very high rating. It’s one of the highest rating a government official has ever has (sic),” he said.

Palma was referring to the recent Social Weather Stations survey that said that three-fourths of voting-age Filipinos were satisfied with President Duterte’s performance, giving him a net satisfaction rating of +64 percent.

In the Visayas, the President’s net satisfaction rating was 62 percent and highest in Mindanao, his home region, at 85 percent. Metro Manila gave the President a net satisfaction rating of 58 percent and the rest of Luzon, 57 percent.

Duterte’s rating in the first quarter of his term is the second highest among the post–People Power presidents.

At roughly the same time in their respective terms, four other presidents earned “very good” satisfaction ratings: Simeon Benigno Aquino III at 60 percent, Joseph Estrada also at 60 percent and Corazon Aquino at 53 percent.

Only Fidel Ramos got higher than Duterte, with 66 percent.
Gloria Arroyo, who became president after Estrada was ousted in 2001, received a rating of 24 percent, which SWS classifies as “moderate.”

Fine-tuning the foul language

But Palma said Duterte’s accomplishments were distracted by the latter’s foul language which needs to be corrected.

“On a personal note, he should not take for granted the way he speaks. I hope it could be fine-tuned. In general, he has a very high rating for people except for his not-so-diplomatic way of speaking,” Palma told reporters after celebrating Mass to welcome the image of the Our Lady of Lindogon at the IEC Pavilion in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City, at noon yesterday.

President Duterte earlier called Pope Francis a “son of a whore” and the Catholic Church a “hypocritical institution.”

In addition, he also lashed out at United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, US President Barack Obama, US ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg and other other government officials.

But Glenn Soco, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that despite the President’s colorful language, he remained highly popular because of his dramatic suppression of crimes on the streets and the drug menace.

Even Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, while still an LP stalwart, described the President’s first 100 days as “so far, so good.”

Near perfect

For his part, Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), described the first 100 days of President Duterte as “successful.”

He gave the president a rate of nine, just a point short of the perfect score.

“Wala namang perfect, eh, kahit sino pang administration (No matter whose administration, no one is perfect),” he told reporters.

Taliño said the government is doing well in its no-nonsense war against illegal drugs.

He said they noted a decrease in almost all crimes in Central Visayas and other parts of the country, citing its relentless campaign against illegal drugs as a major factor.

According to Taliño, the total crime volume in the region has decreased to 26 percent from July to September 2016 compared to the same period last year. The actual figures, however, were not available for publication yesterday.

“Illegal drugs is the mother of all crimes, and 70 percent of the total crimes committed are attributed to the use of illegal drugs,” he said.

“Now, we have seen the impact. All other crimes like robbery, theft, rape and the like have reduced. Incidents of murder, on the other hand, have increased due to the killings related to drugs,” he added.

‘Death Under Investigation’

Based on the records of PRO-7, 113 drug suspects were killed in an alleged shootout with policemen in the provinces of Cebu, Siquijor and Bohol from July 1 to Oct. 3.

At least 130 other drug suspects were gunned down in the region by still-unknown assailants. These cases were docketed as “Death Under Investigation” by the police.

The Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas is investigating at least 40 cases of suspected extrajudicial killings of drug suspects.

But not all drug suspects were killed.

Taliño said about 2,000 individuals were arrested by police for violating different offenses under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 while some 74,000 drug pushers and users surrendered to police authorities in Central Visayas.

“I’m optimistic we would be able to reduce illegal drugs within six months (by the end of December 2016). But we need the support of all sectors to achieve it,” he said.

Taliño, who assumed as PRO-7 director last July 4, said the people can best assess whether or not President Duterte did well in his first 100 days in office.

“(Majority of) Filipinos are satisfied with the President’s performance (as shown in the SWS survey to measure public satisfaction). You yourselves must have experienced the impact of the administration’s programs particularly on the campaign against illegal drugs,” he said.