New Palace sked

Now that the proclamation process is out of the way, Filipinos are being allowed to peek into the governance style of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and it is certainly not your regular office schedule.

Duterte said at the outset that he will always come home to Davao City after a work-filled day at the Palace which starts after lunch. He won’t require a security contingent though the attendant arrangements for his daily trips to Davao City won’t be easy and cheap.

He explains that he usually sleeps at 1 a.m. and wakes up at 7 a.m. and his mornings are consumed by reading over documents which he insisted should be done carefully.

To be sure, his work schedule invites comparisons to that of former president Joseph Estrada, who reports to work at 9 a.m. and then carries over to his so-called “midnight Cabinet” where the real decisions and deals are made, which had ended up as spurious and highly irregular.

But the comparisons end there. Duterte said his 1 a.m. onwards work schedule will extend not only to meeting and working with department secretaries but also include press conferences that can be held at midnight.

One such press conference was held in Davao City at 3 a.m. with local media, days after he held a commanding lead in the presidential race and his victory was imminent and sure.

We don’t know if he can sustain this unusual work schedule for a year but in one of his interviews Duterte said he needs to get adjusted to working mostly in the Palace in Metro Manila and it would probably take a year for him to do so.

And as President, the rest of the government bureaucracy and the diplomatic corps would have to adjust to his work schedule as well. Nothing short of a major crisis equivalent to (God forbid) a natural calamity on the Yolanda scale or a crucial military offensive can get him to wake him up early.

At least Duterte acknowledged the importance of carefully reviewing every document he will sign as president unlike Estrada who signed papers shoved to him without so much as a close look.

And unlike Estrada, who suffered the ignominy of being ousted from power, Duterte’s choice of work schedule leaves little room for lobbyists with an agenda to sneak in their choice of appointees or deals.

The noon to night work schedule also fits in with his former work schedule in Davao City where as mayor he would take to the streets in the evening to monitor the peace and order situation.

One thing’s for sure and that is as President, Duterte will set the agenda for his administration at his own time and pace. Whatever results come out of it will be seen in the next few months and that’s what really matters to the Filipino people.