THE BEAUTY OF REV POWERS

By Jose Alejandrino

I had written much earlier after Duterte assumed the presidency that the key to raising his popularity, from 39 percent of the electoral votes he had obtained, was through continuous achievements. I was right. After a year of achievements in office, his popularity and trust ratings in opinion polls soared to the 80s. Four out of five Filipinos were behind him. I also said that with the people behind him, the military, which is the protector of the people, will support them, despite the attempts of Antonio Trillanes to alienate it and the PNP from Duterte. As Trillanes said to Bato, "Duterte won't always be there to protect you."

I also wrote recently that ultimately the president will have to fall back on the support of the people since the politicians cannot be trusted. The president's party, the PDP-Laban, was a moribund party. It was resuscitated by riding on the coattails of Duterte's victory. Many LP shifted to the PDP-Laban for convenience not out of principles. It was the same in the past. After Marcos was deposed, his KBL disintegrated. After Cory endorsed Ramos, her LDP broke up. Philippine politics always gravitated around personalities, a continuous flow from the weak to the strong. If tomorrow Leni Robredo became president, many in the PDP-Laban would jump back to the LP. Were the Pimentels not originally with Cory?

This is why I do not believe we will have meaningful change unless the people give Duterte rev powers. Congress will become an obstacle. The House, despite Speaker Alvarez's efforts, is made up of so many balimbings with their own agenda. Members like Rudy Farinas see themselves as a special class of citizens who should have their special police to wade them through traffic. As for the Senate, it has become a platform for those with presidential ambition to grandstand. With few exceptions, its members are brainless or candidates for the mental asylum. They have brought disrepute to what was once a distinguished body with the likes of Claro M Recto, Pepe Diokno, and Letty Shahani, that today the Senate has shown itself to be useless just wasting taxpayers money on hearings that hardly contributed in aid of legislation. The amazing thing is the Senate allows its charades to continue instead of cleaning house.

Two years on to the Duterte administration, the Opposition continues to destabilize the country. A top Filipino businessman who returned to China and frequently asks for my analysis regarding the situation in the Philippines told me today by phone, "Many Chinese want to invest but they are worried by what is going on. They're putting their investments on hold till they see what Duterte is going to do."

The same message was delivered to me by British and Spanish investors. They told me, "Duterte has a bad press here. We're confused. It looks like a mess. He should put some order now because this is the time. With Brexit and events in Catalonia, many are thinking of moving their money to Asia. If the Philippines is a mess, they will go elsewhere like Vietnam and your country will be left out."

I told them, "I've been advocating rev powers for Duterte for a year now so he can clean up the mess. I've been saying he should be given them for a limited period until we have a new Constitution. If the people give them, I'm convinced the destabilization will end. But things in the Philippines move slowly like the carabao. It takes two years for an idea to gestate here. It took two years before the Filipinos revolted after Rizal was executed. It took two years for Edsa to happen after Ninoy Aquino was assassinated. We are now going into the second year of Duterte's term. So hopefully something will happen. Many Filipinos are fed up."

Inshallah, they said.