EDITORIAL

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The Duterte legacy

A FEW MONTHS into his six-year presidential term, Rodrigo Duterte is leaving trails of his brand of leadership. Even before inheriting the baton from Benigno Aquino III, Duterte foresaw a federal and drug-free Philippines, all part of the “change” he promised to make once he is in power. It is an ambition so grand and ideal and promising more than 16 million voters rallied behind him.

So it was only expected of the President to intertwine his push for the federal form of government, something he had been advocating even when he was still mayor of Davao City, and his war on drugs. While in Legazpi City on Thursday, Dec. 8, he blamed the unitary system of government for the prevailing “narco-politics.” And the tirade about how the current system, protected by previous governments (which he was, in essence, a part of, having been a local chief executive), failed to avert this “menace” followed.

But deep within this grand scheme is the uncertainty that the administration’s opponents fail to grasp and the supporters refuse to acknowledge: What happens after the country is freed from illegal drugs and federalized? There is plenty of room for second-guessing a government whose sights are nailed on its ultimate goals but is consciously turning a blind eye on the repercussions left by its literally bloody war on drugs and leading the citizens into a form of government only a small fraction of the population truly understands.

While we are all gripped by the crackdown on drugs, the Duterte administration is harnessing on-the-ground human resources to saturate the country with the concept of federalism. In fact, the event he graced in Legazpi was the seventh founding anniversary of the Federalismo Alyansa ng Bayan. He promised to “end my political career of 40 years in the government service” if the Bicolanos can adopt the federal system within two to three years. He wants what would be a “Bicol Federal State” to operate its own resources so these won’t be lost to corruption. If local governance in provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays were any indication of the kind of leadership every Philippine state would have in light of federalism, “change” in the context of Duterte is inoperative and insignificant.

Duterte should be given credit for being resolute in the antidrug campaign, but not for encouraging violence and throwing humanitarian considerations out the window. He should be given credit for envisioning well-managed federal states, but not for burying parts of the picture just to advance what would be a huge executive accomplishment. Right now all we see is a President trying to establish a political legacy, only to leave us when his term ends — or earlier — to deal with the future on our own.
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