MANILA – Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the best is yet to come in President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration as he entered his fourth year of presidency on Sunday.
Panelo bragged the achievement of Duterte in his first three years in office, which included reduced crime rate, fighting prevalence of illegal drugs, and initiating strategies “to thwart the local communist rebellion from spreading and crushing attempts of terrorism originating from different parts of the globe.”
“While the President has given priority to the improvement of peace and order in the country, he laid the foundation that will propel the nation to progress and reach new heights,” Panelo said.
He enumerated Duterte’s other achievements in free tuition in state universities and colleges, free irrigation to farmers, free internet access in public places, institutionalization of feeding programs for public school students, universal health care program, free medicines and financial support to indigent patients, mandatory Philhealth coverage for persons with disabilities, huge and unparalleled subsidies in favor of government hospitals, increase of SSS pensions for seniors, improvement of the wages of government employees, doubling the salaries of soldiers, policemen, jail officers and firemen, prohibition on illegal labor subcontracting resulting in the regularization of hundreds of thousands of workers and establishment of work-from-home arrangements.
Duterte also signed into law Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and the Magna Carta of the Poor, while thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) were repatriated and given assistance as the administration also established OFW bank.
The President distributed Certificates of Land Ownership Award to thousands of agrarian reform beneficiaries and farmers. He also pushed Congress to legislate for the return of the coco levy fund in favor of coconut farmers through a trust fund.
Duterte helped in making the country “one of the strongest economies and growth leaders in the region, by changing its business climate that prompted the influx of foreign investments thereby ushering the Golden Age of Infrastructure in the country with his Build Build Build Program.”
“Under his leadership, the Philippines earned the highest credit rating in our economic history with a BBB+ upgrade from global debt watcher Standard and Poor’s,” Panelo said.
Duterte also “pursued an independent foreign policy by means of removing our country’s subservience to the West,” citing the return of Balangiga bells from the United States, and the reshipment of trash back to Canada.
“The President has done all these (and these are just some examples) in his three years of national service, while giving his critics and detractors the free space to air their grievances,” Panelo said.
“Much has been done in the past three years. The Filipino people can expect the same number of significant achievements, if not more, in the remainder of the President’s term. Even as the majority of the Filipinos are in awe of PRRD’s accomplishments, the best is still to come,” added Panelo./PN
