FIRST CABINET MEETING President Rodrigo Duterte gives marching orders to his Cabinet officials.聽PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS DIVISION
Forget special treatment and put an end to online gambling.
These are two of Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 first marching orders to the members of his Cabinet as he spelled out his plan of government to them hours after he took his oath as the 16th President of the Republic.
鈥淣ot because of anything, I don鈥檛 want to be treated as important. We should treat ourselves just like any other Filipino traveler,鈥� Mr. Duterte told his Cabinet secretaries at their first聽 meeting in Malaca帽ang.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want special treatment. There鈥檚 no stopping of activities just because of somebody,鈥� he said in English and Filipino.
As if mimicking his predecessor鈥檚 鈥渘o wangwang鈥� (no siren) policy, Mr. Duterte ordered Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade to instruct the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to scrap the 鈥渘o-fly zone鈥� protocol at the airports to accommodate presidential flights.
A 30-minute delay in the flights to give way to an inbound or outbound VIP flight may lead to the cancellation of other flights, particularly in airports that don鈥檛 have nighttime runway operations, he said.
鈥淚 want this stopped,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e should not be treated different from the other suffering Filipino passengers. It鈥檚 not good.鈥�
鈥淚f anyone of us is given priority to takeoff, then we should thank them. But we should also share everyone鈥檚 travail. We should fall in line,鈥� he added.
Commercial flights
The President said he planned to take commercial flights in going around the country. He said he was not keen on buying a private plane despite offers from some supporters.
Mr. Duterte told Tugade to study the possibility of building a new road network to make travel from Metro Manila to Clark Field, in Pampanga province, faster.
He said some domestic flights may be diverted to Clark International Airport 鈥渟o that flights will not flood鈥� Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the country鈥檚 premier air gateway.
Said the President: 鈥淚n the meantime, we have to remedy the overcrowding at Naia. We really have only one airport. It鈥檚 Naia. Period. And it services the entire country and all of the airplanes going to Manila.鈥�
Like his previous late-night press briefings, Mr. Duterte鈥檚 meeting with his Cabinet, the first few minutes of which was aired live by the state-owned People鈥檚 Television Network, was a freewheeling discussion on a hodgepodge of topics.
From talking about the sorry plight of the country鈥檚 airports, Mr. Duterte shifted to his experiences in bringing assistance to Leyte province after the province was flattened by Supertyphoon 鈥淵olanda鈥� (international name: Haiyan) in November 2013.
He said he was dismayed at the government鈥檚 response to the disaster, noting that not one of the Navy鈥檚 vessels was deployed when he arrived in Tacloban City a few days after the powerful typhoon struck.
鈥淲hat really surprised me, bewildered me, was when I met a soldier who asked me, 鈥楳ayor, do you have water?鈥� I knew then that it was the problem,鈥� Mr. Duterte said.
鈥淚 am not trying to condemn anybody but鈥�,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o the resources must be on deck, positioned nearby. If you can draw the path of the typhoon and deploy the assets of the government, what鈥檚 important is that there鈥檚 clean water and (ready-to-eat) food.鈥�
Mr. Duterte then went on to discuss his plan to curb online gambling and the activities of 鈥渇ixers鈥� in government agencies, particularly the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
Stop to online gambling
The President said he would order the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to rescind the permits that the previous administration had awarded to companies operating online gambling.
鈥淥nline gambling must stop鈥� I don鈥檛 want the proliferation of gambling in the country,鈥� he said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no way for the government to collect taxes from online gambling anyway. How do you collect tax [from online gambling]?鈥� he asked.
The President also reiterated his disgust at the sight of people lining up at government offices to submit documents or ask for聽 state assistance.
Instead of wasting their time lining up, he said,聽 stubs should be given to people who are submitting documents or applying for permits.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to see Filipinos queueing, lining up,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey should be given a shopping list if they鈥檙e ignorant or don鈥檛 know anything. Then after completion, they will go there for their application or clearance.鈥�
The President disclosed his plan to set up emergency hotline 8888, which would be manned by 10 telephone operators tasked to assist people during emergencies.
Cabinet officials
Among the Cabinet officials who attended the meeting were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pi帽ol, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones, Labor聽 Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Russel-Ubial, Trade聽 Secretary Ramon Lopez, Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, Environment Secretary Regina Paz Lopez.
Interior Secretary Ismael Sue帽o, Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo, Transportation聽 Secretary聽 Arthur Tugade, Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato de la Pe帽a, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, National Economic and Development Authority Director General Ernesto Pernia, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ramon Salalima, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella.
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo Jr., Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., special assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go and Presidential Communications Office chief Martin Andanar.