In this photo taken in April, makeshift houses line the Manggahan floodway in Pasig City. These houses become submerged in the water during the rainy season. LYN RILLON/INQUIRER
Apart from focusing on the drug war, President Rodrigo Duterte must also pay attention to other priorities, such as traffic, poverty, infrastructure and employment generation, according to analysts interviewed by the Inquirer.
鈥�President Duterte will also have to pour more attention to other urgent problems such as the infrastructure bottlenecks, particularly the traffic woes in the major cities,鈥� said Richard Heydarian, political science professor at De La Salle University, one of four social and political scientists and analysts interviewed by Inquirer Research and Inquirer Mindanao on their take on the President鈥檚 next 100 days.
鈥淚 expect the administration to slowly diversify its political agenda over the coming months, as issues such as poverty, infrastructure, tourism, investment sentiment and employment generation begin to demand more attention,鈥� he added.
Heydarian also said that in terms of foreign relations, he doubts Mr. Duterte would ditch existing security agreements with America and established allies, despite recent diplomatic dust ups.
鈥淸I] expect him to exert more consented effort to reach out to China and Russia in order to diversify Philippine foreign relations,鈥� he added. 鈥淭he disputes in the West Philippine Sea, however, could put constraints on how far he can pivot to China, but expecting some element of normalization in bilateral ties is not far-fetched, at least in the coming months.鈥�
鈥�Poverty is the real culprit,鈥� said University of Santo Tomas political science professor Edmund Tayao. 鈥淧revious administrations have tried to have an impact on the poverty incidence, but it still remains. I hope apart from the drug war and the rehabilitation of the affected, there should also be rewarding livelihood for others previously involved in drug trade. This is a more holistic take on development.鈥�
鈥淚 also hope the government pushes forth with charter change or constitutional reform, and going for a total overhaul instead of piece-meal changes,鈥� he added.
鈥淎s citizens of a neocolony, we are emboldened by presidential pronouncements promising an independent foreign policy. But carving out bigger and more independent spaces for us internationally requires well-thought-out and deliberate moves and speech rather than impulsiveness and political brinkmanship,鈥� said Mags Maglana, development management consultant who also writes a column for a Davao daily.
鈥淭he President should send strong unequivocal signals to his communications team and a few of his front line people to shift from divisive campaigning to more inclusive governance,鈥� Maglana added.
For Ateneo de Manila University鈥檚 Carmel Abao, other priorities should include peace with the Left, federalism, antimining efforts, ending contractualization and foreign policy.
鈥淧eace with the Left is a good priority and should be continued,鈥� said Abao, political science instructor at Ateneo, noting how negotiations started immediately with the temporary release of the Tiamzons and other political detainees.聽鈥淭he only questionable thing is:聽What has happened to the negotiation with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front?聽聽If the government simply wants to continue where the Aquino administration left off,聽they should already be pushing for the Bangsamoro Basic Law.聽聽Or,聽is the negotiation with the MILF simply to be subsumed in the federalism project?鈥�
Abao lauded the government鈥檚 antimining efforts thus far. 鈥淭he Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been calling the attention of several mining companies regarding compliance,鈥� she said.
鈥淎nticontractualization is a good agenda but the proposal of a win-win situation where regularization is to take place at the level of the contracting agency should be rejected.聽This will lead to the legalization and institutionalization of labor-only contracting.聽The Duterte government should first try enforcing compliance of existing labor laws (which prohibits 鈥榚ndo鈥� and labor-only contracting) and enacting a security of tenure law,鈥� Abao added.
As for foreign policy, Abao said that the President must go 鈥渂eyond rhetoric鈥� when it comes to the United States. 鈥淚t is good that he is presenting a critical stance against the US but he has to go beyond the rhetoric regarding the US historical crimes as our colonizers and look to the here and now,鈥� she said.
鈥淎n independent foreign policy does not entail shifting from one dependence to another (i.e. to China and Russia.)聽The Duterte government has to define first what our 鈥渘ational interest鈥� is and establish alliances based on that national interest.聽The Duterte government should not give up our claims on the West Philippine Sea,鈥� she added.
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