QUEZON City, Philippines (March 8) – As responsible voters, we should know what are the plans and the stance of the candidates who are running for the top post. Let’s get to know more about Rodrigo Duterte, one of the presidential candidates for the 2016 election. Here are some helpful information gleaned from various sources that will help us assess our choices.
Rodrigo “Roda” Roa Duterte is a lawyer and was one of the former mayors of Davao City. Of Visayan descent, he is currently 71 years old. He was born on March 28, 1945 in Maasin, Southern Leyte and a son of Governor Vicente G. Duterte and Soledad R. Duterte. His father served as the Governor of Davao and his mother was a school teacher and a civic leader. He studied at Sta. Ana Elementary School in Davao and then spent his high school at Holy Cross of Digos. He studied in Lyceum of the Philippines for his tertiary education after earning his high school diploma. Later on, he continued studying law in San Beda College and passed the bar exam shortly after.
It was year 1986 when Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was appointed as officer in charge of Davao City following the People Power Revolution until 1988. At the same year, he was elected as a mayor aserved until 1998. In the same year, he ran for the House of Representatives and won a seat at the lower house of the Congress. After his term as a lawmaker, he was re-elected as mayor in 2001 and again in 2004 and 2007. He was never out of politics. Duterte has won many awards including the National Literacy Hall of Fame Award for being a three-time first-place winner in the Outstanding Local Government Unit, Highly Urbanized City category.
According to Duterte, crime in the city was reduced during the period of 1985–2000. He added that there had been a decrease in crime – from a triple-digit crime rate per 1,000 people in 1985 to 0.8 cases per 10,000 inhabitants in the period 1999 to 2005. In 2013, Davao City sent rescue and medical teams to Tacloban to give aid to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, locally known as Yolanda. Financial assistance was also given to Bohol and Cebu for the earthquake victims.
Duterte used city government funds to build a ₱12-million drug rehabilitation and treatment center which provides 24-hour services. In 2003, he offered a ₱2,000 monthly allowance to drug addicts who personally approached him and committed to kick the habit. Duterte is also publicly known for visiting remote New People’s Army camps negotiating peace transaction efforts and advocating diplomacy.
If voted president, Rodrigo Duterte has the following plans for the Philippines, centered on areas like crime, corruption and drugs; economic development; agriculture and fisheries; overseas Filipino workers; the traffic in Metro Manila; education as well as on disasters and climate change.
- On crime, corruption, and drugs
- Increase police salaries to P75,000 to P100,000 within 3 years
- Modernize crime-fighting strategies, like putting CCTVs in major thoroughfares
- Bring back the death penalty for drug trafficking, kidnapping, rape, robbery, homicide
- Pass the Freedom of Information Act
- Lift Bank Secrecy Law for public officials and pass Anti-Dummy Law
- Monitor front-line government offices using real-time video and audio surveillance
- Bring back special criminal courts to speed up resolution of serious crime case.
- On economic development
- Call a constitutional convention, within first year of term, to study the shift to a federal form of government
- Limit requirements for business permits to 5 signatures and impose a 30 to 60-day processing time
- Maintain Conditional Cash Transfer program (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps) but with a livelihood component that will give loans to the poor for small and medium enterprises
- Establish tourism, agricultural, and industrial hubs in the countryside to create jobs
- Introduce Php 1 billion “small capital fund” for every region outside Metro Manila
- Create specialized hospitals (heart, lung, kidney) in Visayas and Mindanao
- On agriculture and fisheries
- Provide free irrigation and subsidized fertilizer and seeds for farmers
- Reduce the cost of food by up to 50% by getting rid of unscrupulous middlemen and loan sharks
- Invest in food terminals with cold storage facilities
- Build Mindanao Railway system
- Create a Department of Fisheries, separate from the Department of Agriculture
- On OFWs and other workers
- No income tax for workers earning P20,000 and below
- Subsidize PhilHealth premiums of farmers, transport workers, and market vendors
- Phase out contractualization
- Create a bank for Overseas Filipino Workers to provide risk- and hassle-free investment opportunities for OFW remittances
- Abolish unnecessary permits and procedures for OFWs (like Overseas Employment Certificate)
- On Metro Manila transportation
- Add more carriages to train lines
- Build fast train linking airports and seaports to Metro Manila
- Develop Clark Airport and Batangas seaport to ease traffic congestion
- On education
- Double salaries of teachers by the end of their term
- Build adequate classrooms, double classroom shifts
- On disasters and climate change
- Create a single, permanent Emergency Response Department in charge of disaster preparedness, relief, and rehabilitation
http://www.rappler.com/nation/politics/elections/2016/118670-rodrigo-duterte-alan-cayetano-platform
http://doonposaamin.ph/articles/people-to-meet/6-things-you-need-to-know-about-davao-city-mayor-rodrigo-duterte
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo_Duterte
(written by Jasmin Monte, edited by Jay Paul Carlos, additional research by Lovely Ann Cruz)
