MANILA, July 14 — Two of the administration’s most notable achievements under Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s first year in office are the war against illegal drugs and the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program, according to some senators.
“Number one (achievement) of course, the ever favorite war against drugs. I think looking at the surveys, the public opinion and poll surveys more or less is hovering at 80 percent na nagpapakita na ang mga kababayan natin feels safe (that show that our citizens fee safe),” Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said in a press conference.
He was referring to the poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) Survey for the first quarter of 2017 which showed that 80 percent of Filipinos still trusted the President.
Gatchalian, former mayor of Valenzuela City, described the administration’s aggressive campaign against illegal drugs as “quite a feat” noting that citizens he has spoken to tell him that they indeed felt safe walking the streets at night compared to before.
The senator, however, said that to sustain the drug war is another question.
“…We have to make sure meron tayong (that we have) institutions to sustain this. We have to make sure this is sustainable,” he added.
Aside from the drug war, also laudable was the administration’s Build, Build, Build program which is meant to usher in the Golden Age of Infrastructure in the Philippines.
“…Ang mga malalaking projects tulad ng subway, north rail, south rail, Mindanao rail, these are all our dreams before pero ngayon meron ng launching date (Big projects like a subway, north rail, south rail, Mindanao rail, these are all our dreams before but now we have a launching date). I think this is also quite an achievement,” the senator said.
Gatchalian again reiterated the importance of making the program “sustainable” noting that it should go beyond “SONA (State of the National) purposes.”
“How do you sustain it for the next five years? And the next administration should also benefit from that sustainability,” he added.
Sen. Nancy Binay, like Gatchalian, said that the Build, Build, Build program would definitely “stimulate” the economy.
“…Iyong project na Build, Build, Build. Iyon talaga ang makakapag-stimulate ng ating ekonomiya. So, iyon, for me, ang landmark (The Build, Build, Build project. That’s what’s going to stimulate our economy. So, for me, that’s the landmark achievement),” Binay said in an interview. (Azer N. Parrocha/PNA)
