Despite his unpresidential demeanor, profane language, abusive rhetoric and flawed policy statements, President Rodrigo Duterte, in his own inscrutable way, has held the nation together one year into his incumbency.

The President has galvanized a vast majority to believe in his campaign promise that “change is coming”. The people still await the coming of authentic change.

Meanwhile, the President’s popularity/trust rating has started to erode as people fail to see the fulfillment of his campaign promises and post-election agenda, which include the following:

1. Immediate solution to the drug menace;

2. End to the traffic mess;

3. Obliteration of “endo” and rampant contractualization;

4. Forging of peace agreements with the CPP-NDF and the Muslim separatists;

5. Implementation of a 10-point socioeconomic agenda;

6. Pursuit of an independent foreign policy; and

7. Alleviation and eventual eradication of poverty;

Drug menace has not been subdued, even as EJKs continue unabated

President Duterte undertook that within three months of his assumption to office he would eradicate the drug problem. He failed within the said period and asked for a six-month extension, which has already expired. Yet, the drug menace has not been subdued.

He refuses to realize that the drug menace is both a health and poverty issue, not simply a police matter.

He has relentlessly embarked on a deadly campaign against drug users and traffickers. This violent policy has dismally failed in other countries like Thailand, Columbia, and Mexico.

After the victims of extra-judicial killings have reached more than 7,000, media and other concerned institutions have stopped counting. Extra-judicial killings related to the deadly campaign against drugs invariably result to human rights violations and disrespect for the rule of law.

It is for this reason that the latest review by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva last 08 May 2017, 45 out of 47 member countries of the UNHRC recommended that the human rights violations committed in relation to the drug campaign in the Philippines must be investigated. The two sole dissenters where China and the Philippines.

The submission by the Philippine government of “alternative facts” and its redefinition of EJK as the killing of political activists only were rejected by the UNHRC. The definition of the government of EJK defies the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (UN OHCHR) definition of EJK, which is the “deprivation of life without full judicial and legal process, and with the involvement, complicity, tolerance, or acquiescence of the Government or its agents”. It also covers “death through the excessive use of force by police or security forces”. But government limits victims of EJKs to cause-oriented persons, obviously contrary to the UN OHCHR’s definition.

No light at the end of the tunnel for traffic mess

Putting an end to the traffic mess was only a good election promise to win the presidency. The traffic gridlock, particularly in Metro Manila, intensifies daily up to a point of almost standstill. Considerable man-hours, opportunities, and fuel are lost or wasted due to the traffic chaos. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has documented that P2.4 billion daily is lost due to the traffic mess and this could balloon to P6 billion a day by 2030.

Labor power is still sacrificed to “endo” and contractualization

One of the oft-repeated vows of presidential candidate Duterte was that he was going to stop the illegal practice of “endo” which is the pre-termination of an employment contract or relation by the employer before the worker attains six-month tenure to qualify him as a regular employee. This gave hope to the workers who gave him their votes.

“Endo” has not been completely eradicated. Its perniciousness still exists. This is compounded by the rampant practice of contractualization wherein a service contractor provides workers to the end-user capitalist. The promulgation of Department Order (D.O.) 174 last March did not outlaw contractualization but merely intensified its regulation by requiring independent service contractors to have adequate capital and the wherewithal of production like machines, tools, and equipment.

While D.O. 174 continues to outlaw labor-only contracting, where the labor contractor is a mere alter ego of the principal employer, it reinforces the trilateral work relationship among the principal (end-user capitalist), an independent contractor and the workers.

Contractualization remains an instrument of exploitation of labor. Instead of affording workers the right to sell their labor power directly to the capitalist end-user, they are forced to sell cheap to the middleman.

According to the labor umbrella organization Nagkaisa, the “solution to contractualization is to do away with middlemen altogether, may they be called labor-only contractors or legitimate service providers. They (labor contractors) are a superfluity serving no productive function except to add another layer to the sale of labor power.”

Under Article 106 of the Labor Code, the “Secretary of Labor may, by appropriate regulations, restrict or prohibit the contracting out of labor to protect the rights of workers established under this Code.” Hence, there is even no need for legislation to outlaw all forms of contractualization.

Peace accords nowhere in sight

One of the campaign promises of President Duterte, which was initially taking off, was the peace settlement with the CPP-NDF. But the peace talks are now back to the drawing board.

The projected peace accord with the Muslim separatists has not even started when martial law was declared in Marawi City and the entire Mindanao. The precipitate and unwarranted declaration of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao have pushed back the peace settlement with the mainstream Muslim insurgents farther to the periphery.

Socioeconomic agenda remains at the launching pad

While the GDP growth rate slid from 7.1% in the third quarter of 2016 to 6.6% in the fourth quarter and to 6.4% in the first quarter of 2017, the figures are still respectable or at least tolerable.

Philippine economic performance in the maiden year of the Duterte administration is not bad. Without underscoring the obvious, the present administration has inherited strong economic fundamentals from the previous administrations. For this reason, the first in the socio-economic agenda is to “continue and maintain current macroeconomic policies, including fiscal, monetary, and trade policies.”

Except for Agenda No. 10 – “strengthen implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law” – which the President unequivocally pursued with his issuance of Executive Order 12 (“Attaining and Sustaining Zero Unmet Need for Modern Family Planning Services Through the Strict Implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act, Providing Funds Therefor and for Other Purposes”) on 09 January 2017, the implementation of many of the other items has barely scratched the surface.

For example, Phase 1 of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) under House Bill No. 5636 was approved by the House of Representatives on third reading on 31 May 2017 or the last session day before its mandatory adjournment.

House Bill No. 5636 failed to fully provide enabling provisions mitigating the adverse impact of new revenues on the vulnerable sectors.

While the low-income earners will not benefit from the reduction of the income tax rate because they are already tax-exempt, they will suffer the cascading effects of the increased excise tax on petroleum products as the prices of basic goods and services will become more expensive, including transport and mass housing.

This tax measure is still pending in the Senate despite the supermajorities in both Chambers. The First Regular Session of the 17th Congress ended without this tax bill, which is part of the administration’s socio-economic agenda, having been enacted.

Another item in the socioeconomic agenda is to “accelerate annual infrastructure spending to account for 5% of GDP, with public-private partnerships playing a key role”. It has been recently reported that not a single new PPP project has been implemented by the Duterte administration.

Moreover, the “build, build, build” mantra of the Duterte administration is hardly compatible with a “kill, kill, kill” order.

Independent foreign policy: Independence from the United States and subservience to China and Russia

It is unbelievable that President Duterte’s concept of “independent foreign policy” is belittling or even rejecting traditional diplomatic and trade partners like the United States and countries belonging to the European Union (EU), and unquestionably tying the knot with China and Russia.

President Duterte’s dalliance with China is particularly worrisome. He was pathetic when he admitted helplessness when Chinese President Xi Jinping threatened to go to war if the Philippines would enforce its sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.

Helplessness is never an option as recourse to the United Nations and enforcement of international agreements are readily available.

The problem of the President is compounded because he could have succumbed to a barefaced bluff, as China would not go ballistic in the face of certitude of international sanctions and counter-military actions from Philippine allies.

Duterte’s acceptance with alacrity of the Chinese promises of aid and investments appears to be in exchange for not enforcing the arbitral award of the United Nations-supported Permanent Court of Arbitration in favor of the Philippines over the vast and resource-rich areas of the West Philippine Sea, including the Philippine Rise, formerly called Benham Rise.

Sacrificing Philippine sovereignty for contingent aid and investment from an expansionist and militarist China is definitely not a measure of an independent foreign policy.

Mass poverty still stalks the land

Change has certainly not come for millions of poor Filipino families one year after President Duterte assumed power. The March 2017 SWS survey on self-rated poverty shows that more Filipino families consider themselves poor compared to three months earlier in December 2016.

The latest SWS survey reveals that 50% of the survey respondents or an estimated 11.5 million families rated themselves poor, a marked increase from the 44% or 10 million families in the December 2016 survey.

This is the first time that self-rated poverty increased since 2014. SWS emphasized that self-rated poverty had either been steady or declining for nine consecutive quarters – from the fourth quarter of 2014 to the fourth quarter of 2016.

The survey also showed that 35% or 8.1 million families consider themselves to be “food-poor”, a 1% rise from the December 2016 survey. This 1% increase translates to 400,000 additional families.

No administration can claim success if mass poverty persists or even aggravates.