On Saturday, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar said that — less than two years after his election — all but one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign promises have been fulfilled.
“Four of the promises of the president has been fulfilled. Only one remains,” Andanar said on state-run radio station dzRB.
He was referring to Duterte’s five major campaign promises, which included lowering the crime rate and illegal drugs, lowering the poverty rate, ending corruption, establishing peace and order, and shifting to federalism.
But has the president been as successful as Andanar believes?
While the crime rate and drug use may have gone down in the past year, the country has also seen the rise of extrajudicial killings brought by the war on drugs. According to data from human rights groups, as many as 13,000 people have died in anti-drug operations headed by the Philippine National Police (PNP).
While the PNP says that the death count is actually closer to 3,000, they also said that more than 80 cops have been dismissed since the narcotics crackdown started.
During the radio show, Andanar said that the poverty rate has dipped to 21 percent, but according to the Philippine Star, the data he was referencing came from 2015 — the year before Duterte became president.
A survey by local research institution Social Weather Stations (SWS) also found that more Filipinos experienced hunger in the third quarter of 2017.
But as far as Andanar’s concerned, only the shift to federalism remains unfulfilled.
Some people are concerned that change to the nation’s charter is simply a way for Duterte to hold onto power after his six-year term ends — indeed, some politicians who back the president have already conceded the move will likely necessitate a delay in the next elections — but Andanar insists Duterte will fulfill his promise to step down once the shift to federalism is approved.
“It’s obvious in his body language that he doesn’t like being president. He also said that he is ready to step down once the law is passed,” he said.
However, Duterte also said during his campaign that he would quit if he fails to end corruption, drugs, and criminality in three to six months. We can’t be sure if that was an actual promise or just one of his jokes, but in August last year, he admitted that he was wrong about this self-imposed deadline.
Still, Duterte remains popular with Filipinos. A recent survey by Zurich-based Gallup International Association revealed that the Filipinos are optimistic about the country’s economy, making it to the top five out of 55 countries surveyed in terms of faith in the future. This confirms a study released by SWS late last year that contained similar findings.
