Govt boasts Duterte’s legacy achievements
Credit to Author: Catherine S. Valente, TMT| Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2020 17:08:23 +0000
The government on Friday boasted the “impressive” achievements of President Rodrigo Duterte during his “fruitful” years in office.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar and other Cabinet officials presented the government’s gains and accomplishments on peace and order and social services during the launch of the “Duterte Legacy” campaign on Friday.
In his keynote speech, Andanar said the President had fulfilled his promises “with great resolve and confidence.”
Duterte “is the face, the voice and the spirit of a nation that has been revived from lethargy and indifference, toward a horizon of positive and meaningful change,” he added.
The government’s accomplishments, Andanar said, were indicative of a continuing legacy that shall persist for the remainder of the President’s term.
“The Commander in Chief is in command, and this is his continuing legacy,” he added.
The Duterte Legacy campaign, initiated by the Presidential Communications Operations Office, intends to promote the government’s accomplishments in bringing “real change” to the lives of Filipinos.
It focuses on the three key pillars of the Duterte administration’s legacy — peace and order, infrastructure development, and poverty alleviation.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea stressed that the President’s vision for a better Philippines “is already a reality.”
“The Duterte administration is driven by radical change, marked with multiple milestones in progress and development,” he said in his opening remarks.
Medialdea noted that poverty incidence fell to 21 percent in the first half of 2018 from 27.6 percent in the same period of 2015.
He added that the administration’s Build, Build, Build program “paved the way for the implementation of high-impact flagship projects that propel equitable growth and development in the country.”
Medialdea also highlighted the administration’s efforts to improve access to quality and affordable healthcare, free college tuition and other social services in the past three years.
He said the law creating the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with larger territory and greater fiscal powers had finally been passed after two decades of peace negotiations.
Among the Cabinet members at the event were National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Education Secretary Leonor Briones, Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones.