Please Don't Treat President Duterte Like A Celebrity

I know President Duterte's ratings are going up and Leni Loud's ratings are going down (though a recent SWS survey looks like it was manipulated to say otherwise). But there's one thing that I'd like to criticize about the whole Duterte movement - he's treated like a celebrity instead of a leader. For one, I don't want to call him Tatay Digong, Tito Digong or Lolo Digong but I'd just call him President Digong. Considering how sensationalism is the norm in the Philippines then it'll never work to sensationalize from one president to another. After all, there's a fine line between a Duterte supporter and a Dutertard.

Let's face it: President Duterte has his mistakes. I can't agree with everything he does. I even gave a thought that if I had to choose between him and Panfilo Lacson I'd probably take the latter. Maybe some may have thought Alan Peter Cayetano would have been a better president than him. I would probably have voted for Cayetano over the current president. Lacson or Cayetano would have probably addressed problems more calmly than the current president. Also, he also has some problems in his own home. A popularity contest would have probably made his wayward son Sebastien Duterte take any seat without any credibility whatsoever.

The focus should be "pagbabago" (change) and not popularity. Part of transitioning from the popularity driven presidential system for the credibility based parliamentary system is to think of President Duterte as a flawed person who's doing his best to clean the country. He should take accountability over unfulfilled promises. Besides, Duterte is not the "last hope" of the country. He's already aged and another six years for him may be a burden. It's time to talk about planned succession to look for a competent head of state to replace him soon and perform better than he did. That is don't choose anyone just because they're a Duterte but because he or she can definitely carry out the Three Point Agenda.

The three point agenda should consider improving what President Duterte has done, correcting his mistakes and focusing on federalism for less congestion, economic liberalization to produce more jobs and revenues for the Philippines, and replacing the popularity-driven presidential system for the credibility driven parliamentary system.