What Duterte may discuss with Leni Robredo over dinner

Coming on the heels of her disastrous radio/TV interview with Ted Failon, the honorable dumbass Vice-President has said she has accepted the dinner invitation of the President. The invitation was made at the graduation rites of the PNPA which both of them attended.

[In reference to the Manila Times article So, you want Robredo to be President.]

Much to the consternation of his detractors and political enemies, Duterte's first 9 months in office has been relatively successful compared to his predecessor.

A German Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) hostage and a Korean businessman were killed but Duterte apologized pronto. He doused the flame with water before it could even emit smoke. This is an improvement over his predecessor who wouldn't even take the calls of Hong Kong's administrator then over the Luneta Hostage Crisis.

The independent foreign policy strategy he has crafted is paying off. China and Japan has committed to billions of pesos of official development assistance mostly for infrastructure development. The other day, the President met with the US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim who made an almost billion peso commitment for the development of Mindanao despite the budget cuts at the State Department in line with Trump's America First policy. Duterte will mark his first year in office with solid gains to report in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA).

But his Presidency is being threatened by an impeachment complaint filed by the Magdalo party-list representative. Two of his staunchest supporters in the House of Representatives are feuding and government agencies controlled by his political enemies are still out to indict him for what they claim to be extra-judicial killings in the drug war.

Fitch has maintained the investment grade rating of the country but warns of risk from political instability. His political enemies will manufacture this instability as they will not stop until Duterte is ousted.

Robredo can try and burnish her image all she wants but she will never be ready for the Presidency. Nine months in office and she has no solid achievements to speak of. Her Cabinet stint was lackluster. Even an on the job trainee could've done better as Housing Czar. The Vice-President is all about image and packaging.

The President is the real thing. He governs and leads the way for his Cabinet to work on their stated goals. The biggest challenge is to plug the infrastructure gap and generate employment in order to maintain economic growth and make it more inclusive. This is where the judgment is still out on Duterte.


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RG San Luis as posted on Facebook.