Why a RevGov

The crowd and the numbers tell it all. One survey done prior to November 30, when the pro-revolutionary government came out in hordes to show their support for the revgov, revealed a huge majority of Filipinos favored the radical move to address the ills in the government, crime and the sluggish implementation of infrastructure projects. 





Against the warnings of the usual coterie of political, religious and ideological fronts is the overwhelming percentage of Filipinos willing to gamble and sacrifice  personal freedom and simple luxuries in exchange for the rapid economic development and reforms which are their remaining tickets to a better and comfortable life. 





But then again, there are the underpinning reasons why the respondents accede to a revolutionary government. Survey ng Bayan top honcho, Dr. Gil Ramos, bared that during the regime of Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III respondents were asked whether they would favor a revolutionary government. Ramos said that a low of 42%  agreed while,the rest dissented. The same question was asked by Survey ng Bayan if the revgov were to be declared by Pres. Rodrigo R. Duterte and the answer was startling. A high of 70% said Yes while 26% said No and only 4 % were undecided.  The result of the SnB survey supports the sustained trust rating of the incumbent President reflected in the series of surveys by the Social Weather Station and Pulse Asia. While the methodology of SnB is different from that of SWS and Pulse Asia nevertheless they affirm each other. 





While there are quarters who say that not all who elected Duterte support the idea of a revolutionary government, the survey argues against that for indeed while the claim is true a vast majority of those who did not are, more than ever, confident President Duterte can be trusted he can achieve reforms and accelerate the implementation of government programs. This too reflects the nation’s emerging consciousness on how people, planners, politicians (decision makers) and regulators interplay. 





Planners make design and strategies of developmental goals that politicians want to achieve as what their constituents need. Laws and appropriations are passed by Congress and executed by the Executive Department. Courts, to include the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Commission on Audit act as watchdogs. Ideally this matrix looks fool-proof and assuring goals and plans could be achieved without shenanigans and translated quickly to pulsating realities. 





That now begs the question. Did this matrix work? The answer is written everywhere and the people are screaming too loud the decibels cannot be heard by regulators and corrupt and inept government functionaries.  The litany is endless but let us look at what impact most to the people. 


  - MRT3 problem, the biggest tomfoolery in the transport industry, was designed for train railway and not for a cleverly jointed tram. The politician, regulators (COA) and implementors including the first maintenance provider knew this iniquity but because MRT is a milking cow nobody from among them complain. The solution is to go back to square one. Replace the  coupled trams with train and the railway for even the manufacturer of the trams in Czechoslovakia had long time ago closed shop. That stupid razzmatazz  of having back Sumitomo as maintenance operator will not wash. 


  -Traffic congestion. The Build, Build, Build slogan is only as good as how fast road right of way and relocations can be done. Year 2018 is the start of bidding and construction of various railway, roads, bridges and ports projects. Experience has taught us that Court Restraining orders, Commission on Audit flash alerts and the New People's Army are the biggest deterrent in the fast implementation of projects.


  - License Plates. Even a simple car plate cannot be issued because the corrupt officials of the Aquino administration change the wheel, so to speak, and the Court issued a TRO for eternity with no solution in sight. 


  - Insurgency and crime. The Marawi crisis was effectively dealt with under the aegis of martial law. But we have seen how leftist organizations to include politicians an Human Rights Commission rallied against the measures taken by the military and police on orders of President Duterte. 


  - Slow internet. President Duterte is open to a third player. Facebook, Alibaba, and some big names in the Telecom world had been mentioned but it will take anyone of them at best 2 years to put up the infrastructures. Meantime, government resources are actually available to bridge the gap of time if one has the franchise to operate nationwide. TRANSCO fiber optic cores are idle assets. These however cannot be touched because NGCP claims it has the sole authority to use it. This is hogwash because what NGCP bid for was power facilities. 


  -Power. Expect power rates to shoot up with the imposition of higher tax on coal imports. But the Philippines is endowed with rich resources ready to be tapped but decision is slow. One has to go through a needle's hole before he can drive a single nail. In Mindanao for example, Pulangi hydropower capacity is down to less than 30 %  its normal output because of heavy siltation. Desiltation  is a solution but the process of coming out with that option takes too long. Downstream of Pulangi river are potential sites for hydropower but planners and decision makers including other kibitzers have their say with a single agenda: money, money, money! 


  


The enumerations are long but here we cite only the obvious.  Cory Aquino established a revolutionary government for a single personal agenda: to dissolve congress and establish a government run by herself and her anointed and then hammer what we now call a Cory Constitution. Three decades had elapsed and four Presidents had come and go, the last one institutionalized corruption and abetted crime and drug syndicates, nothing happened. Amidst this saga that the nation went through, emerged a leader from Mindanao known for his iron fist policy in Davao City. He won by 16 million votes against the well-oiled machineries of his  adversaries.





Midway in the first year of his presidency, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, proved to be a leader that even those who did not vote for him wished for. His trust rating was unprecedented. The same people still anchor their confidence on him as reflected in several surveys later. Their trust has obviously not waned. They knew the panacea to what ails the government and derails  projects. The crowd, the numbers and the survey results eloquently demonstrate that while they abhor a revolutionary government under Aquino, they overwhelmingly endorse it under Duterte.