Duterte has his share of incompetent officials

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has joined local and international human rights groups in decrying the extrajudicial killings.

Police and vigilantes have killed thousands of people involved in the drug trade — users, pushers and traffickers — since President Digong launched a relentless crackdown when he assumed office in June last year.

As in any war, some innocent people or civilians are killed in the crossfire or mistaken for the enemy as in the case of 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos who was killed by eager beaver Caloocan City cops.

Years from now as the country looks back objectively at these critical times, people will profusely thank Digong for his resolve in ending the drug menace.

When we feel safe in our homes and in the streets because the government has gotten rid of drug-crazed criminals, we will appreciate how this President is standing up to criticisms over his unconventional way of handling the drug menace.

Despite all the flak he’s getting from bleeding hearts, President Digong’s popularity and trust ratings are high.

Why? Because the majority of the population thinks Digong is doing it for the common good.

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Like all good leaders, Digong is not without flaws.

He has placed the wrong people in key positions: Nicanor Faeldon as Bureau of Customs chief, Caesar Dulay as Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) commissioner, Ronald dela Rosa as the Philippine National Police director general, Martin Diño as chair of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Salvador Medialdea as executive secretary and Vit Aguirre as justice secretary.

Diño, a former barangay chair, has defied Medialdea’s order for him to be transferred to the Department of Interior and Local Governments as undersecretary for local governments.

Diño claims only the President—and not Medialdea—can remove him as SBMA chair because he stood in for Digong when the latter hesitated to file his certificate of candidacy for president.

Medialdea slinks into a corner whenever Diño invokes the President’s supposed debt of gratitude toward him.

Faeldon, who was forced to resign after the President’s allies in Congress asked for his head, was “natutulog sa pansitan (sleeping on the job)” when a shipment of P6.4 billion worth of “shabu” (crystal meth) passed through customs.

Dulay, who was the President’s dormmate in law school, thinks that having a tax compromise with a big multinational company meant reducing its tax payment from P30 billion to just P65.4 million.

Dela Rosa, whose moniker is “Bato” or Rock, is a crybaby and doesn’t inspire respect from his subordinates and the citizenry.

Aguirre, who graduated at the top of his law class, is a bit inarticulate and sometimes talks out of line.

The officials I just mentioned are not the only inept ones in Digong’s government; it would fill up this small space if I mentioned all of them.