House allies laud Duterte’s first 50 days but silent on killings

President Rodrigo Duterte. JIGGER JERUSALEM/INQUIRER MINDANAO FILE PHOTO

LAWMAKERS from the majority coalition in the House of Representatives lauded President Duterte for quick changes he has introduced in the first 50 days of his administration.

In a press briefing on Thursday, the majority allies who are also high-ranking officers of the House appropriations committee said they were impressed at how Duterte implemented his campaign promise of cracking down on drugs in nearly two months of his watch.

Duterte vowed to eliminate drugs within the first six months of his term.

“I think, judging by the response of the people, in terms of their trust rating and satisfaction rating, performance rating…they responded very well to the President’s anti-drug campaign down to the purok level,” Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles said.

A chairperson of the House appropriations committee, Nograles said the thousands of drug users surrendering to authorities, as well as Duterte’s issuance of a freedom of information (FOI) executive order covering the executive department, were indications that change has come as the President had promised in his presidential campaign.

“I think the first 50 days of the new President has been very productive and an excellent beginning to his presidency,” Nograles said.

Nograles, however, failed to mention the hundreds of summary killings of drug suspects, some of whom were hogtied and slung with a cardboard signs saying “I am a pusher” and dumped in the streets of the metropolis since Duterte waged the war on drugs.

READ: THE KILL LIST 

For his part, Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat described Duterte’s first 50 days in three words – “shock and awe.”

“Change is here and the President is serious in what he’s doing. And the effect is really shocking to those who are sort of guilty, and awe to those who wanted change,” Lobregat said.

PBA Rep. Mark Sambar said Duterte’s first 50 days provided proof that his promise of change is possible.

“For the first 50 days, our President has delivered on his promise of change. it’s very apparent naman. We have a lot of campaign promises that he made during the campaign period, one by one he’s starting to deliver…,” Sambar said.

Sambar said with the support of Congress, “(Duterte’s) dream of having a very clean, corrupt- and crime-free Philippines is really possible.”

“Nakikita ng tao na pwede pala. I think the 50 days is a good example of that,” Sambar said.

Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas, a member of the erstwhile ruling Liberal Party, said he was impressed that in his own district alone, at least a thousand drug users have surrendered to police in the first 50 days of Duterte’s administration.

“For me, as an LP who’s a member of the majority, so far so good ang performance ng President dito. Particularly sa peace and order. More than 1,000 in my district sumuko voluntarily. Before hirap na hirap ang [mga pulis na] hulihin. In 50 days, more than 1,000 na sumuko. I think that’s a good sign,” Vargas said.

Iloilo Rep. Oscar Garin said Duterte exceeded his expectations for accomplishing a lot in 50 days as opposed to his promise of making an impact in the first six months of his administration.

“It was beyond our expectation that the President did it so fast instead of waiting for six months. Just 50 days, he did it so fast,” Garin said./rga