President Rodrigo Duterte. MALACAÑANG FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY—Amid the rising death toll in the war on illegal drugs, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma on Sunday gave President Duterte a passing grade based on his overall performance in the last 100 days.
“I should say more than 6,” Palma said, smiling when asked to rate the President’s performance on a scale of 1 to 10.
While the Catholic Church is worried about the alleged cases of extrajudicial killings, Palma said Mr. Duterte nonetheless had made numerous efforts to improve the lives of Filipinos, citing his attention to the plight of workers, the environment, and government services.
“He has made serious efforts to curb abuses in trying to make the people and the government work. Majority of our people has given him a very high rating. It’s one of the highest rating a government official has ever had,” said Palma, 66, a former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
Palma was referring to the recent Social Weather Stations survey that said 76 percent of respondents were satisfied with Mr. Duterte’s performance—the second highest among the post-Edsa Presidents after Fidel Ramos.
“On a personal note, he should not take for granted the way he speaks. I hope it could be fine-tuned. In general, he has a very high rating for people except for his not-so-diplomatic way of speaking,” Palma told reporters after celebrating Mass to welcome the image of Our Lady of Lindogon at the International Eucharistic Congress Pavilion in Barangay Mabolo.
Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, police director in Central Visayas, described Mr. Duterte’s first 100 days as “successful.”
Taliño said the total crime volume in the region had decreased to 26 percent from July to September 2016 compared with the same period last year, citing the antinarcotics campaign as a major factor.
“Illegal drugs is the mother of all crimes, and 70 percent of the total crimes committed are attributed to the use of illegal drugs,” he said.
“Now, we have seen the impact. All other crimes like robbery, theft, rape and the like have reduced. Incidents of murder, on the other hand, have increased due to the killings related to drugs,” he added.
He said 113 drug suspects were killed in alleged shootouts with policemen in the provinces of Cebu, Siquijor and Bohol from July 1 to Oct. 3. At least 130 killings blamed on unknown assailants are under investigation.
Evangelist Bro. Eddie Villanueva, speaking at his birthday party in Bocaue, Bulacan, on Saturday, expressed concern about drug-related killings.
The leader of the Jesus Is Lord Church said too many drug suspects had been killed in police operations, and urged law enforcers not to take advantage of the President’s popularity by murdering criminals.
“Criminals who are not given the chance to repent go straight to hell and that should not be the case,” said the evangelist, who ran and lost in the 2004 and 2010 presidential elections. —WITH A REPORT FROM TONETTE OREJAS