A new leader, a new beginning

TODAY, June 30, the helm of government changes hands from Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III to Rodrigo R. Duterte.

From the hands of a weakling, the government will be turned over to a very decisive leader who, because of his unorthodox method in dealing with criminals, has dictatorial tendencies.

From a leader who seems to lack compassion for the poor because he was born to the landed gentry, the government will have a leader whose love for the poor might exceed that of President Ramon Magsaysay.

From a leader who improved the economy but did not appear to care much about peace and order, the country will be ruled by a man who will first improve peace and order and instill discipline among the people so that economic progress will follow.

Even if many of you do not like the brash Digong Duterte, let us all wish him success because he will be with us for the next six years.

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To his friends and subordinates, he wants to be called Rody.

But to the masses and his close friends in Davao City, he is called Digong.

Digong is a more appropriate nickname for our new President since there’s a masa (common people) ring to it.

In this column, President Rodrigo Duterte will be called President Digong or Mano (elder brother) Digong.

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President Digong’s administration will not enjoy a honeymoon period with the media as other Presidents had before him.

Yes, Digong and the media have been having a love-hate relationship even before he took his oath.

But then people will have a ringside seat in the “war” between Duterte and the media.

The press plays an adversarial role in state affairs in a democracy.

The intense love-hate relationship between Mano Digong and media men is healthy for the nation.

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One of the promises Mano Digong made before he assumed the presidency was to get his government closer to the people.

Starting today, applications for a business permit, birth or marriage certificates, police or NBI clearance, passport, driver’s license, payment of customs duties, transportation franchise, car registration and other permits will be fast-tracked.

Mano Digong says that in his administration, citizens will not be made to wait for long periods of time when getting documents or permits from government offices.

Let this serve as a warning to Cabanatuan City Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara who, intelligence reports say, enjoys making people and entities applying for business permits wait for months.

Vergara, according to a businessman in the city, would approve a business permit only if “donations” were made to city hall.