Panelo: Filipinos admire Duterte's achievements, "The best is still to come"

Spokesperson Salvador Panelo with President Duterte photo from google (ctto)

Presidential Spokesperson and Chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo said President Duterte has achieved much in spite of political criticisms and attempts to take down the President, his achievements and success are unstoppable.

Panelo said the majority of Filipinos still admires the Chief Executive’s achievements in the first half of his term, comprise the crime reduction and the surrender of more than a million drug suspects who undergone drug rehabilitation.

The Spokesperson said Duterte’s accomplishments consist of improvements in the country’s peace and order situation and efforts to knock down the illegal drug trade all over the country.

The President is determined to achieve and accomplish more in the last three years of his tenure, Panelo said.

“The Filipino people can expect the same number of significant achievements, if not more, in the remainder of the President’s term,” he added.

“Even as the majority of Filipinos are in awe of PRRD’s accomplishments, the best is still to come,” Panelo said in a statement.

Panelo added among the major achievements of Duterte was a crime reduction in the country, “to an incredibly low figure.” Last year, 2018, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported a decline of at least nine percent of all crimes committed in the country.

Another achievement of Duterte is, “dismantling the illegal drug industry and apparatus with the voluntary surrender of already more than a million drug personalities and rehabilitating the victims thereof.”

Duterte himself had admitted he could not eradicate the illegal drug trade during his term after initially promising to end it in three to six months.

Yet another achievement by Duterte, according to Panelo, was the pursuit of an independent foreign policy which was made possible by removing subservience to Western powers. Panelo said Duterte’s independent foreign policy had led to better relationships with China, Russia and the Philippines’ neighbors in Southeast Asia.

Panelo added that Dutertenomics had also been proven to be working. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)  growth was average of six percent in 2018.

“Duterte made the Philippines one of the strongest economies and growth leaders in the region by changing its business climate that prompted the influx of foreign investments.” according to Panelo

Panelo also cited the booming Philippine economy to a “Golden Age of Infrastructure” ushered in by Duterte through his P3-trillion “Build, Build, Build” program to accelerate the construction of new and existing projects.

Another achievement by PRRD was the increase in revenue by collecting unpaid fees from some of the biggest businesses in the Philippines, P6 billion from Philippine Airlines and P40 billion from the now collapsed tobacco company Mighty Corp. 

The Philippines under Duterte also earned its highest credit rating, BBB plus from Standard and Poor’s, a credit-rating agency recognized as one of the three biggest in the world.

Source: Inquirer