Last lap
EXCEPT for 12 members of the Senate, other elected government officials, including President Duterte, have only more than nine months before their terms of office end.
Thus, it would do well for these public servants, many of them seeking reelection in next year’s national and local elections, to now fulfill their poll campaign promises.
And with just 242 days before the 2022 polls, those running for reelection are under pressure to show that they deserve another three or six years in the government service.
They are up against their greatest challenge: Millions of people are jobless and underemployed because of the paralyzing effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The pandemic continues to further sink the country’s heavily- battered economy and threatens the livelihood of more and more people, including our overseas Filipino workers.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the six-year presidency of Mr. Duterte, a former state prosecutor and a long-time mayor of Davao City in Mindanao, ends at 12 noon on June 30, 2022.
It would do well for outgoing President Duterte to devote his remaining days in office going after corrupt public servants and illegal drug personalities as he promised.
In the view of many quarters, the Chief Executive will have the support of the Filipino people in a serious anti-graft and corruption campaign during the last lap of his presidency.
And getting results in the nationwide drive against wrongdoing in the government service means the “big fish” should be brought before the courts and jailed if found guilty.
Dapat lang!
