Duterte not consulting Cabinet?

Our unsolicited advice to President Duterte: Keep your rants limited to the illegal drug trade and rampant criminality.

Eliminating those problems was Du30’s battle cry during the election campaign period. That is what his more than 16 million voters expected him to do.

To recall, whenever he was asked about his plans for the economy, he was quick to respond that he was no expert in that area and would have to rely on more knowledgeable people to assist him. Ditto with respect to foreign affairs and international relations.

So why, for Pete’s sake, is he now talking about half-baked economic reforms and “abrogating” international agreements without first consulting his Cabinet? Worse, he is on national TV almost every day mouthing expletives, not only against drug traders and criminals but also against democratic leaders, while being all praises for the communist countries China and Russia?

Mr. Duterte’s pathetic alter egos are frequently heard “spinning” his words for the opposite interpretation—only to be refuted at his subsequent public diatribes. Under normal circumstances, Cabinet secretaries with some sense of self-respect and decency would line up to tender their resignations. Quo vadis, Filipinas?

DINO M. CAPISTRANO, [email protected]