Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Sunday, April 10 reiterated his belief that President Duterte was able to fulfill most of the promises he made when he ran for the country’s top government position during the May 2016 elections.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and other challenges, Go, Duterte’s former assistant, said the country’s leader did his best noting the accomplishments made by the Duterte administration for the Filipino people.
“Marami po siyang na-deliver sa kanyang mga pangako. Ako po ay saksi at saksi ang taumbayan dito. Tanungin n’yo na lang po ang inyong mga kapitbahay kung nakakalakad na ba sila sa gabi — hindi tulad noon na takot tayo sa kriminal (He was able to deliver his promises. I, and the people, are witnesses here. Just ask your neighbors if they can walk at night—unlike before we are scared to go out because of criminals),” Go explained.
“Ngayon, ang kriminal po ang dapat matakot — sila po ang walang karapatan na maglakad sa gabi. Ang taumbayan naman ay gustong mabuhay ng tahimik — sila po ang may karapatan (Now, it’s the criminals who should be scared—they have no right to roam the streets at night. The people want a peaceful life—they have that right),” he reiterated.
The senator also stressed that while it has been difficult to achieve all of the President’s promises because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Duterte administration was still able to score significant gains in different areas, such as in infrastructure development, poverty reduction, fighting corruption, and peace and order, among others.
“If not for the pandemic na dumating sa buhay natin, ‘yun lang talaga ang pinakasagabal sa lahat. Kung hindi dumating itong pandemya ... ang ganda na po ng lipad natin. Biglang bumagsak lang (If not for the pandemic that entered our lives, that was the only setback to all of these gains. If this pandemic did not happen...we could have soard. But we went down),” Go lamented.
“Ngayon po, unti-unti na tayong umaangat at hopefully tuluy-tuloy po ito hanggang pagtapos ng termino ng ating mahal na Pangulo (But now, we are slowly recovering and hopefully we can sustain this until the end of the President’s term),” he added.
The senator also pointed out that six years is a short period for the President to complete all of his plans and programs for the country. Nevertheless, the lawmaker reitarated that most of the President’s campaign promises have been satisfied.
“Campaign promise ni Pangulong Duterte, campaign against drugs, campaign against criminality, campaign against corruption in the government. Tinutupad n’ya po ‘yun... Napakaikli ng anim na taon para tapusin n’ya ito totally — mahirap po, pero ginawa n’ya po lahat sa abot ng kanyang makakaya (he was able to fulfill it. Six years is a short time to totally eradicate it—it’s difficult but he did his very best),” he noted.
“Di ko naman masasabing perpekto dahil marami naman talagang sagabal. Marami kang gustong gawin na kabutihan pero meron talagang sagabal d’yan sa lahat (It wasn’t perfect because there were some hindrances. You want to do so much but there would really be hindrances in everything),”
“Pero very good — enough na po —ibig sabihin, nine out of ten promises po ang natupad (But it was very good—it’s enough—meaning nine out of 10 of his promises were fulfilled),” Go emphasized.