The challenges come from within and outside the government.
One threat is that 20 big-time crime lords, mostly involved in illegal drugs, are reportedly raising a P1-billion fund for the heads of Duterte, his anointed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, a senator and another government official.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the country’s top crime lords, including those inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), were contributing to the kill-Duterte fund.
The 71-year-old Duterte has promised to neutralize criminality within three to six months of his presidency. He particularly mentioned those in the Bilibid Prison who have been able to continue producing and trading prohibited drugs even while detained.
The fund-raising came after Duterte offered rewards for every drug lord or pusher killed. Duterte promised P5 million for every dead drug lord, P3 million if arrested alive and P50,000 each for small-time pushers.
Apart from Duterte and his incoming PNP chief Roland dela Rosa, also included in the kill-list were former Justice Secretary now Senator Leila de Lima and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Ricardo Rainier Cruz III. De Lima led the first of the series of raids inside Bilibid where authorities discovered some inmates living in “suite-like” kubols with appliances, hot tubs, gadgets and more.
Because of the first raid, 19 high-profile inmates, mostly drug lords, were transferred to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) while Building 14, a highly secured facility inside NBP, was being constructed. After the construction, the 19 inmates were moved back to the NBP and detained at Building 14, isolated from other inmates.
Of more concern, however, is the infighting within the Duterte ranks.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, for example, has expressed resentment in the way Duterte is tyreating Sen. Bongbong Marcos, his rival to the vice presidency.
Cayetano said the statement from Marcos that he was considered for a Cabinet position in the Duterte presidency proves that the incoming official family of the president does not have all the “best and the brightest.”
Cayetano himself had been promised the foreign affairs portfolio after the one-year constitutional ban on appointments of losing candidates.
“Our president wants the best and the brightest. It’s up to the president who he would appoint,” Cayetano said. But when asked if he thinks Marcos belongs to the “best and the brightest,” Cayetano replied: “It doesn’t matter what I think. You know what I think. It’s what he (Duterte) thinks. He is the appointing authority.”
Marcos was the subject of Cayetano’s tirades during the campaign period. He attacked Marcos’s alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam as well as the ill-gotten wealth of his family.
Both Marcos and Cayetano lost to Liberal Party vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo.
Another threat comes from traditional politicians who have been used to switching loyalties to Duterte’s side.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, who chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) Episcopal Commission on the Laity, said on Radio Veritas that political turncoats manage to stay in power by aligning themselves with every new administration. “Sa bagong Presidente, maging maingat siya sa mga balimbing. Ang dami ngayong pulitiko na pumapanig sa kanya kaya yung kanyang programa ng pagbabago ay hindi mangyayari kung kukunin niya rin ‘yung mga dating pulitiko, ‘yung mga balimbing na ngayon na siya ang nauuna sila naman ay pupunta naman sa kanya, dito makikita natin ang pagkatrapo sa mga pulitiko,” Pabillo said.
In the past two weeks, politicians from other parties have been jumping into the PDP-Laban, the party that carried Duterte’s presidential bid.
Some political parties like the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) founded by businessman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. and Nacionalista Party (NP) of former Senator Manuel Villar Jr. have signed coalition agreements with PDP-Laban.
