Light & Shadow
The Duterte Administration from the Perspective of Catholic Social Teaching1
CST Principle 1 Integral development based on human dignity and solidarity
Light
MACROECONOMIC POLICY
The Ten-Point Economic Agenda includes the
liberalization of foreign investment regulations, which
may lead to demonopolization, improved competition,
and better services for consumers, e.g., in the
telecommunications sector.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT
The Duterte administration unveiled in April 2017
an ambitious infrastructure spending plan that would
cost 8 trillion to 9 trillion from 2017 to 2022, a
significant portion of which will be devoted to
Mindanao.
POVERTY AND INEQUALITY REDUCTION
The government has drawn up a long-term economic
and development plan (Philippine Development Plan
2017-2020) anchored on AmBisyon Natin 2040,
which represents the long-term vision and aspirations
of the Filipino people for themselves and for the county
in the next 25 years.
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
One of the administrations legislative priorities is a
shift to a federalist system which if done properly could
give regions and provinces more control over their
own economic resources.
This document contains selected entries from Light and Shadow, a running assessment of the Duterte administration, found
on the website of the John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues (www.jjcicsi.org.ph). The website version contains
embedded links to the sources from which the data was taken.
Shadow
MACROECONOMIC POLICY
The plan to remove limits to foreign ownership of
corporations may result in adverse effects on domestic
capital and in the overexploitation of natural resources.
While the General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year
2017 allocates 3.35 trillion for government
expenditures, the government expects to generate only
2.48 trillion in revenues in 2017. This means a budget
gap of 870 billion, of which 631 billion will be
borrowed from domestic banks and foreign sources.
The potential increase in the national debt is neither
good nor bad per se. But it is important to monitor
funding sources and the terms under which funds are
borrowed. For instance, the volume of loans from China
may necessitate political and economic concessions
such as the surrender of territorial or oil rights in the
South China Sea and/or Benham Rise.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT
One analyst argues that the volume of loans required
for this spending plan would bring the Philippines'
debt-to-GDP ratio to 136% even at the most
conservative interest rate of 5%. A reasonable rate to
assume for the loans would be between 10 and 15%,
which could bring the debt-to-GDP ratio to 296%, "the
highest in the world."
POVERTY AND INEQUALITY REDUCTION
The March 2017 self-rated poverty survey of the
Social Weather Stations Survey showed that 50% (at
least 11.5 million families) consider themselves poor.
This is a 6-point increase from 44% in the survey
conducted in December 2016.
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
If merely superimposed upon a political system
controlled by political dynasties, a federalist system
may result in greater inequity among regions and
provinces.
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GOVERNANCE
The president has promised to eradicate corruption
in government. His resolve to do this seems
demonstrated by his willingness to dismiss
government appointees with whom he has debts of
gratitude or social ties.
CRIME AND JUSTICE
The administration has launched a vigorous drive to
eradicate drugs and crime through Oplan Double
Barrel of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY
The president has declared that he will pursue an
independent foreign policy. This, in principle, may
enhance national sovereignty.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN
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GOVERNANCE
While several presidential appointees accused of
corruption have resigned or been dismissed, no
institutional measures have been taken to investigate
their cases, validate the charges, and exact
accountability. Beyond the presidents rhetorical
threats to shoot officials suspected of corruption, drop
them from helicopters, or skin them alive (all acts that
violate the law and human rights), there seem to be no
systematic and institutionalized measures for the
eradication of corruption.
HUMAN AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS
The iron-fist crackdown on crime shows insufficient
regard for civil rights, due process, human dignity, and
the value of life. Thousands of unsolved murders have
occurred since the administration came to power,
increasing the murder rate by 51% in the first five
months of the administration in comparison with the
same period (from 3,950 in July-November 2015 to
5,970 cases in the equivalent period in 2016). Many of
the murders are thought to be of supposed crime
suspects by self-styled vigilantes rumored to be
supported by the police, if not themselves police
officers in civilian clothing. These extrajudicial
killings, or EJKs, as they are referred to on the street,
have created a climate of fear, insecurity, and impunity.
The president frequently denigrates human rights as
an obstacle to peace and development, and has
threatened to kill human rights activists who get in his
way. He openly boasts of having committed human
rights abuses himself, such as summarily executing
suspected criminals and throwing them out of
helicopters while he was mayor of Davao City. Even on
the charitable assumption that these boasts are
fictitious hyperbole, such statements create an
atmosphere hostile to human rights and human rights
defenders. The president frequently inveighs against
the Commission on Human Rights and has greatly
reduced its budget, hampering its ability to investigate
human rights abuses.
FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY
The president is accused by critics of being
inconsistent in his "independent foreign policy," talking
tough to Western liberal democracies that challenge his
administration's lack of regard for human rights and
the rule of law, but folding to China when threatened
with war over disputed islands in the West Philippine
Sea. Moreover, the states with which he hopes to
strengthen ties are states with a poor record of
commitment to human rights.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN
 The president identified as one of his priorities the
full implementation of the Magna Carta of Women, a
law which seeks to realize gender equality in all
aspects of development.
CST Principle 2 Universal destination of goods, social justice and love, and love of preference for the poor
Light
TAX REFORMS
The Comprehensive Tax Reform Program Package 1
approved by the Department of Finance (DOF) is
portrayed as a progressive program that aims to tax
the rich more than the poor while reducing the poverty
rate from 21.6% in 2015 to 14% by 2022. It exempts
4.7 million taxpayers with a net taxable income of
250,000 and below from paying income taxes. At the
same time, societys vulnerable sectors are projected to
benefit through social protection programs financed in
part from a proposed hike in fuel excise taxes.
POVERTY AND INEQUALITY REDUCTION
Three key departments having to do with the
alleviation of poverty and inequalitythe Department
of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), and the National
Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC)are headed by
officials with a known love of preference for the poor
and a strong redistributive agenda.
The government continues and commits to improve
the implementation of social protection programs such
as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and
Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens
(SPISC), and to design them for the development of
self-reliance among the poor.
Of the 151.15 billion budget of the Department of
Health for 2017, 50.2 billion will be provided to
PhilHealth to sustain the health insurance coverage of
about 15.4 million indigent families and 5.4 million
senior citizens.
AGRARIAN REFORM AND AGRICULTURE
DAR plans to accelerate the distribution of land to
farmers, and to prevent evasion and reversal of
agrarian reform.
The president ordered the return to farmers of the
coconut levy funds extracted from them during the
Marcos regime, alongside programs to rebuild their
productive capacity.
3
The president frequently makes public statements
that trivialize and demean women, sending a powerful
message about his estimation of their worth.
A top legislative priority of the president is the
lowering of the minimum age of criminal responsibility
(MACR) from 15 to 9 years old. Such a measure fails to
consider the cognitive development of children as a
mitigating factor in their criminal culpability.
Shadow
TAX REFORMS
Critics of the Tax Reform package of the government,
including a congressman who initially sponsored the
tax reform bill, House Bill 5636, claim that the Tax
Reform Package as it now stands is regressive, because
it expands tax exemptions for corporations while
imposing excise taxes on gasoline, which may raise the
prices of basic commodities consumed by the poor.
POVERTY AND INEQUALITY REDUCTION
The officials with a redistributive agenda are in the
position of having to implement policies they do not
agree with (e.g., the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program, and the 4Ps program, which are viewed by
the cabinet secretaries in charge of them as
insufficiently redistributive). Their proposals are often
contested and sometimes overruled by the
governments economic managers who operate from a
more neoliberal framework. Moreover, the Senate
Commission on Appointments has deferred the
confirmations of two of these officials, DSWD Secretary
Judy Taguiwalo and DAR Secretary Rafael Mariano.
AGRARIAN REFORM AND AGRICULTURE
The proposed National Land Use Act (NLUA), a bill
mandating a comprehensive national land use plan that
would protect forests, fisheries, and watershed areas
and prevent the indiscriminate conversion of
agricultural land to non-agricultural uses, remains
blocked in the Senate and is not among the legislative
priorities of the administration.

HOUSING
The president has ordered a stop to demolitions of
informal settler communities for which no decent
relocation sites have been prepared. The president
also announced he would allow the awarding of
housing units in resettlement projects of the National
Housing Authority (NHA) in Bulacan to 4,000 members
of the militant urban poor group Kalipunan ng
Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY), which illegally
occupied the housing units.
LABOR
President Duterte approved the 2,000 increase in
the monthly pension received from the Social Security
System (SSS) by approximately two million retirees.
CST Principle 3 Value of human work
Light
LABOR
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
has taken significant steps to end contractualization.
Department Order (DO) No. 162, series of 2016 ordered
DOLEs regional directors in July 2016 to stop accepting
applications from new third-party service providers.
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The countrys economic managers have objected to
the proposed two-year moratorium on conversion of
agricultural lands, saying that it could have an adverse
impact on agricultural sector revitalization,
infrastructure development, housing, and other
economic activities in expansionary mode.
The Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining
order (TRO) in October 2016 that enjoins government
from touching, releasing or disbursing the Coco Levy
fund. No measure has yet been approved to support
the directive of the president to return the coconut levy
funds.
HOUSING
Although the awarding of the NHA housing units to
KADAMAY members seems to demonstrate
compassion for the poor, it is a short-term solution that
flouts the rule of law, circumvents proper procedure,
projects the president as a dispenser of patronage, and
overlooks the broader problem of providing housing
for the poor in a sustainable way. The gesture also
potentially encourages informal settler organizations
to attempt to secure housing through short-term
interventions such as illegal occupation, rather than by
working with the national and local governments on
long-term solutions.
CRIME AND JUSTICE
The death penalty is a potential instrument of
irreversible social injustice that is systematically biased
against the poor, because of a flawed and corrupt
judicial system in which mistaken convictions are
highly possible and the poor cannot afford good legal
counsel.
The campaign against illegal drugs and anti-crime
initiatives hits hardest at the poor and has left 18,000
children without parents, according to conservative
estimates by the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) in December 2016.
Shadow
LABOR
Labor groups are not satisfied with Department Order
174 because they want all forms of contractualization
banned. However, DOLE Secretary Bello pointed out
that a ban on contractualization would require
legislation, and that DOLEs role is limited to the
DOLE has also banned labor contractors and
subcontractors from its job fairs. Department Order
(DO) No. 174, series of 2017, sets stricter guidelines for
contractualization. DOLE claims that as a result of DO
174, some 70,000 contractual workers have been
regularized.
OFWs
DOLE submitted to the president a memorandum
proposing the creation of an Overseas Filipino Worker
(OFW) Bank, one of his campaign promises. The
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
(POEA) has started streamlining its processes and
reducing requirements following the presidents order
to eliminate red tape in government.
CST Principle 4 Peace and active non-violence
Light
PEACE WITH THE CPP-NDF-NPA
Peace negotiations aiming at the final cessation of
hostilities between the Government of the Republic of
the Philippines and the Communist Party of the
Philippines/New Peoples Army/National Democratic
Front (CPP-NDF-NPA) have reached the fifth round.
Negotiating panels from the GRP and the NDF signed the
supplemental agreement on Joint Monitoring
Committee on the Comprehensive Agreement on
Respect of Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law as negotiations move towards other
substantive agenda. Despite the cancellation of the fifth
round due to the CPPs order to its troops to attack
government forces after the declaration of Martial Law
in Mindanao, bilateral discussions are continuing to
prepare for the resumption of the talks.
PEACE WITH THE MILF AND MNLF
Peace initiatives aiming at the correction of historical
injustice have been made with two Muslim insurgent
groups, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and
the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). A new and
expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC)
has drafted a new proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law for
submission to Congress in July.
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regulation of contracting and subcontracting,
OFWs
The creation of a dedicated department for OFWs
might institutionalize what should be a short-term
economic measure for Filipinos in the absence of
adequate and gainful jobs in the domestic economy.
This view has been conveyed by the labor secretary and
migrants rights advocates.
Out of respect for US President Donald Trump, the
president declared that his government will not help
undocumented Filipino workers who might be
adversely affected by tough and repressive
immigration policies of the Trump administration. His
position did not sit well with Filipino-American groups,
who point out that OFWs, documented or otherwise,
have been a major source of income for the Philippines.
Shadow
PEACE WITH THE CPP-NDF-NPA
Some peace advocates have expressed concern over
the apparent silence of the peace negotiations on how to
deal with human rights abuses committed by the
government and the NPA. Moreover, armed
confrontations between the military and the NPA
continue in the absence of a ceasefire agreement.
President Duterte's declaration of martial law in
Mindanao on May 23, 2017 provoked a reaction from
the CPP, which threatened to escalate the armed conflict
in Mindanao. This caused the GRP to cancel the fifth
round of talks in which substantive socio-economic
reforms were to have been discussed.
PEACE WITH THE MILF AND MNLF
Given that the new BTC has adopted the "original and
agreed version" of the BBL submitted to Congress by the
previous BTC in 2014, it could face the same challenges
when the bill is presented to the current Congress, and
thus might again result either in a "diluted" version not
acceptable to the MILF, or to the failure of Congress to
pass the bill. There is also the danger that the shift to
federalism, if given higher priority by Congress through
a constitutional change, could render certain parts of

CST Principle 5 Integrity of creation
Light
MINING
One of the first actions of former Sec. Regina Lopez of
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) was to audit mining companies vis--vis
compliance with environmental regulations. From
September 2016 to February 2017, DENR issued
suspension orders, ordered mine closures, and
cancelled environmental compliance certificates (ECC)
and mineral production sharing agreements (MPSA).
However, the Mining Industry Coordinating Council
(MICC) will review the closure and suspension of
mining operations to determine whether due process
was followed.
CLIMATE CHANGE
On March 1, 2017, the president signed the Paris
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the draft BBL untenable.
MARAWI CRISIS
The Marawi siege has created a humanitarian crisis in
Lanao del Sur, with tens of thousands of families
displaced by the ongoing conflict between the
Philippine military and the Maute group, and suffering
food shortages. Military airstrikes in Marawi City have
destroyed homes, buildings, and properties and sowed
fear among the residents, some of whom remain
trapped in the conflict zones without food. The
continuing violence and the airstrikes could fuel
disaffection toward the government among people In
Marawi and Lanao del Sur who may feel that their lives
are not valued by the government. This could breed
more violence and extremism in the region.
CRIME AND JUSTICE
The presidents boasts about having killed people, his
threats to kill people, his administrations campaign to
restore the death penalty, its violent campaign against
drugs, and the unexplained killings that have spiked
since the start of the administration all foster a climate
in which violence is seen as the normal and even as the
normative solution to the countrys problems.
The Philippines ranked 138th of 163 nations in
the report of the Global Peace Index for 2017. It ranked
18th of 19 nations in Asia, beating only North Korea in
the lack of peace. The report identifies the campaign
against drugs and crime as one of the main reasons for
the countrys low rating, and observes that its homicide
rate, incarceration rate, and number of deaths from
internal conflict have all increased.
Shadow
MINING
The Commission on Appointments (CA) rejected the
appointment of Sec. Lopez. It is unclear whether the
audit of mining companies will continue. Meanwhile, the
appointment of the new DENR secretary, former Armed
Forces Chief of Staff Roy Cimatu, was not welcomed by
environmental activists, who pointed to his lack of a
track record in environmental engagement and raised
concerns about the "militarization" of the cabinet.
Mining companies, on the other hand, were optimistic
about the appointment.
ENERGY
The nations energy development program is still
Agreement which aims to limit the average global
temperature increase. The Senate ratified the Paris
Agreement on March 14, 2017. The Paris Agreement
entered into force in the Philippines on April 22, 2017,
30 days after its ratification.
CST Principle 6 People empowerment
Light
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
The administration has proposed a shift to a
parliamentary form of government, which has the
potential to strengthen the political party system and
better channel citizen participation in governance.
The proposed shift to a federalist system invokes the
principle of subsidiarity because of its potential to
empower regions/provinces toward greater self-
governance and development.
GOVERNANCE
The president projects a man-of-the-people image
which average Filipinos can identify with and which
allows them to see him as their president.
One of the president's first acts was to issue an
Executive Order on Freedom of Information (FOI), with
exceptions, and affirming the right to privacy. The
administration also declared as one of its legislative
priorities the enactment of an FOI bill.
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largely built around dirty energy: energy from
nonrenewable and/or environmentally damaging
sources. This includes plans to build more coal-fired
power plants and to revisit the activation of the Bataan
Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).
Shadow
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
A parliamentary system, if merely superimposed
upon the current political culture, may strengthen
existing tendencies of parties to dissolve and regroup in
favor of who is in power, and hence may lead to
relatively unchallenged long-term rule by one party or
personality. It may increase the power of
regional/provincial warlords and political dynasties.
The president has expressed his desire to remove the
safeguards in the Constitution intended to prevent
authoritarian rule. He has said that the power of
Congress and the Supreme Court to review a presidents
decision to declare martial law limits governments
action in the face of war or invasion. Removing the
oversight of the two branches of government may
threaten democracy.
The rush to federalism may lead to inadequate
deliberation among the people as to whether federalism
is the best structure that fits the country.
GOVERNANCE
The president's leadership brand is focused on his
personal qualities. He projects himself as an alternative
patron who will solve problems and do things for the
people rather than involve them in governance. His
administration evinces little concern for the
institutionalization of broader participatory
mechanisms in governance. He shows little priority for
the dismantling of political dynasties. He himself
belongs to a political dynasty and has jokingly endorsed
his daughter, who succeeded him as mayor of Davao
City, to succeed him as president.
The administration exhibits a tendency to favor only
those "facts" which justify its actions, to denigrate
without any serious consideration those which
contradict its favored facts, and to penalize government
officials who present "inconvenient facts." At times the
administration seems even to be involved in the
production of "fake news."
HUMAN AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS
From the beginning of his administration the
president has frequently threatened to suspend the writ
 of habeas corpus and to declare martial law, particularly
when he encounters opposition. On 23 May 2017, he
finally made good his threat by declaring martial law in
the island region of Mindanao after clashes between the
military and the Maute group, alleged terrorists who
sympathize with the international terrorist group
Islamic State. Although Martial Law under the 1987
Constitution is far less subject to abuse than it was
under former President Ferdinand Marcos, the
president, who initially did not appear to grasp the
constitutional constraints on Martial Law, said that
Martial Law under his own administration would be just
as it was during the Marcos era.
The burial of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos at
Libingan ng mga Bayani may be interpreted as
legitimizing authoritarianism.
The president and his officials, political allies, and
supporters show little tolerance for dissent and
criticism whether from within the government, in
political society, or in civil society. Critics are trolled in
social media, subjected to personal attacks that are
often untrue, and accused of criminal or treasonous
acts. The presidents fiercest critic, Senator Leila de
Lima, has been incarcerated on accusations of
involvement in the drug trade, while the Department of
Justice threatens to launch an investigation of
destabilization activities by other opposition
legislators. This creates an atmosphere inimical to the
exercise of dissent and freedom of conscience.
Democratic checks and balances have deteriorated.
Within weeks of Dutertes election and more than a
month before his inauguration, many senators and all
but a few members of the House of Representatives
defected to the administration coalition. Most have
since displayed an uncritical acquiescence to the
administrations legislative priorities and to the
presidents actionsrecently demonstrated by the
refusal by leaders of the Senate and House of
Representatives to exercise their constitutional
mandate to convene a joint session of Congress in order
to deliberate the presidents declaration of Martial Law
in Mindanao.
The president effected the postponement of barangay
elections originally scheduled in 2016, and has lately
expressed the wish to suspend barangay elections until
2020, appointing barangay officials in the meantime. In
justification of this move he claims that 40% of
incumbents are allegedly involved in the drug trade and
that candidates supported by drug money would be
sure to win elections. Critics of the proposal see it as
undemocratic and unconstitutional and as a bid to
consolidate his power at the most basic level of political
organization. The presidents allies in the House of
Representatives are preparing a bill to allow the
president to do as he wishes.
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