Duterte Used All Special Powers To Address

Covid-19
1. Introduction
President Rodrigo Duterte was able to exhaust all the emergency powers granted to
him by Congress to allow his administration to stop the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)
pandemic.
It has been four years since President Rodrigo Duterte took his oath as president of the
Philippines, railing against the “erosion of faith and trust in government”, while riding on a
populist wave by promising “real change” and “transparency” to the country of more than
100 million people.
But as he enters his last two years in office, Duterte’s leadership has proven hollow, adding
that his handling of the continuing coronavirus pandemic has been the most challenging
dilemma since the WWII and that it made us think that this pandemic is the WWIII, “
kalabang hindi nakikita”.

I. Methology

1. President Duterte Enforces Bayanihan to Heal as One Act

Following the sharp increase of confirmed cases, President Duterte called on Congress
to hold special sessions on March 23 to enact the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act upon his
request, which would "authorize the President to exercise powers necessary to carry out
urgent measures to meet the current national emergency related to COVID-19 only for three
months unless extended by Congress."
The act would allow President Duterte to "reallocate, realign, and reprogram" a budget of
almost ₱275 billion ($5.37 billion) from the estimated ₱438 billion ($8.55 billion) national
budget approved for 2020, in response to the pandemic; enable him to "temporarily take over
or direct the operations" of public utilities and privately owned health facilities and other
necessary facilities "when the public interest so requires" for quarantine, the accommodation
of health professionals, and the distribution and storage of medical relief; and "facilitate and
streamline" the accreditation of testing kits.

2. ‘Shoot them dead’ — President Rodrigo Duterte says won’t tolerate lockdown violators

“It is getting worse. So once again I’m telling you the seriousness of the problem and that
you must listen,” Duterte’s response as the second month since the lockdown has started. “My

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 orders to the police and military ... if there is trouble and there’s an occasion that they fight
back and your lives are in danger, shoot them dead. Is that understood? Dead. Instead of
causing trouble, I will bury you.” He added.
Duterte has warned violators of coronavirus lockdown measures they could be shot for
causing trouble and said abuse of medical workers was a serious crime that would not be
tolerated. In a televised address, Duterte said it was vital everyone cooperates and follows
home quarantine measures, as authorities try to slow the contagion and spare the country’s
fragile health system from being overwhelmed.

3. President Duterte Calls for Global Unity To Overcome Pandemic

Countries must unify to defeat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and
other challenges, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said, as he called on nations to shun
unilateralism to strengthen the United Nations (UN).
Government money being spent on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response is spent
wisely, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said, as he assured the public that there is no corruption
in such expenditures.
The President has submitted his first report to Congress on the implementation of the
“Bayanihan to Recover as One Act” or Bayanihan 2, renewing government’s commitment to
further strengthen efforts to reduce the impact of the coronavirus, improve the country’s
healthcare system, and boost economic recovery.

4. President Duterte Signs Bayanihan 2 Law That Extends His Special Powers
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law a measure that extends special
powers for handling the coronavirus pandemic and provides a P165.5-billion fund for
addressing the health crisis.
The Bayanihan 2 provides for the government’s COVID-19 response and recovery
interventions. It also has mechanisms aimed at accelerating the country’s economic recovery.
Bayanihan 2 extends, until December 19, the special powers Congress previously granted to
Duterte to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
Of the P165.5-billion pandemic response fund, only P140 billion would be readily
available, since the Duterte government has yet to identify revenue sources for the remaining
P25.5 billion "standby fund. Duterte would again be required to submit monthly reports to
Congress on the executive branch's efforts to contain the virus' spread and use the funds.

5. President Duterte Urges Government-To-Government Deal for COVID-19 Vaccines

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 President Rodrigo Duterte said that he would favour a government-to-government deal
for the purchase of coronavirus vaccines in the Philippines to prevent the risk of corruption.
Duterte declared that he wanted to inoculate every one of the country’s 113 million people but
priority would be given to the poor, the police and military personnel.
“All should have the vaccine without exception,” Duterte said in a previous televised
address. He also repeated that he preferred COVID-19 vaccine supplies to come from either
China or Russia. Both have submitted applications to conduct clinical trials for their
inoculations in the Philippines.

6. President Duterte Defends COVID-19 Strategy as Cases Surge

President Duterte defended his tough approach to fighting the coronavirus on Monday
amid a surge in cases, touting its effectiveness in an annual address that critics said revealed
little about plans to resuscitate a battered economy.
Duterte said imposing one of the world's strictest lockdowns may have hurt the
economy but it had prevented 1.3 million to 3.5 million infections, and countries that had
opened up too soon like the United States were suffering. "To me, even if the numbers were
much lower, it would still be and would have been worth the sacrifice we made," he said. He
stood by his decision not to let schools reopen until a vaccine was available, which he initially
thought could be by September. As countries race to secure vaccines, Duterte said last week
he asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for help should Beijing make a breakthrough with a
COVID-19 vaccine. "I made a plea to President Xi if they have the vaccine can they allow us
to be one of the first ... so that we can normalize as fast as possible," he said.
Though the Philippines waited 11 weeks before starting to ease restrictions on June 1,
cases have since quadrupled with 82,040 infections and deaths more than doubling to 1,945.
Duterte acknowledged "difficulties" with testing capacity. Though he repeatedly stressed in a
speech lasting more than 100 minutes the importance of saving lives, Duterte also called for
the death penalty to be re-imposed and promised no let-up in a war on drugs that has killed
thousands of people. "I will really kill you, that is a commitment," he said, warning drug
dealers. Opposition lawmakers and investors were hoping Duterte would reveal plans on how
to restore millions of jobs and mitigate economic damages from the pandemic, but said he
barely touched on pressing issues.

Prepared By: Submitted To:

Queenzie Louise Concepcion Mr. Elizer Fillomena
Student | G11 UCSP Teacher | G11

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