Duterte names Formidable 3

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is already halfway in his six year term as president of the country and still much is expected to him.

Duterte has made a name for himself here and abroad being a hardliner with respect to the eradication of illegal drugs in the country, but we should know by now that this has not limited the Chief executive in doing other projects that has the improvement/progress of the country in mind.

Three of President Rodrigo Duterte’s men excelled in making lives of Filipinos comfortable who are Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar. (Photo credit to Daily Tribune)

The Duterte administration is composed of cabinet members that is expected to be the help needed by the President in running the country.

After three years the chief executive was asked In an exclusive interview with the Daily Tribune, who is the top three performing members of his official family.

Duterte expressed pride in the achievements of his cabinet , but he names his top three  - Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, Department of Transportation (DoTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade and Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez — as exceptional.

In the interview the President also admitted his preference to military appointees in filling up the cabinet posts since bureaucracy “takes too much time” primarily if it is a “civilian” appointed as an official.

“Then along the way, money is lost, those things suddenly happen and they have so many excuses. All of the projects, almost 90 percent (of them), except Villar who is very good and you know, I don’t have any huge expectations on him but he turned out to be one of the most outstanding government officials. Tugade, how many airports have improved and Villar, undertook projects for those long roads. When the connectors are… built, you can travel above ground and leave the traffic downstairs,” he said.

The President defended his choice in Lopez because of the achievements in advancing small-scale businesses.

“They are all good and they have completed the mission that I gave them,” Mr. Duterte said of the Cabinet members.

Thankful cabinet

“It’s a great honor but I am merely following the mandate given to me by the President to make lives of Filipinos more comfortable,” Tugade told Daily Tribune.

DOTr Sec. Tugade, was commended for the airport improvements he has done. “We are currently rehabilitating and building 200 ports throughout the country,” he said.

“In fact, on Monday, the DoTr is opening the newest passenger terminal at Cagayan de Oro which can accommodate 3,000 passengers,” he said. “While I appreciate the trust given by the President, I would consider his citing me among the top Cabinet performers as a challenge to perform better,” Tugade said.

Lopez for his part he is “humbled” “but i know the other Secretaries are so great and hardworking too.”

“Thanks for the news. And I share that with the passionate team in DTI who believes in the vision of the President to really improve the lives of those at the bottom of the pyramid, the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME),” he said.

“Despite the lack of budget and people, we bring our programs to the grassroots, the baranggays, the indigenous peoples (IP), Killed-in-Action (KIA) or Wounded-in-Action (WIA) in the Marawi City conflict and other marginalized groups, by partnering with other groups,” he said.

“We work on other initiatives for the masses, the no-collateral microfinancing Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso or the P3 which was designed to counter loan sharks or 5-6, Go Lokal and OTOP.ph market access platforms for MSME and several training and mentoring programs,” Lopez said.

Daily Tribune was not able to interview Villar because he was on leave.

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Report from Daily Tribune