LIGHTS & SHADOWS

Against so many odds in 2020, the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte was buoyed by the unprecedented popularity of the chief executive, who now enters his last year in office. He may leave his office as the most-positively evaluated president: despite the widely criticized government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Duterte fared quite well in public opinion surveys with a record 91% approval rating in September 2020.

But does popularity mean good governance and effective leadership? In his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis offers a hint to answering this question.

‘Popular’ leaders, those capable of interpreting the feelings and cultural dynamics of a people, and significant trends in society, do exist. The service they provide by their efforts to unite and lead can become the basis of an enduring vision of transformation and growth that would also include making room for others in the pursuit of the common good. But this can degenerate into an unhealthy 'populism' when individuals are able to exploit politically a people’s culture, under whatever ideological banner, for their own personal advantage or continuing grip on power. Or when, at other times, they seek popularity by appealing to the basest and most selfish inclinations of certain sectors of the population. This becomes all the more serious when, whether in cruder or more subtle forms, it leads to the usurpation of institutions and laws. (159)

In this issue of the Lights & Shadows, we at the John J Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues (ICSI) continue to assess the Duterte administration with the hope that readers may arrive at an informed opinion on select issues concerning Philippine society. We use the principles of Catholic social teaching (CST), as espoused by the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP-II), to examine how the government has addressed issues in the first half of 2021 that affect human dignity and human rights, contribute to social justice and achievement of the common good, impact the environment, among others. Examining at least three newsworthy stories in each theme—the economy, human rights, urban poverty, rural development, children, environment, governance, and labor and employment, we present government pronouncements and actions that provide reasons to hope (the “lights”) and matters of concern (the “shadows”). In doing so, may we contribute to building a kind of politics that goes beyond popular personalities and is “truly at the service of the common good” (Fratelli Tutti 154).

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