December closes another pandemic year and could usher in a COVID-19 immune community. This time is full of excitement and hopes of a prosperous new year. December 2021, however, is also the period when a number of politicians start to experience less influence and ascendancy in their service, being “lame ducks” on their last six months in office.
To be a lame duck means he is ineffectual or unsuccessful. But it is generally used on public officials (especially the president) in the final period of office.
It is said that lame duck presidents are more concerned with their legacy. They tend to focus on policies that are”¯less popular, but more far-reaching.”¯Such is what happened when US President Ronald Reagan”¯signed an”¯arms control treaty”¯with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Inquirer columnist Neil Arwin Mercado, however, notes that while many Filipino presidents’ final few months in office were hounded by the “lame duck” curse, President Duterte seems to have cast the spell out through record-high approval ratings – a feat not seen since polling started in the post-Marcos era.”
In October 2020, Pulse Asia released a survey showing that 91 percent of Filipinos approved of Duterte’s performance in the country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed lives and livelihood.
The survey results showed that only five percent of respondents disapproved of the President’s performance, while another five percent was undecided.
On the other hand, an opposition lawmaker, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate observed that “the majority of Filipinos are no longer afraid of the once-fearsome former mayor of Davao City. PRRD is ignored by the forces that backed him in 2016 – the same ones now allied with former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte. PRRD has been reduced to a “lame duck” and a “shadow of his former self.”
There could be some truth to the allegations as presidential adviser on religious affairs Butch Belgica accused some allies of Duterte of conspiring against and undermining him.
To be labeled a lame duck is one of the saddest and most pejorative phrases forming part of the lexicon of politics.
As the lame duck status is inevitable, only the most astute of public officials are able to delay its onset or minimize its impact.
While being a lame duck means one is nearing the end of his term, this could also mean the beginning of a new first step. This is why graduation ceremonies, which symbolize the end of one’s year’s of study in an academic institution, is called a commencement — a new start in one’s chosen career. The word commencement is different from the word graduation, in that commencement only refers to the ceremony.
In the academe, the focus is more on the commencement rather than on the graduation.
I had so many graduations and commencements in my studies and my career. I suffered the spells from lame duck curse many times but I also enjoy the joy of freedom and excitement of new beginnings. I have been assigned to more than 10 offices all over the country and overseas for about 40 years.
In one assignment, some of the staff working on our special projects office started taking my orders for granted. when my transfer to another assignment became known. Some developed the sickness of being deaf and blind. They started immediately to establish close connections with the assistant who will be taking over my place. I became a victim of the TOA (transfer of affection) virus.
Ending is dreaded by some presidents, as this would mean a series of investigations and facing post administration cases as one loses immunity from suits like plunder, as what happened to Presidents Estrada and Arroyo.
For PRRD this could be facing the ICC investigations or answering the cases which former Senator Trillanes promised to file after the term of the President ends. This could be the reason why the President was thinking of running for senator.
It is said that the good life is to be found if we pay more attention to the beginnings rather than the endings and that there are three little words that can release us from our past struggles and guide us forward. These words are: “From now on…”
For us who have baggages from our past, including the politicians and leaders, may we be able to find the new year full of promises and be able to cry out “From now on…”
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