My personal assessment and opinions on the current administration.

1. Honesty, Lying, Deceit, Transparency
Janet P.
Machiavelli said “the princes who have accomplished great deeds are
those who have cared little for keeping their promises and who have known
how to manipulate the minds of men by shrewdness”. Also, he says it is more
important to appear ethical then act ethical.
In my assessment, the Duterte Administration applied Machiavelli’s
advice. Duterte has become popular in the Philippines and the world, because
of his tough stance on illegal drugs and criminality, among others.
This administration’s honesty is shown when the President himself
admitted that the period of 3 to 6 months is never enough to end the war on
drugs, contrary to what he has promised. The opposition criticized him for not
being able to keep his words on this matter.
However, with the administration’s transparency, the widespread of
illegal drug trade, has become public knowledge. I, as a taxpayer, in trying to
understand these matters, have come to believe that indeed, the Philippines’
problem on illegal drugs is severe and serious that it takes sufficient amount of
time, political will and courage to put an end to.
Moreover, lying and deceit, are manifested in the way how government
officials, linked to the illegal drug trade, have seemed to have built an empire
with the crime. Sadly, however, these influential people used their power in the
government to run their illegal business and get away with the law so easily.
The Duterte Administration’s drug war, however, looks like a silver-lining to the
society’s drug problem by putting an end to it and bringing the officials
answerable to the felony, before the law.
On the other hand, the administration’s transparency, is appreciated in
its manipulation of its cabinet and its shrewdness in its governance. The
resignation of Wanda Tulfo-Teo and Vitaliano Aguirre II, demonstrate
transparency in a way that the reasons for the expulsion of these two then
secretaries were made public, despite of them being Presidential appointees.
Then Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo resigned, following a scandal
over the placement of P60 million in tourism ads on her brothers' television
show that airs on state television. Meanwhile, then Justice Secretary Vitaliano
Aguirre's resignation came after the President criticized him about his
department's handling of various cases, including the dismissal of charges

2. against drug suspects Kerwin Espinosa and Peter Lim, which drew public
outrage.
Thus, the government’s esteemed manipulation and aristocratic
shrewdness won for itself a victory in Marawi. This is one of the Duterte
Administration’s greatest achievements. The successful apprehension of the
suspected people involved in the uprising and the isolation of the battle ground
could not have been done without the implementation of Martial Law in
Mindanao. The declaration of Martial Law took a high-level of manipulation
and shrewdness on the government’s part. Though many lives were spent over
this great achievement, the dominance of the Filipino people prevailed-which is
far more worth of manipulation and shrewdness.