1)Choose any Head of Government of any member state of the United Nations.

2)What are their institutional powers, professional background, and personal background? How does it compare to that of the President of the United States?

3)How are they are elected or selected? And to what extent have they succeeded or failed in attaining their policy goals?

4)Describe the constitutional or other legal provisions that govern that Head of Government within their respective countries, and contrast those with what Article Two has to say about the powers of the US President.

5.      What is a current issue that is being addressed by the Head of Government that you chose?

1.) Head of Government from a UN Member State

Country: Republic of the Philippines

Head of Government: President Rodrigo Duterte

Year Elected: 2016

2.) What are their institutional powers, professional background, and personal background? How does it compare to that of the President of the United States?

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte

• Institutional Powers (Based on the 1987 Philippine Constitution)
  • Executive Power and Power to Control Executive Departments = He is the Head of State and the Head of the Executive Branch of Government. He is also in charge of implementing policies and signing of Executive Orders.
  • Diplomatic Powers = They have the power to establish or destroy diplomatic relations with other countries.
  • Power of Appointment and Removal = He has the power to appoint and remove Cabinet Secretaries and other executive officials
  • Military Powers = He is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and other military forces. He also has the authority to declare war and to mobilize the troops in order to prevent domestic or foreign threats.
  • Pardoning Power = He has the power to pardon or commute legal sentences to other people and to himself.
  • Borrowing and Budgetary Power = The Philippine President has the power to loan an amount of money from the World Bank or from other countries in behalf of the country. The President also has the superior power to appropriate and impose the country's National Budget.
  • Informing Power = He is the one who opens the sessions for Congress and delivers a yearly State of the Nation Address to inform the public of the status of his administration and the country.
• Professional Background
  • President Rodrigo Duterte graduated with a bachelors degree in Political Science from the Lyceum of the Philippines and he gained a law degree from San Beda University from which he passed the Bar exam and worked as a prosecutor in Davao City.
  • Before being elected as the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte served as a Mayor of Davao City, Philippines for three separate terms for a total of 22 years. He also served as the Vice Mayor of the said city for two terms for four years.
  • He also served as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives Representing Davao's First district from 1998-2001.
  • He was elected as President in the 2016 Philippine Presidential Elections as a Center-left Nationalist Populist under the PDP-Laban Party.
• Personal Background
  • President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, or also known by his nickname "Digong" was born on March 28, 1945 in Maasin City, Leyte, Philippines. His father Vicente G. Duterte is a lawyer while his mother is a school teacher and an activist. He is currently 75 years old and has four children, Paulo, Sara, Sebastian, and Veronica and currently living with his partner Honeylet Avanceña. He currently has no First Lady since he is separated from his wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman. He is known for his controversial statements as well as his radical anti-drug and anti-communism stances. While he was a mayor in Davao, he was tied to a controversial vigilante drug war group.

Comparison with United States President Joe Biden

• Institutional Powers
  • Both President Duterte and President Biden have similar presidential powers when it comes to Executive Powers, Diplomatic Powers, Military Powers, Pardoning Powers, and Informing Powers since both the Philippines and the United States are Constitutional Republics. However, they differ when it comes to their Borrowing and Budgetary Powers because unlike the President President Duterte who holds the authority in appropriating National Budget and borrowing international loans, President Biden does not have this power as the Congress is the one in charge of borrowing loans and approving the nation's budget.
• Professional Background
  • President Duterte and President Biden are both seasoned and experienced politicians. Like President Duterte, Biden also held government offices as he used to serve in the US Senate representing Delaware and he served for two terms as the Vice President for Barack Obama. Both Duterte and Biden have earned political science degrees and have graduated from Law School and they also both served as public lawyers. Both of them are from center-left parties, however, Joe Biden's Democratic Party is more liberal and progressive compared to Duterte who is socially conservative with left-leaning and populist policies.
• Personal Background
  •  President Duterte and President Biden are the oldest presidents to be elected, Duterte was elected at 71 and Biden at 79. Unlike Duterte who does not identify himself with any organized religion, Joe Biden is known to be the second Roman Catholic president of the United States. Both Biden and Duterte have 4 children, and both of their current partners/wife are not their first. While Duterte was separated, Biden was widowed by his first wife and is now married to Jill Biden who is the current First Lady. 

3.) How are they are elected or selected? And to what extent have they succeeded or failed in attaining their policy goals?

The President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte was elected when he won the Philippine Presidential Election in May 2016 where he garnered a more than 16 million popular votes with an advantage of 6 million votes compared to his closest rival, Mar Roxas. The Philippine Presidential election occurs every 6 years on the second Monday of May. He ran under the PDP-Laban Party with his Vice Presidential Candidate Alan Peter Cayetano, however, since the president and the VP are separately elected, his VP candidate did not win.

During his campaign, Duterte had a very populist, anti-drug, and anti-crime policy goal. Duterte spearheaded the War on Drugs which he proposed to lessen the country's drug problem and make it as safe as some developed Asian countries. In his War on Drugs, he ordered the Police to shoot and kill drug suspects, especially druglords and drug traffickers. This was strictly implemented during his first few years and was considered a success by his supporters as many drug users surrendered. However, this has also caused human rights concerns because of police brutality and vigilante killings. His critics have cited that his campaign on drugs was a failure since the drug problem has not been completely eradicated.

He also campaigned for the revival of the Death Penalty or Capital Punishment for heinous crimes, especially for drug offenses,

after it has been outlawed in 2006. However, this was a controversial policy that is currently being debated by the congress and not been passed. When it comes to Islamic Insurgency, President Duterte was successful in making peace deals and dialogues among Islamic militants, however, he failed to prevent the 2017 Marawi War where Marawi City was attacked by ISIS-inspired rebels. His campaign against Communist insurgency is also considered a success for some as many former rebels have surrendered along with the tight anti-communist campaign of the Military. On his foreign policy goals, when he was campaigning, he promised to have a tough stance against China on the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea, however, during his presidency, he faced many criticisms because of his stance against China has been soft and his friendliness towards the Chinese President. He also failed in his promise of delivering economic prosperity as his unruly comments against other country's leaders have negatively affected the Philippine economy and some of his projects have resulted to a huge amount of accumulated debt.

4.) Describe the constitutional or other legal provisions that govern that Head of Government within their respective countries, and contrast those with what Article Two has to say about the powers of the US President.

• For the Philippines, the constitutional and legal provisions that govern the Philippine President is stated in the Article VII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
• Both the Article VII of the Philippine Constitution and Article II of the US Constitution focuses on the Executive Branch where the President Belongs to.

5.) What is a current issue that is being addressed by the Head of Government that you chose?

COVID-19 Vaccine procurement and distribution that started this week (March 1, 2021)

(Explanation in the explanation box)

Step-by-step explanation

COVID-19 Vaccine procurement and distribution that started this week (March 1, 2021)

Currently, President Rodrigo Duterte is addressing the procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines as well as issues regarding the management of COVID cases, restrictions, the revival of the economy, and opening of borders and schools. This week, Duterte welcomed the first batch of the Sinovac vaccines with 600,000 doses that were donated by China. Duterte is currently faced with controversy has he is not taking the same brand of vaccine as he believes that it is not suitable for his age. He also faces scrutiny because of the public's mistrust to the vaccine because of the ongoing tension between China and the Philippines when it comes to territorial disputes. Duterte is also faced with with the challenge of securing around 100 million vaccine doses to be given to Filipinos, especially health workers so that the country will go back to normal.

Sources: 

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3123490/game-changer-philippines-finally-receives-coronavirus

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-philippines-vaccin/philippines-receives-first-batch-of-covid-19-vaccine-doses-donated-by-china-idUSKCN2AS09I?il=0

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/29/philippines-covid-vaccination-policy

Why I chose Philippines for this question:

• The Philippines is one of the founding member countries of the United Nations.
• The Philippines used to be a United States territory post WW2, and the present Philippine form of Government is similar to that of of the United States because:
  • Both countries are Presidential Constitutional Republic
  • Both are democracies
  • Both exercise the system of checks and balances as well as separation of powers (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial)
  • The 1987 Philippine Constitution is patterned after The Constitution of the United States.
  • Because of this, the legal roles and responsibilities of the Presidents from both countries are similar. The differences are:
    • The age and residency requirements
    • In the Philippines, the President has the power to budget and borrow money, in the United States, it is primary the Congress' Power
    • Number of terms 6 years (1 term) vs 4 years (allowed for 2 terms)
    • Philippines (popular vote) vs US (Electoral College)

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte

• Share some similarities with Joe Biden when it comes to their seasoned experience in politics, law background, and they are both the oldest presidents to be elected. They are also both center-left.
• Policy goals of Duterte during his campaign and the status of accomplishment:
  • All-out Drug War = Implemented/Controversial/Did not completely eradicate crime
  • Revival of Capital Punishment = Not yet passed by the congress and approved
  • Domestic Insurgency = Success, implemented, but failed during the Marawi Siege
  • Foreign Relations against China and the territorial dispute = he promised a tough stance but turned out to embrace a softer stance and relationships with China as he became friendly with the Chinese Government.
  • Economic Prosperity = somehow achieved but overall economy has tanked because of his brash words and remarks. Philippines has also accumulated a lot of debt during his administration.