Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III reiterated today the government’s strong commitment to the rule of law in realizing the Duterte administration’s goal of attacking poverty and promoting a law-abiding society among Filipinos.

Responding to the announcement of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) that it had deferred a vote on the reselection of the Philippines for compact development, Dominguez likewise pointed out that the Philippines had passed 13 out of the 20 country indicators in the latest MCC scorecard report published just last month, including control of corruption, rule of law and civil liberties.

“We have received the news about the MCC’s decision. We thank them for the grant that the Philippines received under the first compact as we reassure them and the rest of our development partners that the government continues to vigorously implement initiatives that reinforce the Duterte presidency’s commitment to good governance, peace and order and the rule of law,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez noted that the MCC scorecard released in November 2016 in which the Philippines passed 13 out of the 20 indicators, was a slight improvement of last year’s performance report, where the Philippines passed 12 out of the 20.

The MCC Board is due to reconvene in March next year under a new US administration.

Dominguez said that in the first six months of the Duterte administration, the Philippines continued to be the economic “outperformer” in the region, with international institutions like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank projecting growth above 6 percent and credit raters maintaining their investment grade rating for the country.

Other institutions that have remained bullish on the Philippines on the Duterte watch include the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp., Nomura, Citibank, Fitch Ratings, International Monetary Fund, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Dominguez acknowledged that the Duterte administration’s three priority goals of reducing poverty, developing a society that is law-abiding and a country at peace with itself and its neighbors, would only succeed with the assistance of the country’s development partners in the international community.

“In realizing these three priority goals, the government has to make tough decisions which will not please everybody,” Dominguez said.

He said that insofar as the Filipino people are concerned, an overwhelming majority of them believe the Duterte administration has been doing a very good job in restoring peace and order—as borne out by the results of the quarterly tracking polls by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) that gave the new government a record “very good” rating of 77 percent in the last quarter. Mr. Duterte’s net satisfaction rating was at a high +63, which is “very good” based on SWS standards.

Its war against illegal drugs obtained an “excellent” rating in the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released last Nov. 17.

A separate SWS poll conducted in September said that 86 percent of Filipinos were also satisfied with the way that democracy works, which, said Dominguez, virtually reflected the people’s vote of confidence in the Duterte administration’s adherence to the rule of law and other democratic processes.

Dominguez also said that when President Duterte recalled his recent phone conversation with US president-elect Donald Trump, the American leader wished Mr. Duterte well on his campaign against drugs and said he understood the way that Duterte was handling it.

A statement from Mr. Trump’s team said Mr. Duterte congratulated the US president-elect and that the two men “noted the long history of friendship and cooperation between the two nations, and agreed that the two governments would continue to work together closely on matters of shared interest and concern”.

Dominguez also said that in his meetings with foreign government officials, a number of them said they understood the gravity of the problem that Mr. Duterte faces in his war against illegal drugs.

Officials from the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan and China have focused on the rehabilitation aspect of the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs, he said.