President Duterte: S.O.N.A. 2018

       

               On July 23, 2018, President Duterte made his third SONA, which was his shortest SONA with a span of 48 minutes which was beyond his promise 35 minutes due to a couple of remarks he did during his speech.Compared to his previous SONA where he went off-script with a long-winded tirade against critics in a speech that lasted two hours, Duterte in 2018 stuck mostly to his prepared speech without the usual expletives.

              He talked about the main topics he'd prepared for his speech, he mainly talked about the unrelenting drug war, stating that it was far from over. Duterte rants against illegal drugs and how it ruins lives but does not cite specific numbers on how his administration's anti-drug war addressed this problem. He had promised to end this problem within 6 months. This is very concerning, seeing as how the possibility of more people being killed and such.

              He has discussed the concerns of Human rights organizations and stated "Sadly, I have yet to hear really howls of protest from the human rights advocates and church leaders against drug-lordism, drug dealing and drug pushing as forceful and vociferous as the ones directed against the alleged errant [law] enforcers in the fight against this social scourge... Your concern is human rights, mine is human lives. The lives of our youth are being wasted and families are destroyed, and abecause of the chemicals called shabu, cocaine, cannabis, and heroine".  

Various rights groups, including the Commission on Human Rights, aren't dismissing the problem of illegal drugs in the Philippines. What they outright condemn is the bloody drug war which has led to the death of at least 4,540 drug suspects in anti-drug operations, meanwhile, said Duterte's statement "implies that the victims of drug-related killings are not human lives! Is not the right to life the most basic human right?".
             
               President Duterte proceeded on the topic of corruption afterwards, and discussed that, time and again, he has stressed that corruption must stop. Corruption is like a leech that it bleeds the government of funds programmed for its infrastructure and other social development projects. It saps the morale or the morale of dedicated and honest government workers. Corruption destroys those who succumb to its temptation and eventually it is the innocent who will suffer and bear its horrible consequences. The love of money is corrosive, and I agree with the President. Why would government officials be so greedy that they steal the funds from the taxes of people who have to endure hard work just to pay the government? This topic pierced through my mind a long time ago, and I am glad that our President has taken the time to discuss this and personally have the same feelings toward it as I do. I am personally glad he called out the people he suspected as corrupt and not wait for them to further steal the money of the people, one person is Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno, who was axed during a Cabinet meeting in April 2017 for supposedly facilitating the implementation of a contract for fire trucks from Austria that cost around P20 million each. Sueno denied the allegations, which were brought up by 3 DILG undersecretaries, and for this, I applaud our president.
           
               After talking about corruption, our President discussed the "Peace Process" part of his speech. "Despite all that has been said [for] or against the Bangsamoro Organic Law by all sectoral groups, I make this solemn commitment that this administration will never deny our Muslim brothers and sisters the basic legal tools to chart their own destiny within the Constitutional framework of our country. When the approved version is transmitted and received by my office…The law has been passed actually and I intend to…Give me 48 hours to sign it and ratify the law", this were the exact words of our president, but of course he intends to read the entire thing before signing, for the purpose of maybe they inserted a few things that may put our President in a corner.

              Moving on to "improved" ties with China, the President talked about our improved relationship with China  however, does not mean that we will waver in our commitment to defend our interests in the West Philippine Sea.The relationship between the Philippines and China under the Duterte administration contrasts with the tense bilateral ties during the presidency of Benigno Aquino III. This was mainly due to the maritime dispute over the West Philippine Sea. In 2016, the Philippines claimed an overwhelming victory with the Hague ruling that invalidated China's expansive claim over the South China Sea. Two years later, in 2018, the present administration continues to refuse to enforce the historic ruling in exchange for economic benefits. 

            The first paragraphs were the most important, so the next topics will be compiled into one paragraph, reason is that, if it wasn't summarized into a comprehensive summary, you (the reader) will get bored with reading multiple more pages. Now moving on, "Labor and Employment", on regularization and contractualization.Duterte said he signed an Executive Order "ending contractualization once and for all" but EO 51 only bans forms of labor-only contracting practices. It took out a key provision in the labor-drafted EO – which he did not sign – that makes "direct hiring a general norm in employment, and I am glad Duterte ended contractualization, this makes people find jobs better without the time limit of working and find permanent jobs. "Boracay and Land use", Boracay has been closed off to tourists for almost 3 months already after Duterte ordered it shut down, claiming the world-renowed spot has become a "cesspool", and I agree with this decision of our President, why should we let such a beautiful scenery be wasted by people who litter and pollute it non-stop. I am delighted for the decision of our President to rehabilitate one of our precious tourist spots.This topic is also one important topic to be discussed and I am very impressed with the competence of our President, and this were his exact words, "To help stabilize rice prices, we also need to address the issue of artificial rice shortage. I now ask all the rice hoarders, cartels and their protectors, you know that I know who you are: stop messing with the people. I hate to…Power sometimes is not a good thing. But I hope I will not have to use it against you. Consider yourselves warned; mend your ways now or the full force of the State shall be brought to bear upon you. I am directing all intelligence agencies to unmask the perpetrators of this economic sabotage and our law enforcement agencies to bring them to justice", doesn't this just inspire you? "Charter Change" is up next on the agenda, now this discussion really intrigued me, why you may ask, well, read the following and then you'll understand. "I am confident that the Filipino people will stand behind us as we introduce this new fundamental law that will not only strengthen our democratic institutions, but will also create an environment where every Filipino – regardless of social status, religion, or ideology – will have an equal opportunity to grow and create a future that he or she can proudly bequeath to the succeeding generations.", this would mean people won't just sit and wonder when will they're lives improve, this might just make our country "Great again".

           Finally, the last thing on the agenda, is On ASEAN's anti-terrorism efforts, this talks about the help neighboring countries provide us and vice versa, for more insight, here are the President's words about this matter "Our stronger bonds with our ASEAN friends have made possible our trilateral border patrols with Indonesia and Malaysia, which has since then put out of business sea pirates, piracy and other terrorists who used to infest our shared seas. This is a testament to the readiness of our country and our good neighbors to make regional peace and security our shared responsibility". I'm glad that you stuck until the end, I know reading these kinds of articles are boring, but if you're still here after all that, thank you.

           







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Based from:
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/208021-2018-sona-duterte-fact-check-context