Kim H.

Peralta July 25, 2018

12- Faraday

A Critical Analysis of The Third State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte

Every year, the president of the country discloses the status and development of the nation
to its administration. Last Monday, July 23, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte faced the state to not
only illuminate the administration's attainment but also appear as the "Father of the Filipino" by
spreading out his plans that focuses on desire for absolute and essential change for the people.
In his SONA, the president addressed first the concerns regarding drug war. According to
him, the administration's banner program will be sustained and "as chilling as the day it begin."
He slammed as well the bodies and organizations who criticize it by pointing that his concern is
more on human lives and not human rights.
The president also thanked the congress for passing the Ease of Doing Business Act that
seeks to make the process of putting up and running a business in the Philippines easier and more
efficient. He too, mentioned his resentment against corruption and stated that he had to fire allies
due to it.
He then showed off the positive relationship between us and our neighboring countries
especially with china along with pursuing independent policy and the interest with the West
Philippine Sea.
The chief of the state highlighted his desire to give the Filipinos a better way of living
through enumerating his intentions such as strengthening the OFW rights which he considers as his
administration's foremost foreign policy concern, eradicating all forms of contractualization by
calling the congress to pass a law about it, creation of coconut farmer’s fund, and ensuring
reliable, affordable, and secure telecommunication services where he also mentioned and send his
gratitude to Mr. Bong Go for establishing the Malasakit centers. He also called the attention of the
congress to pass the universal health care bill to provide free health services to all the Filipinos.
The subject about the environmental status of the country had not missed a part in the
president's speech. He defend the closure of the Boracay Island which opened various conflicts as
environmental protection measure. In addition to this, he insist of legislating the national land use
policy. Moreover, establishment of Disaster Management Department was raised. Furthermore,
the president called the attention of the reckless miners who persist on ruining the land and water
bodies.
Majority of the citizen of the country have been complaining about the tax reform but for
the president, the law must continue despite of the criticism and asked for TRAIN pakage 2 which
aims to rationalize or remove certain tax incentives of companies and reduce the corporate
income tax from 30% to 25% by the end of 2018.
 President Duterte did not forget to mention the two of the most talked topics that are still
being deliberated, the BBM or Bangsamoro Law in which he requested to give him 48 hours to
read and decide, and the shift to a federal system of government that he believes that the
Filipino people will support.
For the past 3 years, this was the president's shortest SONA speech yet it was concise and
particular with what he expects from his administration. Marites Vitug, a veteran journalist,
described the head's words as economical yet according to the veteran journalist, the president
wasn't able to provide long term solutions and the big picture where he wants to bring the
country. The speech was also unusually technical compare to the other two previous reports he
had delivered. "It's not Digong. Nobody was laughing, there was no charisma, there was no
narrative and the power of Duterte was always in his capacity to tell stories and this is not
Duterte," said the historian, Leloy Claudio.
The president made it clear that he will continue his projects and plans such as the train
law, war against drugs, and the revision of the constitution and implementation of federalism even
with judgements that it has been receiving like for the train law, it was concluded that the inflation
rate increased versus the last year which is 4.9 vs 3.2. Yet the leadership of not only the
president but also his house leaders are being questioned after a scene which happened
yesterday that cause more than an a hour delay to the ceremony where the house representatives
overthrown its current house speaker, Pantalion Alvares and assigned Pampanga represenative
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the position. This made confusion for Alvares was the one who still
walked with the president and the Senate president. The appointment was said to be unofficial
for it did not followed the proper protocol or procedure. Similar to the perspective of the dean of
the Ateneo School of Governance, Attorney Tony La Viña, this implicates poor governance and
will question the stability of the government that may affect our economy drastically because of
how the administration disregard the proper protocol and process.
In general, the speech caught the attention of the people with its different approach
however it did not completely tackle the problems that the nation is facing directly. As Camille
Elemia, a news journalist said, the critiques and opposition viewed it as nothing but an admission
of non-achievement.
References:
https://www.rappler.com/nation/208072-duterte-cleans-up-for-sona-2018-house-
representatives-spoils
https://www.rappler.com/nation/208050-duterte-sona-2018-philippines-summary
https://www.thesummitexpress.com/2018/07/president-duterte-sona-2018-highlights-review-
reaction-paper.html