By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
It was A State of the Nation Address like no other. It was the longest SONA of a Philippine president that I have ever heard. And I have listened to most such SONAs since Marcos Time. It was a SONA that was done in three languages-English, Filipino and Bisaya! The last two were uttered during President Duterte’s long adlibs.
Yes, the long adlibs made Digong’s SONA three times longer than was intended. They were delivered seriously, half-seriously and jokingly! Typically Digong. As the camera panned to the audience, particularly to the invited foreign dignitaries, while Pres. Duterte was adlibbing, attentiveness was the order of the day.
What was clear though was that the audience generally liked how Digong delivered his piece though at times, his adlibs were personal in nature.
I found the SONA quite frank, sincere and full of hope for the people. You can sense urgency in it. It was so different from the previous state of the nation addresses. It tackled simple things or issues that an ordinary Pinoy can relate to. They were mostly about questions of the day. Not much rhetorics. They are straight to the point. Perhaps this is the reason why most people who cared to listen to it gave a thumbs up when asked their opinions of it. By the way, the adlibs could have been reduced into half.
“Fingerpointing is not the way of a good leader”, said Digong matter-of-factly. This statement is an unmistakable sign that he means really to create an impact, regardless of what had been done or omitted to be done. He was showing that his leadership is forward looking, unencumbered by the faults of the past. This is unlike some of his predecessors who were still loudly crowing, towards the end of their terms, about the sins of the past administration that’s why they were not able to do much. Hogwash! A leader is voted into office or placed in position precisely to make things better, not to grumble about the past commissions or omissions.
I like his pronouncement about lowering taxes, both individual and corporate. This was immediately met by questions on where can the government get the “lost” taxes. Somebody pointed that such loss can be offset by an efficient taxation and collection system. He came short of saying that by just reducing corruption, the government can have more than 270 billion pesos in additional revenue. I agree. Add to that the proper tax to be paid by the elite or the rich people who are actually paying very little tax vis-a-vis their income.
The promised shorter processing time of transactions in government offices should be a boost to a Pinoy’s morale. Less losses on intangibles such as lost income from lessened time to do one’s own business. The longer validity period of passports from 5 to 10 years should be most welcome. Less hassle, less trouble for all concerned, less time on the road thereby contributing to the easing of traffic. Same is true with the lengthening of driver’s licences from three to five years.
I was waiting for Digong to say more about agriculture but he mentioned mainly about the need to do actual soil sampling throughout the Philippines as a basis for future courses of action in support of food security and food self-sufficiency. Anyway, it is now common knowledge that agriculture is one of his priorities, especially the improvement of life of the farmers and the fisherfolks. The Duterte government’s vision is to gradually make the Philippines as an agribusiness hub in the ASEAN region. High value crops such as coffee, cacao, rubber, coconut, mango, banana, palm oil among others, are the target crops. This would mean that the High Value Crops Development Program and the Organic Agriculture Program will be playing an increased role in the local agriculture industry.
It is also common knowledge that manufacturing will be another focus in order to create more jobs. I have always believed that without a strong manufacturing sector, we can never be at par even with our more advanced ASEAN neighbors like Singapore and Malaysia. We should have our own brand of car, motorcycle, television, and many more. It is satisfying to know that this sector will really be attended to by the present administration. Intensified manufacturing should be very beneficial to the Cordillera region because of the availability of infrastructure in the export processing zones, presence of technically equipped manpower, and inherent creativity of locals. What is needed is administrative support, incentives, the corresponding funding support, and the encouragement of private sector participation by making it easier to do business here.
There were so many other concerns raised in the SONA such as free wifi in public places (like airports, seaports, schools, parks, train stations), whistle blower protection, rail projects, TV channel for the Lumads and Muslims in Mindanao, and many more. One of the questions is: “how can the government deal with the elite who had been well-ensconced in our society that what they say is “law”. And how can the government fund all its grandiose projects? I believe these will be answered in no time.
On the other hand, people were waiting to hear some concerns such as federalism, contractualization and land reform but were disappointed. No mention.
No amount of well-intention by the government can succeed without the help of everyone. That’s why President Duterte ended his long but unique SONA by mentioning that a Filipino is disciplined, informed and involved. Well said.
I should not forget to mention here that the SONA was quite a time to remember a Cordillera lawmaker, Congressman Teddy Baguilat Jr., who made the entire region proud by proudly garbing himself in native attire. My salute to you Congressman!**
