Of Rantings and Reiterations: Notes after SONA 2020
"I expect a more presidential SONA. Waging vendetta is not what we expect. We expect clarity on how the Covid-19 problem would be dealt with, the unemployment problems and the effects on the economy and the measures to mitigate them. It seems he has no grasps of the enormity of the problem brought by the pandemic."
These are the words a commentator in the Philippine Daily Inquirer regarding the recent State of the Nation Address of president Rodrigo Duterte.
Mostly consists of rants and reiterations of past promises, the tyrant's statement in general rather failed to touch on the real conditions of the Filipino folk, especially the vulnerable sectors who are suffering one of the worse crisis in this ever-continuing past.
It is not surprising, for like any of his rants, he showed being desperate in covering up the fact that his delayed, incompentent response to the pandemic has caused situations affecting the Filipino. And to think that he spoke about "gains" brought about by his programs, this doesn't suffice the crisis, what more that the folk in general have not gained anything except losses in terms of jobs and income- that even before this pandemic that the Filipino have suffered worsening hardships as the economy continues to slump in crisis.
In other words it is not the "comfortable life" as he promised during the Past address, let alone seeing it enjoyed by his camarilla and his well-off allies. That existing programs like infrastructure through the "BUILD BUILD BUILD" program rather benefited moneylenders as this, like those of the past programs are debt-driven while the Filipino folk gained none with many of which driven them away from their homes and livelihood.
Even the promise to return the Coco Levy Fund to the coconut farmers wasn't even revisited. Agrarian Reform and Rural Development remained unnoticed despite "advocating" returning unemployed citydwellers and urban poor to the provinces, and Duterte had nothing to say about the people's urgent demands for employment, livelihood, what more of the need for a just living wage in this face of present economic crisis.
With this would say that the Filipino folk are willing to resist against the regime. Due to widespread hunger, unemployment, poverty and an utter abandonment by the state the folk are seeing in unrest as protest actions and various forms of dissent been shown. But, with the passage of the Anti Terrorism Act and the use of the pandemic for its orderist agenda, the regime has seeks to suppress opposition ranging from threats against personalities, arrests of participants in protest actions, police monitoring of church services, and others which showed how the order as trying to silence dissent. Even the recent non-renewal of ABS CBN and its ruse of destroying the "oligarchs" by the administration has shown how press freedom can be trampled in the name of interest.
But despite threats of arrest and considering the pandemic situation, actions continue in a show of militant defiance- as several thousands converged in UP Diliman pointing against the regime, its vassalage to both the United States and the Chinese, and all its negligences and mismanagements brought upon. And these are bound to grow even bigger regardless of attempts to dissuade by the authorities. From these actions would say that they had enough of the ruses the regime has ever spoke upon, nor the rants that all meant waging a personal vendetta than providing a national solution be it this COVID19 to those of socioeconomic problems that hamper the country's development.
Otherwise, this country has really sold down the river by interest seeking elements, on the first place, these are just rants and reiterations, brought about by the regime desperate to retain the order.