"DUTERTE'S SONA: A COPIUM"
"Modest, Simple, Impactful". These are the words described by People's Television manager Katherine de Castro regarding president Rodrigo Duterte's sixth and final State of the Nation Address in Batasang Pambansa.
This description, which also includes the entire ceremony, is made due to the current pandemic situation, that made Duterte rather made the event as simple and modest as possible, according to De Castro via the Manila Times. "Expect something classy, simple [and] modest, yet impactful to be translated on your TV screens. More than the fact that our President is from the region, he is one who would surely prefer to be portrayed in a rather subdued, unpretentious way and certainly not grand," she added.
However, despite this simple, modest, yet impactful kind of event, it seems that the address brought by Duterte is way far from the "legacy of change" being brought about- with most folks felt largely dissatisfied with his message. For honestly speaking, people thought that other than showcasing his achievements, they also believed it's about time for the president to own up to his shortcomings, his failures from the past five years, particularly his war on drugs, human rights violations, and a mismanaged response to the COVID19 pandemic.
It is not surprising about that dissatisfaction be it because of his failure to own up his shortcomings to those of blame games and braggadocios. Yes, Duterte may have told to the country about his achievements be it the infrastructure program, of laws like free education, the "malasakit centers", and antipoverty efforts amidst the pandemic like the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act", "Bayanihan to Recover as One Act", "Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act", "Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer Act", and the "Social Amelioration Program". But on the other hand, these achevements fail to outweigh the controversies Duterte ought to evade if not downplayed most- that of war on drugs, his grudges towards the opposition, the closure of ABSCBN, and other tirades that spoils the hopes of many during that address.
For an instance, Duterte continued boasting about the alleged success of his "war on drugs". He even claimed he did not want families to break up and become dysfunctional due to Drugs. But why is it dysfunctional? is it because of drugs alone? How about the lack of concrete response to the pandemic? Hunger? Natural disasters? Or even false flag operations?
Another is Duterte's claim that his government "has taken away the misery of public commuting" by citing recent improvements especially on the MRT3. Netizens were quick to debunk his word by showing photos of people in crowded stations and sidewalks, all waiting for public transport. Wouldn't be surprised that with the change of bus routes and the removing of franchise in UV express this also adds to the problem.
Even ABSCBN is also included in Duterte's gaslighting. After hurling many threats towards the station, this "national gaslighter" claims he had no problem with the media conglomerate while insisting "they are cheating government by the billions in taxes". But according to ABSCBN employees and even the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the company has no issues especially in regards to taxes and other related matters. Duterte's tirades with ABSCBN was obviously political in character, with himself attacking the network and a major factor in its shutdown last 2020. Duterte even claims that this shutdown was also a "victory against the oligarchs", when in fact certain entrenched entities wanting to get the frequency from the Lopez-owned network.
Duterte even said that the Philippines has to assert "what is rightfully ours" in the West Philippine Sea, which is way contrary to his earlier statement downplaying the arbitral win against China as a "worthless piece of paper." "We are not yet a competent enemy." he said, and yet he talks about military modernisation and plans to increase the pay and ranks of uniformed personnel. For what? Defending against Chinese intrusion in the disputed isles and shoals in the West Philippine Sea? Or just guarding those of entrenched interests in the face of looming opposition especially in the countryside? He even praised the modern incarnate of "Committee on Un-Filipino Activities" known as the "National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict" despite the fact that it had brought havoc against the opposition and concerned citizens alike in the name of "anticommunism" and "counterinsurgency". After all, he did scrapped the peace negotiations and probably wanting to dissolve the office of the peace adviser while busy kowtowing to Xi Jinping for scraps!
Such nonsense Duterte said in his State of the Nation Address may have outweigh the achievements being brought about by his apologists. True that he "tried to make reforms" despite the fact that it benefited the entrenched entities. He may have fought the oligarchs as what he said in his past speeches, when in fact his supporters in the government are also oligarchs who did gain concessions in exchange for supporting Duterte and his programs. Dennis Uy, Razon, even San Miguel's Ramon Ang did benefited from the leader who claims to be "against the elite""!
To sum it all, Duterte's speech is itself high in copium. In every tirade, a metaphorical opiate is inhaled when faced with failure, having extreme rationalisations, outlandish accusations, extreme rage with unconvincing allegiations. Even his supporters are also high with copium as one may think of, with the same symptoms as their idol has.