President Rodrigo Duterte’s followers may sing praises for his true-to-the-script State of the Nation Address last Monday.
I thought, though, that he still did not dwell on the most important concerns of the nation—the prevailing environment of lawlessness and violence, the lack of jobs and the soaring prices of goods and services.
As a result, the President’s failure to address all these made his speech sound hollow. It was a letdown.
At the very least, the speech was abbreviated and he did not ramble or curse.
While the President stressed the need to continue the bloody war on drugs, his message essentially was a chilling one—that the campaign will go on. This did not sit well with the families of those who have been killed.
Truth to tell, this was an implicit admission of his failure to fulfill his promise of eradicating the drug menace at the soonest time possible.
I have repeatedly written about the reason why I believe the anti-drug campaign has failed. This is because he regards the issue as a peace-and-order problem. But even if the last pusher is killed, so long as there is demand, he cannot expect to solve the problem to the last day of his term in 2022.
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With the ouster of former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and the installation of Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, there is a reminder to people in power: It is fleeting and temporary.
Alvarez clearly offended many of his colleagues with his dictatorial tendencies. This is why there had been rumors about his ouster for so long. In contrast, Arroyo was friendly and supportive to many.
Here is a bit of inside information: Last Sunday, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio called some House members to oust Alvarez and install Arroyo. Why? Sara has a deep-rooted dislike of Alvarez when the latter said her new party would become a political opposition.
Here’s another reason: Sara at one time went to Laoag, Ilocos Norte as a guest of the Marcoses. As we know too well, the Marcoses and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas has a falling out when the latter accused Gov. Imee Marcos of committing plunder over the purchase of vehicles.
Oh well. We know all too well that when it comes to politics, you cannot have permanent friends, just permanent interests.
With Gloria as speaker we can expect a revamp in the leadership and committee chairmanships. Gloria also should not forget who took the mace—the symbol of her leadership. The sound system was also turned off when she wanted to speak to her followers. That was an insult from the followers of Alvarez.
What I did not like was the reaction of Senator Grace Poe when Gloria was installed as Speaker. Obviously, Poe cannot forget that Gloria defeated her father, Fernando Poe Jr. in 2004.
My congratulations to the new Speaker of the House. I wonder: What’s next?
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The greatest fear of business and industry in the pursuit of federalism by the Duterte administration is its impact on the national economy.
No less than Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia when he talked about the uncertainty created by federalism.
Even foreign credit institutions like Moody’s are not exactly confident in federalism’s effect on the economy. This is because some states may be richer than others.
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Despite the inability of the President to address the most important concerns of the country in his speech, he was able to send the message that he wanted Congress to create a Department of Disaster Management and Preparedness.
Calamities hit many parts of the country and the National Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Council is just an ad hoc body. Indeed we need a permanent government body for this that is headed by a Cabinet-level official.
I would even say that this department should be merged with the Department of Environment. We need it like yesterday.
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While presidential assistant Christopher “Bong” Go is denying he would run for the Senate, his photos appear every day over television and in newspapers. He even has billboards!
In the first place, who is Bong Go, really? We are told he is a multi-billionaire—where did he get his money?
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