MANILA (SE): On July 27, Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) spending about an hour and a half attacking a senator, chastising the country’s oligarchs and taking aim at telecommunications companies over allegedly lacklustre service, PhilStar reported on July 28. However he failed to spell out a road map to recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic.
Ralph Recto, the president pro tempore of the Philippine Senate, found the SONA short on inspiration the Inquirer reported on July 28. “Unfortunately, (the) speech wasn’t inspiring, reassuring, hopeful and even divisive,” he said.
“(There was) not much detail on how to win the war against Covid-19,” Recto said, adding that Filipinos need hope and direction, and that Duterte did not use the opportunity to “ignite their fighting spirit and light the way forward for them.”
The battle against the Covid-19 pandemic did get some mention when Duterte said that he had urged China’s president, Xi Jinping, to prioritise the Philippines should China develops a vaccine for the virus, PhilStar reported.
“I made a plea to President Xi Jinping that if they have the vaccine, can they allow us to be one of the first or if needed, if we have to buy that we will be granted credit so we can normalise as fast as possible,” the president said.
Experts have criticised the government’s handling of the health crisis, citing the surge in infections, its alleged failure to meet testing targets, to respect human rights, confusing statements by some officials,and the supposed lack of transparency in the use of funds, among other issues, PhilStar reported on July 27.
Farmers’ groups were also disappointed with Duterte’s SONA, the Inquirer reported, as the country’s uniformed personnel got a pat on the back for ensuring food security, but those who went out in the fields and the seas to provide food for Filipinos received no mention.
Edcel Lagman, the first district representative from Albay, had expected to hear more the Inquirer reported.
“After expecting President Rodrigo Duterte to announce and discuss his administration’s roadmap in response to the ravages on our people and economy of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is completely frustrating that any master plan was only mentioned peripherally,” Lagman said in a statement sent to reporters.
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“The anticipated road map meandered into the roadside of trite generalities and an invocation that the people should ‘trust its government’ without telling them what actually the government’s plans are,” he said.
Just prior to Duterte’s SONA, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) released a pastoral letter—the second in a month—taking the government to task, UCAN reported. A July 19 letter condemned a new anti-terrorism law and other “social ills” plaguing society (Sunday Examiner, July 26).
“The Church People-Workers Solidarity is in unity with different sectors in denouncing the current administration’s failure to address the miserable condition of the Filipino people amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” the statement said.
The statement, released by Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos, chairperson of the Church People-Workers Solidarity group, said the government’s “oppressive, irresponsible and irrelevant” actions had worsened an already dire crisis.
“The administration implemented community quarantines of varying stringency nationally without proper implementation guidelines and adaptation frameworks. The suspension of mass transportation, in particular, was and still is a heavy burden, especially for essential service and healthcare workers,” it added.
The bishops said that many people such as health workers walked for hours to and from hospitals despite being overworked and exposed to the virus due to lack of protective equipment.
“The administration still has no concrete and effective plan for mass testing, contact tracing, isolation and treatment of Covid-19 infected persons half a year into this global health emergency …more are at risk of contracting the disease,” the bishops said.
They noted that Duterte’s cash aid programme did not reach the majority of people. “This means that the majority of the Filipino workforce did not receive any financial aid from the government during the quarantine … In effect, millions of workers and their families were experiencing hunger and poverty,” the bishops said.
On a final note, the bishops called on the Duterte administration to put people first before profit and to provide universal healthcare and Covid-19 testing and treatment for all.
