‘3 years of dancing around truth’

MANILA, Philippines — Hours before President Duterte delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address yesterday, critics and groups expressed their take on what he should be saying in his SONA.

For Sen. Risa Hontiveros, Duterte must show his actual plan on how to secure the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity instead of kowtowing to China.

Hontiveros said three years of dancing around the truth is far too long.

“Three years of foul language insulting women and inciting and glorifying violence is three years too many. Empty rhetoric, fancy camera work and a symphony orchestra will not do. It’s time for President Duterte to give the people the SONA that we truly deserve,” Hontiveros said.

She said Duterte must explain his foreign policies and how he plans to address the international community’s growing condemnation of the Philippines’ rights situation.

“Duterte must present his blueprint for our economy and political institutions in his last three years in office. He must give us real vision, not authoritarian aspirations concealed in Charter change and/or sham federalism to lift term limits and further consolidate political power,” Hontiveros said. 

From bad to worse

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and other groups said change did happen under the Duterte administration – only things turned from bad to worse.

“We look back in sheer dismay over the unprecedented attacks perpetrated primarily by the state, with the apparent goal of shrinking the space for free expression in the country,” the NUJP, Concerned Artists of the Philippines, Altermidya-People’s Alternative Media Network and Let’s Organize for Democracy and Integrity (LODI) said in a statement.

The groups said the dome of impunity widened when Duterte assumed the presidency.

Aside from the drug war, “massacres, killings and arbitrary arrests have been committed at a rate only comparable to the dark years of the Marcos era. With the rampant human rights violations, the victims have become mere statistics, losing their names and identities to the dark powers-that-be,” they said.

Broken promises

For the teachers’ group, Duterte must fulfill his promises to the education sector, particularly the pay hike of the educators.

Members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) joined protests along Commonwealth Avenue to urge Duterte to honor his commitments to the teachers.

“We expect him to deliver not only on his promises, but on his duties to the Filipino people and to our country,” said ACT treasurer Vladimer Quetua.

“Raising the pay of civilian employees is a step toward strengthening the social services sector of the government, which performs the primary mandate of the state. It is a measure that contributes to social justice and national development. Such will only be possible if the government will redirect the Filipino people’s resources away from anti-people policies and toward social services,” Quetua added.

The group called for a meaningful salary increase in the base pay of rank-and-file government employees: to P16,000 for those in Salary Grade 1, P30,000 for entry-level teachers and P31,000 for entry-level college instructors.

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) urged Duterte to support funding for the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers.

“More than three years since he assumed office, the promise of P10,000 increase in our salaries remains to be a hanging question,” TDC national chairman Benjo Basas said. – Janvic Mateo, Sheila Crisostomo, Evelyn Macairan, Artemio Dumlao