Reaction Paper

on

SONA 2019
CELLONA, ANDREW JOHN D.
12 STEM A
 REACTION PAPER

Last July 22, 2019, Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivered his State of the
Nation Address (SONA) in front of a thousand lawmakers, guests and diplomats at the Batasang
Pambansa, Quezon City.

Same with the previous SONA, the president had a lecture-type speech on delivering his
administrations’ plans, policies, programs and initiatives to give way for the discussion of
achievements instead of incorporating in the SONA.

The SONA 2019 started at exactly 5:15 pm and concluded at 6:49 pm, from the originally
declared 45-minute speech due to some delays and the expected 'side-remarks' of the president.
The president started his speech by extending hand in gratitude to all who kept faith with him in
most trying times. After the usual introductions of top officials, among the first things President
Duterte does is highlight his popularity, by saying only 3% of Filipinos disapprove of him.

The persistent problem of illegal drugs is Duterte's first topic. He claims the 2017 Marawi
siege began with a government raid on shabu being kept by extremists there. Filipino citizens have
begun to do their part in the war against drugs, and through the barangay formation of anti-drug
councils, and also actually surrendering bricks of cocaine found floating in the sea into our islands.
The unending war against illegal drugs leads the president the idea to bring back the death penalty.
President Duterte wants to reinstate the death penalty for heinous crimes related to drugs and
plunder. Going back to the term of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, she signed the Republic Act No.
9346, a law which specifically abolished the death penalty. This is due to the belief then that for a
society to be better, a more humane punishment should be given to guilty criminals, regardless of
the severity of the committed crime. In my personal view, looking into the crime rate of other
countries who are also implementing the death penalty, there is a significant decrease in it. But for
a Christian country like Philippines who fight for life, dignity and rights of the people, the
reinstating of death penalty is lowly possible to be realize. According to Bishop Pablo Virgilio
David, "Death penalty is not really a deterrent to crime, because you kill the criminals but you
don't kill the root causes of crime." The Church is strong when it comes to Her social responsibility.
The Catholic Church already call on the Catholic faithful and all Filipinos who stand for life to
continue the spirited opposition to the death penalty. I think it is a silly act of the president to call
on the reinstitution of death penalty when majority of the citizen are Christians.

The next point that the president had discussed was on the government transactions. A time
taken in queuing is a time taken to work or to spend with family members. With this belief,
President Duterte urges the different government agencies to simplify the different transactions
and turn it into an electronic one. He specifically mentioned the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR),
Land Registration Authority, Land Transportation Authority (LTO), PAGIBIG Fund, and Social
Security System (SSS) as some of the agencies that should adhere to such changes. To fully make
this work, people could resort to calling the Citizen’s Complaint Hotline 8888 for them to report
or air out public concerns. Considering the adaption on technological advancement there will be
millions of Filipino who will lost their jobs. The administration should come up with a solution
regarding on this matter.

One of the milestone that the Duterte administration can be proud of is the significant
improvement of the Manila Bay. The efforts to clean it up by conducting different cleanup drive
was made for the past months and the result is favorable. Before, people do not find joy in having
a sightseeing activity in the bay since it is filled with trash and there is a stinky smell. But now,
the number of families who usually go to Manila Bay to watch the sunset and have a picnic is
noticeable. Also the successful six months rehabilitation of the Boracay Island proves the earnest
work of the administration in dealing with environment development.

The need to reinforce the “delicate balancing act” about the West Philippine Sea is the only
solution that the government could come up with at the moment. President Duterte emphasized
that this will be possible if all matters concerning negotiation about the natural resources of the
country as well as territorial waters will be handled through “peaceful way.” With the conflicts
being experienced with the Chinese vessels trying to establish their camp on our territories paired
with the pressure given by the mass people to protect our land to the government, the
administration is in the middle of a difficult situation. But if the country can fight with Canada
because of the tons of trash that they threw in our land and we can compel them to take back the
trashes, I think it is also possible with the Chinese case. It is our land and it is rightfully ours.
Though I agree that peaceful talk should be employed, I also strongly believe that we should show
power and authority over our land. If not, our silence may be seen as an act of acceptance. It is our
land and we should do all it takes to protect it against anyone.

Massive changes from the grassroots or the foundation are envisioned by the present
administration. First, the proposal of possible postponement of Barangay election by October 2022
was announced. Accordingly, this will enable the current barangay officials to finish the projects
and platforms that they were able to start. This gives them ample time to fulfill whatever platforms
they have proposed during the election time. For this, what I am concern of is for those corrupt
barangay official who will receive their honorarium for two long years when they don’t contributed
or do their task for the good of barangay. The National government should consider this issue for
the money that the government give to the official is the money of the people.

The proposal for the congress to enact the Magna Carta for Barangays was also mentioned.
Through this bill, people working on the Barangays along with the needs of the community shall
be given priority. This includes standardized salaries and benefits, water supply, public
transportation, and schools. In short, the government is trying to do massive changes beginning
from the grassroots, heading to the top. This is a good idea to develop and strengthen the basic
governmental community in order for the whole government function well. The reward that the
Barangay official get in the form of salary will all the more encourage them to do their work the
right way. It makes ever Barangay official more responsible since they know that they are also
given a priority coming from the higher authorities.

ROTC has been established years back and was removed eventually. In the present
administration, the president asked the congress to approve the bill which aims to reinstate the
ROTC. The said mandatory requirement shall be taken by all Grade 11 and 12 students or the
Senior High School students. As a mandatory requirement for students to graduate, the ROTC will
all the more reinforce the training and citizenship of every Filipino teenager. Parents should begin
seeing this as something positive instead of a negative. By this, they can teach their children a lot
of values plus enhanced discipline. I believe that if parents could see it this way, they will be able
to influence their children to perceive it as well as something beneficial. For as long as schools
and universities could implement the ROTC properly without abuse of authority, everything is
heading to the right track. In the future, we can see morally upright and responsible citizens of our
country, beginning from their training of ROTC. The abuse of authority is what I am afraid of how
will the administration assure that there will be no abuse of authority will occur. The life of the
students is at stake if this threat will not be addressed properly.

“Though we cannot change the past, we will not squander the future. I will push harder in the
pursuit of programs that we have started, but always within the parameters of the law. I will not
merely coast along or while away my time during the remaining years of my administration. It
ain’t my style. But I will not stop until I reach the finish line. Then and only then shall I call it a
day.” – Pres. Duterte

The accomplishments of the past show that there is nothing that this nation could not
achieve for as long as there is an effort to do so. It reveals how much changes we have had and
how much we are still expecting to have in the future. Based on the SONA, one thing that I realized
is that it takes a village to build a better community. Hand in hand if people from the government
and laypeople will do a collaborative effort, nothing is impossible.