OUR LADY OF FATIMA UNIVERSITY-QC

English for Academic and Professional Purposes

Name:Ortoyo,Hannah T. Date of Submission: 7/23/19
Section: Stem 12P BSN 2__________ Activity no. : 2

REACTION PAPER:
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS 2019
Thesis Statement: ___________
_President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his fourth State of the Nation
Address (SONA) at the Joint Session of the 18th Congress at the Session Hall
of the House of Representatives Complex in Constitution Hills, Quezon City,
july 22, 2019.
The 4th SONA laid down the plans of the Duterte administration for the next three
years and highlighted the President’s legacy. This year’s SONA 2019 is better compared
to Duterte’s previous SONAs as he stuck to the script with less adlib and expletives. He
laboured to present his administration’s accomplishments and what he wants in his term’s
remaining three years which is ideally the objective of the SONA in the first place.

In spite of the Recto Bank controversy, President Duterte has categorically stated that
national honor and dignity is important to him and that he declared to all that WPS is
ours. What happens on the ground, though, is another matter.

It is also good to hear that he assumes full responsibility of whatever happens in his
administration. He stated his goal of making lives of the Filipino people comfortable which
remains to be seen at the end of his term. It is always good to hear a leader sharing his
vision for the country. Making it happen is another thing.

Important legislation.At least Duterte acknowledged that he can not do it alone. He needs
the Congress’ support in passing important legislations. Among these legislations which I
support are: New salaraySalary Standardization Law,Department of Disaster
Resilience,Department of Water,National Defense ActzMandatory ROTC,Free legal
Assistance to Uniformed Personnel,Magna Carta for Barangay,National Land Use
Plan,Coconut Levy, Trust Fund Act.
 2019 ELECTIONS & SURVEYS. Duterte used these as basis of the support of the
Filipino people on his administration. I disagree with this considering that Comelec has
not sufficiently answered the so many questions raised in the 2019 Elections. With the
atmosphere of fear due to Tokhang and EJKs, I must say that surveys nowadays do not
necessarily reflect the true sentiments of the people.

The President will open the country’s doors for foreign investors and its good for me to
benefit from increased profits, developing relationships, and a greater level of market
influence.Duterte opposed Nayong Pilipino for being transformed into a gambling casino,
and he said he will fight those who will not obey his order and said that the West Philippine
Sea is ours, but we should strengthen our military first to defend what is ours.

In this age where some are willing to turn a blind eye and put a price on their honor, it’s
very rare to encounter someone who’s willing to go through hell to maintain honor and
do good for the benefit of many.But we don’t have to be a president or someone’s leader
to preserve honor. We can start with small things like taking accountability for our actions
and not throwing people under the bus all the time. It’s hard but that’s a start.

President Duterte showed how big of a person he can be by not throwing mud at the
previous administration and focused on the task at hand. It’s a welcome change to what
many of us have witnessed over the past years. Hopefully, we all can take away
something from this SONA aside from the light and funny moments. Hopefully, we can
take the things he said and use them to improve ourselves because change won’t come
to the nation unless it comes from within.