PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte’s fourth State of the Nation Address was straightforward and measured. Except for a handful of expletives that usually characterize many of his impromptu speeches, the SONA underscored his personal expectations and reaffirmed his admin’s agenda.
But there were certain issues, forecast to be cited in his address, were treated with less urgency. For one, the President did not mention Charter Change and, in a sign of capitulation, acknowledged that the Federalism he has seamlessly pushed cannot be passed during his term.
With a bureaucracy now bloated and cornering two-thirds of the national budget, the President, presumably with good intent, called on Congress to create three new departments to separately address the issues on overseas Filipino workers, water, and disaster management.
If passed, Duterte becomes the first President to have created five departments after he earlier signed into law the departments on information, communication and technology (DICT) and the human settlement and urban development (DHSUD).
DICT was created under Republic Act 10844, while DHSUD under Republic Act 11201.
Addressing a fiscal deficit that is sure to be felt as soon as all the new offices become functional is not just about cutting expenditures. The more pressing demand here is downsizing existing agencies and streamlining the fat in government, which are also money matters.
The favorite issues that have defined the Duterte administration did not escape also the President’s attention. For the umpteenth time, he admitted that corruption remains pervasive and mentioned the agencies that need be cleansed without delay. As a suggestion, he called on Congress to revive the death penalty exclusively for plunderers and big-time drug pushers.
The SONA’s highlight was Duterte’s declaration the West Philippine Sea, without ifs and buts, belongs to the Philippines, a statement that elicited public appreciation. While some sectors were not fully satisfied with the assertion, at the least it clarified certain issues that have been obscured by the ongoing debates on the relations between the country and China.
On the side, Duterte, indirectly inspired by the developments taking shape in Manila, ordered interior and local government secretary Eduardo Año to order the local officials to clear the streets of any and all obstructions under pain of being suspended.
With both chambers of Congress being perceived as very friendly to the Palace, the Duterte leadership has every right to say that its pro-development goals, including the ambitious ‘build, build, build’ agenda, may be moving upward. But contrary figures from the IBON Foundation show that the country’s growth direction is essentially on the downtrend.
