BY WENDELL VIGILIA and RAYMOND AFRICA
WHEN President Duterte delivers his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) today, Vice President Leni Robredo wants to hear what he intends to do to stop the continuing rise in the number COVID-19 cases in the country, which passed the 80,000-mark yesterday.
Robredo said she also expects the President to tell the people he was able to deliver on the promises he made in his SONA last year.
“Ano ba iyong mga pangako noon? Nagawa ba? Hindi nagawa? Kung hindi nagawa, ano iyong dahilan? (What were the promises before? Was it delivered? If not, what are the reasons?),” Robredo said.
Robredo was not among the officials invited to physically attend the President’s fifth SONA but she said she was invited to attend it via Zoom app where she will monitor the speech.
Several senators said they also want to hear from the President concrete plans on how to beat the COVID-19 pandemic, almost six months since the first fatality was reported, and the government’s road map to economic recovery.
At the House, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said he expects the President to deliver a “message of hope” because the health and livelihood of people worldwide have been suffering since the pandemic broke out.
Malacañang said the President will discuss plans on how to bring the country back to the pre-pandemic state, when the economy was strong and there was a low unemployment rate.
Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Filipinos would want to know where the government will take them in the coming months, considering the country’s “very uncertain” environment and that of the whole world. He said the President will also lay down the government’s concrete plans in the fight against COVID-19.
Robredo, in her radio program “Biserbisyong Leni” aired over RMN-dzXL, she would appreciate it if the President would talk about his plan for economic recovery from the pandemic, but it would be better if he would say what measures he would take to prevent more infections.
She said that while government has been trying to get the country back to normal by opening the economy, it will be an uphill battle if the government will fail to stop the rise in the number of cases.
She said high number of COVID-19 cases is a “cause for concern.”
“Siguradong may ginagawa tayong hindi tama. Kasi kung tama iyong ginagawa natin, hindi sana ganito kataas. (We’re surely doing something wrong because if not, the number of cases wouldn’t be this high),” she said.
She said that based on the latest ranking in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Philippines now has the most number of active cases at 50,764, displacing Indonesia. For the third straight day yesterday, there were more than 2,000 new COVID cases in the country.
The Vice President said she expects the President to present his plans to revive the country’s economy since the growth rate has suffered because of the pandemic as unemployment also continues to rise.
“Alam natin na grabe iyong tama ng COVID, pero gusto nating malaman sa SONA ano iyong plano. Matagal na nating tinatanong kasi parang hindi kumpleto iyong napapanood natin doon sa weekly na meetings (sa Malacañang). So hopefully, tomorrow, kumpletong ilalahad (We know how hard COVID has hit us but we want to know from the SONA what are the plans. We’ve long been asking but it seems that what we saw in the weekly meetings is incomplete),” she said.
OBSTRUCTION
Cayetano said the President is well aware that he is now nearing the end of his term, and while he was able to accomplish many goals in the past four years, the COVID pandemic has become an obstruction.
“So ang magiging challenge niyan, paano i-adopt at paano i-manage ‘yung changes na ‘yan para pag alis niya ng 2022 na-deliver pa rin niya ang mga pangako niya sa apat na nakalipas na SONA (So it’ll be a challenge how the changes will be managed to ensure that the promises in the past four SONAs are delivered when he steps down in 2022),” he said.
The Speaker said that before the pandemic, the administration was able to put its programs in place such as the “Build, Build, Build” and the mega subway plan in the Metro Manila, the anti-drug war and the increase in the salaries of uniformed personnel.
“I mean generally, the Duterte administration has been very successful… very controversial, but very successful,” he said.
STIMULUS PACKAGE
Deputy majority leader Bernadette Herrera said she also expects the President to lay down concrete plans to address COVID-19 and revive the “pandemic-ravaged economy.”
Herrera said she was hoping the President would push for the swift passage of the “much-needed and long overdue” stimulus package designed to boost the economy and give aid to hard-hit workers and industries.
“It is our fervent hope that the President would certify as urgent the Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy or ARISE bill, which contains a P1.3-trillion economic stimulus package in response to the COVID-19 crisis,” Herrera said.
She said the ARISE bill will help prevent more businesses, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), from closing permanently.
The ARISE bill seeks to protect and assist up to 15.7 million workers and create 3 million short-term jobs over three years and help up to 5.57 million workers at MSMEs.
30-DAY PLAN
Senate President pro tempore Ralph Recto said the people would want to hear a straightforward statement from the President on how this administration will respond to the COVID-19 outbreak four months after the country was placed on community quarantine.
“Specifically, they want a granular SONA, and if I may suggest, a 30-day plan on how to prevent this pandemic from reaching a dangerous tipping point from now until August 31,” Recto said.
“This is the flatten-the-curve plan that will stabilize and reverse the spike in cases and improve all important numbers in our economic report card,” he added.
Recto said the month of August is crucial in having a plan to contain the virus so that when the “ber months” come, the country could have been discharged from the “intensive care unit.”
Recto said the President must present to the people “a sense of direction amidst the feeling of drift” by way of having more competent officials who will handle the pandemic.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he, too, expects that the President to make a comprehensive discussion on economic recovery, and foresees that the President’s SONA will tackle mostly the COVID-19 situation of the country, which he said is the true state of the nation.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the President’s SONA should no longer contain denials, threats, or any downplaying of the country’s situation amid the pandemic.
She urged Duterte to apologize for the government’s shortcomings in fighting the pandemic the last few months.
Hontiveros said the President must not beat around the bush but instead bare the administration’s plan to contain the virus as infections rise and how to revive the dying economy.
TRUTHFUL SONA
Officials and members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines expressed hope Duterte will give a truthful and humble SONA.
In a radio interview, CBCP Public Affairs Committee executive secretary Fr Jerome Secillano said they are hoping that Duterte will stick to the truth in detailing and addressing the country’s problems.
“I think the public deserves to know the truth. This is not the time to blame anybody. This is not the time to criticize anybody. This is the time for us to know the truth,” said Secillano.
“From knowing the truth, hopefully, we can do what needs to be done,” he furthered.
Novaliches bishop emeritus Teodoro Bacani said, “Because it is the SONA, it should reflect the real state of the country. The truth, and no frills. Tell the people the true state of the nation.”
Bacani also said he is hoping to see a “humble” President.
“He shouldn’t show dictatorial tendencies. Avoid cursing. We want to see a humble president speaking to his people as a servant, and not the master of the people,” said Bacani.
Ozamiz Archbishop Martin Jumoad, San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, and Sorsogon bishop emeritus Arturo Bastes expressed hope vital social issues would not be neglected during the SONA.
Jumoad said issues that should also be tackled include unemployment, resumption of classes, and environment protection.
Alminaza said renewable energy and the extrajudicial killings should be taken up. — With Gerard Naval
