SONA surprises, rabbits off the hat!
I have been critical of Duterte’s administration as I had been with his predecessors. Like many others, I too, had many expectations about his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), mostly negative. To my astonishment, the 2018 SONA pulled out some rabbits off the hat. Surprisingly, too many rabbits, and nothing was about Digong.
The first rabbit was Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s (GMA) assumption as Speaker of the House, ringing Britney’s “oops I did it again.” For a while, I thought it was one of the teledrama twists from the prolific mind of Bb. Joyce Bernal having to direct the SONA. But no, there was a real house coup happening live on people’s television. A change of leadership from Alvarez to Arroyo minutes before the SONA, a coup in the house before the Filipino people's very eyes. How awkward could that be - Alvarez walked with PRRD to the holding area while Arroyo already occupies the seat of the Speaker at the rostrum. But decency prevailed when after an hour of talks, Alvarez took the lofty seat dismissing the possible intense drama that could have ensued from it.
I guess Alvarez got a dose of his own medicine when often he strongarms the HoR for his legislative agenda in the past two years. More interestingly, it appears that GMA’s supporters still have her back, the same people who helped her survive 9 attempts of impeachment in her 9 years of presidency, now putting her back into a seat of glorious power, minus the neck brace. While she may not be the most desirable SoH, politically she was most strategic given her clout within the lower house.
This last-minute change is so telling of the political alignment for the 2019 elections. The stars are forming a constellation for 2019. With the regional Hugpong being organized by Mayor Sara, it would be unlikely that a national united admin party will be launched with Alvarez in the equation, considering the tirade between these two in the past.
The saddest part here is the fact that the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) was the first casualty of the divisive politics in Philippine Congress where the Senate passed it but the House of Rep failed to enact the same due to an early adjournment of the morning session as Alvarez tried avoiding the House coup. What could have been the most symbolic of all SONA, where the president signs the BOL beore the joint session had to be redesigned and will be signed instead within 48 hours, the President jokingly accused riders to justify the 48-hour review.
If the circus staged before the actual SONA is indicative of how the HoR behaves, I can only tremble in fear as it raises too many alarm signs before they will be constituted as a Constituent Assembly to amend the constitution. A selfish institution such as this cannot be given the solemn task of drafting a charter that expresses the common good of and for the Filipino people.
The second set of rabbits was actually the litany of marching orders from the President, something which his previous SONAs failed to articulate. Corruption must stop he reiterated. He likened it to a leech that drains the government of its resources which can be used for social services, instead. "Stolen wealth does not make the thief respectable," a statement he sent to friends he appointed in government service emphasizing that friendship has limits. This would have been better though if swift prosecution against this corrupt friends was ordered as well. I just wonder how this statement will stand against the Marcoses, who were historically adjudged as the Philippines’ greatest thieves. Will there be a limit as well to his friendship with the Marcoses? The same strong order was issued to the law enforcement agencies to rid the country of the rice cartels. By mandating the intelligence network to optimize its resources and track the members of those who are messing with the Filipino people’s access to affordable rice, I believe he meant serious business.
The president also gave the Congress a directive to pass a law that will end contractualizaion, something that his branch can do so little about. Admittedly, his executive order to stop ENDO issued some time last 2017, cannot and did not satisfy all sectors in the employment industry. Full satisfaction can only come from a legislative enactment to ensure that the constitution is not violated. Along with this is his earnest call for the bill creating the Coconut Farmer’s Trust Fund, settling once and for all the concerns of the Filipino coconut farmers. The pressure is now passed to Congress and both houses must step up.
Since I am from Mindanao, I took special spotlight on the speech’s Mindanao narrative. It warms the heart to know that Mindanao has been in the limelight since his presidency. I guess you can only get that from someone who comes from and who knows Mindanao fully well. Dubbed as the land of promise, the President made commitments for a larger budget share for the island as an impetus for growth and development. I cross my fingers for this to be real. But this could only become truthful if the Muslims of Mindanao are given the freedom to govern themselves within the ambit of the present constitution. This means that the House of Representatives must get their acts together, dismiss their politicking and sign the BOL the first thing when they re-convene the day after. This is the only choice they have in the crossroads the president was talking about, one that leads to peace. The BOL path resembles much the road to a federal Philippines. This too must be studied carefully.
But of all, Digong had me at his environmental justice pronouncements. These are words I only hear when environmentalists come together. But for it to come from him, he must be damn serious with his campaign for environmental stewardship especially when he said that protection of the environment must be a top priority, that natural resource utilization is non-negotiable, that open pit mining must be fully restricted, and that these are all part of our intergenerational responsibility. Calling the LGU to do its job in protecting the environment, the Congress to enact the National Land Use Act and the creation of the Department of Disaster Management , which must be passed immediately – all resound a resolute desire to preserve what is left of the Philippine’s resources and enforce a sustainable development framework to ensure that the future has enough to survive and it is the Filipino people who should stand to benefit from what they are gifted with.
The third rabbit is not so much about what Digong said and what he did not say, but how he said what he said in his SONA. As many expected, including me, his speech was curt and devoid of any expletives. There were no long and winding adlibs and he stayed faithful to the prepared speech. His writers must have been so relieved that finally, the nation gets to hear what they have painstakingly prepared for. Listening made me question if indeed he was Digong or just a clone of him. I have even read that some were disappointed not hearing the usual cursing and bad-mouthing. It appears that some of us have developed the habit of seeing Digong only as that, as some mouth filled with filth.
Stepping back, I appreciated the demeanor this SONA was delivered - boring but straightforward, short but sharp and though delayed by an hour, it sent its message clear. To my mind, Digong after all is capable of an honest-to-goodness SONA or any speech for that matter. He can open his mouth clean and can resist the promptings of his emotion to utter foulness. Having realized this, I wonder, why did he, as he always does in the past, resort to bad mouthing while in fact he is capable of a level-headed discourse. Some are saying that he only hastened his SONA by sticking to the speech because the pre-SONA drama already ate much of his time. To many skeptics, this might be seen as another of those tricks Digong can pull out of his sleeves. But I still believe, it speaks so much of his capacity to be engaged with without resorting to name-calling and emotional blackmails. If he does this more often, then people from both the supporters and the critics can give him the respect he deserves. This might even be the kind of demeanor that can expand the dialogue tables further than restrict them so that opposition and administration can stop thinking about their differences and start working for their common mission, that is, the common good of the Filipino people. I hope to hear and see more of this Digong and not the one that spawns so much divide.
The last rabbit was never in the halls of congress, not even a part of the SONA, but was conscientiously listening to his speech. I am the last rabbit. Although this does not come as a surprise, but me not criticizing his speech would be a disservice to my advocacy for human rights. I will not allow this to come to pass without correcting a few notions about Digong’s take on human rights. While he admitted that the war against illegal drugs is far from over and that the problem is growing, this will only make the campaign more relentless and chilling. I would say that this must still be done with due process of law. It is a given that not all deaths are a result of extrajudicial killings (EJK) for some are claimed to be a result of legitimate police operations. Be that as it may, the fact remains that EJK happens and continues to happen, whether done by abusive law enforcers or by vigilantes or syndicates wanting to discredit the government’s campaign against drugs. The least that the president could do is to condemn the killings and order an independent investigation for those law enforcers allegedly involved instead of emboldening the culture of death by tacitly tolerating EJK and argue that these are all part of what he called as collateral damage. If indeed he is for human lives, he must make sure that no deaths happen under his watch, extrajudicial or from legitimate police operations.
He also accused human rights advocates of pillorying his administration and expects from them an uproar against illegal drugs as they have been expressing outrage against law enforcers. The president must have mistaken pillorying for demanding state obligation. A president cannot be overly sensitive to legitimate demands especially when civil society calls for the state’s compliance with its threefold obligations to respect, protect and fulfill human rights. The president must know that even human rights advocates condemn murderers, rapists, drug offenders, etc. This is the reason why much of the human rights programs revolve around teaching communities about the rights of women, children, senior citizens, farmers, fisherfolks and many others so that they can be empowered to protect themselves from the evils of society. We too, condemn drug offenders and in fact are working so hard to clean the society from this menace.
But what the president may have forgotten is that, it is not the duty of the civil society to run after these hardened criminals. The president must have learned by now that that it is the government’s duty to pursue these criminals and send them to jail. Civil society can only do so much, and largely, this is in educating the public of their rights. Corollary to the state obligation, it is the human rights community’s role to examine if the state is compliant with its duties or not. When human rights advocates call the attention of the government, it should not be construed by the president as misdirected but simply fulfilling an equally important duty to call the attention of the state authorities to free its institutions from erring agents and abusive enforcers. By doing these, we are not only protecting the present but also the future generation. So we also think of the future just as we think of the present contrary to Digong’s allegations.
In his SONA, he also said that “they [HR advocates] talk of human rights. I talk of human lives.” If not discerned fully well, this can be prima faciea dangerous line as it can further polarize the already divided nation. At first instance, it sends the message that human rights defenders do not value life, that the enemy of life is human rights and vice versa. To clarify, human rights are founded on the solid principle of respect for life and human dignity. They cannot be anathema to one another for they are integral to each other. Human rights are meaningless if not for human life and human life is worthless if not for human rights. For the president to insinuate the divide, is testament to the fundamental philosophy of this populist regime, where there is an imaginary divide between the real people and the corrupt elite. Therefore, the more human rights advocates (allegedly the corrupt elite) call the government’s attention to its obligations, the more they become the enemy of the state (allegedly the real people) since the president is the embodiment of the real people. We must not go against the people, so the regime says. Therefore, we must read this statement from the president with extra prudence and wisdom.
I would say, however, this must be interpreted (for the nation’s sake) as a call for engagement. Respect for life is where both this government and human rights advocates find themselves in. The nexus between the claim holders and the duty bearers is the fact that life must be protected. The president values human life and so do we as human rights workers. There should be no argument here. Human rights in its most comprehensive framework includes essential economic, social and cultural rights which is also about empowering those who are in the fringes, as what the president claims he is doing. Human rights organizations have gone to the farthest of communities, remote as they can be, just to capacitate them in surviving the daily grind. This is true to the commitment to economic, social and cultural rights. Human rights can never create cesspools. On the contrary, it is when government fails to fulfill its obligations and more importantly when it perceives human rights as an enemy that all efforts go to waste. By creating an environment of cooperation, cesspools are avoided and only then can we be afloat as a nation.
If only a dialogue can be forged between the human rights community and the president, I think we would realize that we are actually not standing on the opposite side of the fence, that we are actually working towards the same thing – promotion of human lives. Sadly, in between us are vignettes of indignation that clouds our ability to expand the different avenues of communications. A principled critical collaboration worked for Davao when he was mayor, there is no reason why it cannot work now that he is president.
P.S.
The last and final rabbit by the way, was the Kuya Germs inspired suit of Atty. Panelo caught on camera. Shining, shimmering, splendid!
