PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) is less than a week away. Many Filipinos are excited as to what the President will report in his Sona. What many of us want to hear is the results of the many programs and efforts of the government.
One of the topics that people would want to hear about is the government’s plans on the West Philippine Sea. At present, it is quite clear that not many are happy with the government’s efforts on asserting our rights on what is ours.
While the government has made previous statements on its efforts on exerting our rights in the West Philippine Sea, we have yet to see any results.
However, the Malacañang did say that diplomatic negotiations are still the best course in resolving the sea dispute. We hope that the government can give additional details on this or its stance on the West Philippine Sea dispute during the President’s Sona.
We also want to hear a better strategy on the campaign against illegal drugs. While the government has refuted the claims of around 20,000 deaths as a result of its “drug war”, the 6,600 suspected drug personalities who have been killed in law enforcement operations from July 2016 to May 2019 is still a large number. This is the statistics provided by the Philippine National Police in June.
The government has made multiple promises that will curb the drug problem in the country in the “x” number of years or months. Well, that did not turn out well. Illegal drugs continue to proliferate in the country and the anti-illegal drug campaign continues to be bloody.
What we want to hear from the government now is an improved campaign on its fight against illegal drugs. One that would not be bloody. The government cannot keep on defending the police each time a child dies in their operations. Maybe a “drug war” is not a solution to the illegal drug problem in the country.
We also want to know better efforts or what has been done to fine corruption within the government. While we commend the removal of corrupt officials, corruption is still embedded within the government system.
The administration of President Duterte has made strides in the last three years. We acknowledge all the accomplishments and changes that the government has made. However, there is still a lot of work that has yet to be done.
The ones that we mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. There are still a lot of issues the government will continually have to solve like the poverty situation, education system, environmental problems, and labor problems, among many others.
We hope the Sona will shed light on what is being done to the different problems the country is facing. We also hope the Sona will give us a silver lining to these problems.