EVEN Filipinos living in the US took time out of their busy schedules to watch the first State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte last July 25.
Thanks to live streaming from media outlets in the Philippines, the Sona was loud and clear in the living rooms of every Fil-American within earshot.
Duterte's Sona was different from the Sonas I watched in the past while I still lived in the Philippines and now that I've been staying in my adopted country, I saw that his Sona was simple, original, informative, engaging, funny and never boring.
I asked from several Fil-Americans and a government employee assigned at the Philippine Embassy about their observations.
Fil-Am teacher Eppie Egama said she saw most of the guests and spectators were dressed modestly and the attention was focused on the president. Egama, based in Chicago Illinois, was born and raised in Bugo, Cagayan de Oro City. She observed that since the “fashionistas” and glitterati were not focused on the president the others were glued to his every word and ad lib. Egama, who has been here in the US for more than 10 years, said she supported the Duterte candidacy since it started and one among the many Fil-Ams in Chicago who threw their support to Duterte. Egama didn't mind the length of Duterte's speech which ran for more than one hour. She even said she was smiling to herself while listening and would have wanted to listen more to the president.
Like Egama, Lydia Bayron Empil-Arnett of Thomasville North Carolina said she loved the new president's simplicity and sincerity. Lydia left Sinabacan, Misamis Occidental in the Philippines since she was 17 years old to look for greener pastures abroad. She said it's different when a leader leads by example, “pati mga nitambong na (even those who attended were) encouraged to wear simple attire.” Arnett noted that all Sonas were promises.
“Eloquent speeches, fluency in English are what people expect. But Duterte is different he might not be a good speaker but the content of his message is “inato” ok na ok inato kaau (down-to-earth, it's okay if it's down to earth).” Arnett said she would continue praying for President Duterte's administration to succeed.
Juliana Virtudazo, from Barobo, Surigao Del Sur who now lives in North Carolina, said the best part of Duterte's speech was his pitch on peace. “I want peace to reign in my country of birth. There could never be development without peace. I just believe that this can be attained during President Duterte's term,” Virtudazo said.
Virtudazo worked in Dubai before she migrated to the US. She hopes that under the Duterte presidency her relatives and friends can be given opportunities to advance their lives without leaving home.
Even Americans like Monti Hill of Lumberton, North Carolina said he finds the Sona good. “Duterte is a good charismatic public speaker. He went on a little too long with the digressions, but he kept our attention to the last word.” Hill stayed over 15 years in Manila in the 70’s and studied at the University of the Philippines in Diliman where he obtained his masters degree in Asian Studies specializing in Philippine politics. Monti Hill was a classmate of Nur Misuari, the chairman of the secessionist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which was mentioned in the president's address.
Another Filipino, welfare officer Petrona Bergado of the Philippine Embassy based in Washington, DC said she liked the president's speech. When asked which part she liked, Bergado mentioned, “the delivery of services. Especially free irrigation for farmers, the dwindling catch of fishermen, care for environment.” “We see our mandate to serve OFWs as a mission, not merely a job description,” Bergado said. She was assigned as a regional director of the Overseas Workers Welfare Association (Owwa) prior to her second foreign posting. Bergado as a government employee is not new to serving well the interest of the public. When asked about her most defining moment in public service, she mentioned about the time she brought back home a distressed worker to the hinterlands of Cabanglasan years ago. “Someone who missed the place, no wonder the worker was shocked by the outside environment. They cooked dinner when we arrived. Cassava and taro in an empty vegetable oil can. The father was happy to hear his daughter's voice. He kept on touching the worker's face. That was 1998,” she said. The soft spoken Bergado also recalled her trips to the countryside to see the working conditions of the overseas workers. “I have been to the countryside, a lot of workers are suffering. There are the miners in Caraga, they looked like they haven't slept in days when we saw them in Carrascal, Surigao Sur. Their environment is pitiful, they looked like displaced settlers that arrived in a hostile work environment,” Bergado said.
She said it is always the poor that is most affected whether it is peace and order, environmental disaster or degradation.
(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines and is now employed in one of the school systems in the Carolinas. Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com)