THE President has delivered his second State Of The Nation Address (Sona), and one thing is apparent: the anti-Duterte will continue to find faults; the pro-Duterte will continue to defend. Driving your point on why Duterte failed or performed will be an exercise in futility.
We have heard what we wanted to hear: the anti-Dutertes, the curses; the pro-Dutertes, the quips and progress. End of story. The Philippines remains to be our country, the hecklers abroad remain to be non-Filipino citizens, and we still are Filipinos with just the Philippines as our birthright.
Ergo, we all forge ahead. To build a nation, to serve our communities. Even the rabid anti-Dutertes have a role here if they are truly concerned about the Philippines. There are services to render, there are projects to be done, there are people to serve, and serve well.
Let the empty hecklers be exposed for what they truly are, let them wallow in self-destruction. As individuals and groups and communities, our responsibility is to our nation.
Despite the rabid stance of militants against the President, Departement of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, a certified leftist, goes about her job unperturbed, as she carries out the mantra of the left that has been sidelined for so long: to serve the masses. She’s there with colleague DSWD Undersecretary Mae Fe Templa. There is a lot of work at the DSWD to serve the masses, and they are doing all they can in the limited time they will be there.
The same goes with Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano. He works quietly in the background, with all his might, while his colleagues march and march around shouting and heckling against the government Mariano serves.
Neither left nor right, is just a seasoned politician who rose from the masses Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who is also among those who is quietly but furiously working in the background.
Amid intrigues of a falling off, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. continues with his work and gathers the forces of Kilusang Pagbabago to carry on the mandate of popularizing the concept of Federalism.
Many other government officials are doing the same, high ranking and low-ranking, all properly reminded that their mandate is to serve.
We’re neither government officials nor workers, we are Filipinos, and our citizenship calls on us to help build our nation with solid actions and measurable results. We will, we must; in our own different ways. That’s all.