Duterte legislative priorities clear – lawmakers

MANILA, Philippines - President Duterte laid out his legislative priorities in “very clear terms,” lawmakers said yesterday.

“His SONA is proof that to present your plan for the future, you don’t have to bash the past. Government vision has become clearer because the agenda of vendetta has been removed,” Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said.

“Without this distraction, the result is a cogent plan that touches on all the things that need to be done – from war on drugs to peace with the Reds, from fewer kids to more jobs, from Pasig River boats to Mindanao trains, from lower taxes to more funds for agriculture,” Andaya said.

In his speech, the President said the country couldn’t move forward “if we allow the past to pull us back.”

“Finger pointing is not the way, that is why I will not waste precious time dwelling on the sins of the past,” Duterte said.

But he cautioned that wrongdoers will not go scot free.

“Lest I be misunderstood, let me say clearly that those who betrayed the people’s trust shall not go unpunished and they will have their day in court. And if the evidence warrants, they will have their day of reckoning too,” he said.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said the President started speaking from the heart “when he discarded parts of his prepared speech and made ad libs.”

He related to ordinary people when he spoke about the difficulties they encounter in their daily life in a mix of English, Tagalog and Visayan dialect, and how the government is trying to help them, Albano said.

“He should do that more often, instead of reading a prepared speech from a teleprompter,” he said.

He noted that due to digressions and asides, the SONA extended from less than 40 minutes – as his Palace spokesmen had announced – to one hour and 35 minutes.

Another Camarines Sur congressman, Luis Raymond Villafuerte, said Duterte’s pitch for revising the Constitution to shift the nation to the federal system “would provide a tremendous boost to stepped-up efforts to establish a constitutional convention (con-con) that would set the stage for the long-overdue change in government.”

“The onset of the Duterte presidency is the perfect time to push for a con-con because President Duterte has no political agenda and he is being trusted by more than 90 percent of Filipinos. All of his advocacies with good intentions are backed by his very strong political capital,” he said.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said Duterte’s sincerity in helping the poor was evident in his SONA.

“He will really do everything to help ease the pain of the poor due to poverty. His declaration of unilateral ceasefire with the NPA is a master political stroke to attain peace in our country. I hope it will be reciprocated by the NPA,” he said.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles said the President’s message “was clearly about peace, peace in our communities against crime and illegal drugs, peace in governance against corruption, peace with China in our waters and territories.

“Peace with the National Democratic Front, the CPP-NPA, and final lasting peace in Mindanao. Peace in our economy with faster processes and ease in doing business, more jobs, better infrastructure ,” he said.

Some netizens reacted to Duterte’s shaking hands with Sen. Leila de Lima, who has been critical of his anti-crime campaign. He greeted the senator, but was caught on camera making a face as he headed for the rostrum. – With Helen Flores, Paolo Romero, Mayen Jaymalin, Robertzon Ramirez, Alexis Romero