Pres. Duterte’s sona: Christmas in July!

The 1st State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte was so lengthy, it gives us columnists something to write for weeks to come. But first things first! Today is the 30th anniversary of the Philippine STAR. Yes, this newspaper came off the press 30 years ago just five months after the historic albeit tumultuous EDSA Revolution. Back then we were all agog that the Philippines was on the verge of a new era where we expected to see many great changes for our nation.

I recall that 30 years ago, in a meeting with the Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry Inc. (CCCI) of which I was the external vice president, we decided to invite Philippine Daily Inquirer publisher and columnist Sir Maximo V. Soliven to speak before the general assembly of the Cebu Chamber. I was tasked to send the invitations (I first met him when he spoke before the Rotary Club of Cebu (mother club) and met him at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MICA), which wasn’t an authority yet.

I met him planeside and he was carrying a bunch of newspapers and I thought… why is he hand carrying a bunch of newspapers, which I thought was the Philippine Daily Inquirer? He handed to me the whole heavy bunch and I could not help but notice that it wasn’t the Inquirer… but The Philippine STAR! When we got inside the terminal waiting for his bags at the baggage claim he announced to me that he is no longer connected with the Inquirer and that he and Ma’am Betty Go-Belmonte, Louie Beltran and Art Borjal had created a new newspaper called The Philippine STAR.

The very next day Sir Max asked me to be his stringer or “Alikabok” in Cebu. I guess it was because I told him during the open forum the day before that when Manila-based columnists write about Cebu, they write it as if it were Bible truth! It was then that he stared at me (there was total silence from the audience) and then quipped, “You are correct! That’s why I need someone from Cebu so I can be accurate with my information!”

The next morning, we had breakfast at the Cebu Plaza Hotel (now Marco Polo Plaza Hotel) and he told me that he was serious in having a man in Cebu. He then asked me to come to Manila the following week and gave me my first press card signed by Sir Max and Editor Antonio V. Roces with the designation as “Cebu Bureau Chief.” I will be 30 years as a journalist on Aug. 25. The rest is as one would say… history.

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I’m sure that by now, many pundits have written about the SONA of Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte. So how best should I describe President Duterte’s first speech to the nation? Well, it’s akin to a kid coming to a Metro Gaisano Superstore and finding Santa Claus in July. Then sitting on Santa’s lap, Santa begins giving him a long list of his Christmas wishes. To the poor kid, there will be rice on the table with his planned rice subsidies. To the rich kids, we are going to have a simplified income and corporate taxes.

To the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the National Democratic Front (NDF) and the New People’s Army (NPA) he ordered a unilateral ceasefire effective immediately. To our Muslim brethren, the inclusion of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) minus its unconstitutional infirmities and including it in the planned shift to federalism.

To the millennials, there will be free Wi-Fi in parks, public places, bus terminals, seaports and airports. To the weary commuters of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) there will be new trains that would travel at 60 kilometers per hour. To the people of Mindanao… finally a Mindanao Railway and yes, for us in Metro Cebu, a rail-based Mass Transit system! Come on guys, pinch me so I would know if I’m dreaming or not!

To the very rich who have private planes or helicopters… he would move them out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and offered them the runway at Sangley Point! And to those thousands of drug addicts who want to turn a new leaf… (This was totally unexpected) he has opened the military camps as Drug Rehabilitation Centers… this means this can be done all over the country.

Pres. Duterte even had two gifts for me, which many of my friends texted me…the return of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) which I have been writing in the past 10-years and yes… my dream which Pres. Duterte, House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez and former Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, Jr. and his son, now Senate President Koko Pimentel share… our dream of getting out of this 70-year old unitary form of government and shifting into a Parliamentary-Federal system of governance.

Let me end this column quoting Teddy boy Locsin who said in last Monday night’s “Teditorial capped it in one sentence, “If we do not take advantage of this man’s leadership, we shall miss our last chance for real change.” So to the question… can Pres. Duterte deliver? Then let’s help him!

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