MANILA, Philippines — Measures to revive the pandemic-battered economy, and the bill that aims to help sectors affected by lockdown restrictions, are among the expected highlights of President Duterte’s fifth State of the Nation Address that he will deliver today before a limited live audience.
The coronavirus disease 2019, which has infected more than 80,000 people in the Philippines and has dragged the country into an economic recession, will be the dominant theme in Duterte’s penultimate report to the nation.
“According to his directive... only the important things should be included in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) because we are under a COVID-19 crisis. So most of the topics will be about COVID-19,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar told radio station dzRH in Filipino yesterday.
“We are making an appointment with destiny,” Andanar said. “We will know the message and where President Duterte intends to lead us to fight COVID-19 and to recover from the sufferings it caused.”
Because of lockdown measures that limited business activity, the Philippine economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the first quarter, the first negative growth since El Niño and the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Officials have also predicted an economic slump in the second quarter, a scenario that will bring the economy in a recession, or two consecutive quarters of gross domestic product contraction.
Officials previously said the President would unveil a COVID-19 recovery map, which contains measures designed to spur economic activity while preventing the further spread of the virus. One of the recovery measures being eyed is the Bayanihan 2 bill, an extension of a law that granted Duterte emergency powers to respond to the pandemic.
“I’m sure since he (Duterte) will talk to Congress, he will seek the help of Congress in terms of the passage of Bayanihan To Heal As One Act phase two. Phase two will focus on balancing health and economy,” Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles told radio station dzBB last Saturday.
While the first phase of the law focused on the immediate response to COVID-19, the second phase would zero in on reopening the economy and providing employment and aid to affected industries like transportation, tourism, micro, small and medium enterprises, he added.
Another recovery measure being considered is a stimulus package that will boost domestic demand but details are still being finalized. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque previously said the government can only spend up to P140 billion for the package, noting that state revenues have taken a hit due to the closure of thousands of businesses.
Palace readies back-up plan
The 75-year-old Duterte would deliver his SONA at the Batasang Pambansa “as planned,” Malacañang said this weekend, even if the number of persons at the House of Representatives who have caught COVID-19 continues to rise.
Unlike previous addresses which had jam-packed audiences, only about 50 lawmakers and 15 Cabinet members will be allowed inside the venue to ensure safe distancing. The President, lawmakers, guests, and members of the technical staff will also be required to undergo swab tests as a precautionary measure.
“The difference now is we are under a new normal. It won’t be the usual address that we see every year,” Andanar said.
“The PSG (Presidential Security Group) is really very strict. We know that the President is a senior citizen and some senior citizens have caught COVID-19. So we have to take care of the health of all senior citizens,” he added.
The PSG shall reportedly have the final say as to where the SONA will be held.
While preparations in Batasan have been threshed out, officials are not discarding the possibility that the President would have to deliver his address in Malacañang.
“The agreement was there would be same day swabbing. There’s a type of swabbing wherein you would know the result in 45 minutes. If someone tests positive, there’s a huge chance that we would go to option B, we will just hold it in the Rizal Hall (in Malacañang),” Andanar said.
“If the address is transferred to Malacañang, fewer people can attend. Instead of 25 each from the Senate and House and a few cabinet members, the attendees will be fewer,” he added.
Another plan would be for the President to give his SONA at the Malago guest house inside the PSG compound to limit the number of people in close proximity to the President.
Other plans have also been laid out with the concerned personnel of the PSG, Presidential Photographers Department, Radio Television Malacañang and other agencies properly deployed.
The PCOO has organized Zoom viewing rooms for Cabinet members to prevent crowding at the Batasan. Separate rooms will be dedicated to local governments, youth leaders and overseas Filipino workers.
Despite the changes in physical arrangements, Andanar said guests would still be required to wear formal attire or Filipiniana “out of respect for the State of the Nation Address.”
Cops on full alert
Philippine National Police (PNP) Deputy Director for Operations Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar yesterday said the police organization has not detected any threats to public safety and to that of the President, noting that all security preparations have been laid out.
The only threat that the PNP said it was wary of was the pandemic, he said.
“The only threat that we have is the COVID threat. Our challenge now is the pandemic we are facing. That’s why it will be the point of our focus,” Eleazar said in an interview aired over dzBB.
PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac also assured the public that the “peace and order situation now is very stable and crime rates are low.”
Groups have expressed their intention to mount protests today inside the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City after the government barred them from holding their traditional SONA rallies on Commonwealth Avenue, the highway that leads to Batasang Pambansa where Duterte is expected to deliver his SONA.
The PNP had said that the protests inside the university were allowed as the government “respects academic freedom.’
Banac assured the groups mounting protests that police would only be detailed outside the premises of the university.
“But in public spaces, no one is really allowed to do protests. Our local governments did not issue permits,” Banac explained.
Metro Manila police chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas – who earlier landed in hot water for breach of quarantine protocols, particularly on mass gatherings – bared last Friday a memorandum from the Department of the Interior and Local Government that reiterated the ban on mass gatherings in light of the upcoming SONA.
Banac said the ban on mass gatherings was imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19, especially considering the “critical stage” of Metro Manila, noting how some hospitals have started to declare full capacity in their COVID-19 wards.
The protesters expected to flock to UP Diliman today, according to Banac, have been directed to observe health protocols. Eleazar said the Quezon City Police District was in constant talks with the protesters.
“We are deferring the implementation (of safety protocols) to the organizers. It is their responsibility to maintain health safeguards,” he added when asked if arrests would be made during the protests.
Eleazar, also commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, said around 5,400 PNP personnel would be deployed in Quezon City and around 1,900 more personnel would be coming from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and AFP Joint Task Force-National Capital Region. – Edith Regalado, Neil Jayson Servallos