Things Duterte said in his fifth SONA

MANILA, Philippines (Updated: July 28, 2020, 11:45 a.m.) — President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address on Monday at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City, which lasted for almost two hours.

He touted his accomplishments and policies aimed at reducing poverty, fighting graft and corruption, improving the healthcare system and economy battered by the pandemic, among others. 

Below are the highlights from Duterte's second-to-the-last SONA speech.

4Ps

• Over 4.3 million poor families benefitted from the Pantawid Pamilya; over 9.2 million beneficiaries received subsidies under the Unconditional Cash Transfer program.

ASEAN

• Within ASEAN and beyond, the Philippines will continue to work with partners to address global perils and ramp up cooperation to secure for our peoples, greater peace, progress and prosperity.

Balik Probinsya

• I issued Administrative Order No. 18, directing concerned agencies to strengthen the development of Special Economic Zones in areas outside Metro Manila. 
• I also issued Executive Order No. 114 to institutionalize the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-Asa Program. This consolidates and refocuses existing economic and social welfare programs, activities and projects toward the countryside. 

Battle vs COVID-19

• I must admit that our actions have been far from perfect --- totoo iyan I admit it --- and there could be improvements here or there—but all of us in government, including myself, assure you that we will not stop until we get things right and better for you.
• I assure you that your government will [squarely address] these problems and challenges to overcome them and proceed to the "new normal". 
• All I ask is that you continue to put your faith in your government and work with us in achieving what is best for our country and our people. 
• As a government worker, I am addressing each andevery Filipino that the government cannot do this without your help. 

Bayanihan Act

• May I again reiterate my thanks to you, the men and women of Congress, for the effort you invested into passing that law. I hope that we can get some or the same treatment of clarity, purpose and the fastness to support the passage of the Bayanihan [to Recover as One Act], which will supplement funds for recovery and response against the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Boracay rehabilitation

• The rehabilitation of Boracay Island showcased our resolve to safeguard the environment.
• Boracay is doing well because of its scenery. If it’s only a coconut and a black — white sand and water, wala ‘yan. Pero you add the — the visitors there, then it becomes a very tempting destination.

Build, build, build program

• We have accomplished significant infrastructure projects under the Build Build Build Program.  
• We will release a comprehensive written report on our collective milestones and the details of accomplishments to remind us that perseverance, patience and determination will help us move forward even in the most difficult of times. 

Children's rights and protection

• Early last year, I signed Executive Order No. 92 creating the National Council Against Child Labor. Government efforts to protect the rights of children will be amplified to prevent, reduce and eliminate any form of child labor.

Coco Levy Fund

• We must utilize the [coco levy funds] for the welfare our coconut farmers and the development of our coconut industry. 
• The problem is, we can no longer trace who are the farmers of yesterday. Marcos is a distant star. 
• I once again urge both Houses of Congress to pass a version of the bill establishing the Coconut Farmers’ Trust Fund.

COVID-19 task force

• I also thank the men and women of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the National Task Force against COVID-19 for all the countless hours it spent to keep the pandemic in check and for all the efforts it made to ensure the safety of our people. 

COVID-19 testing

• We initially encountered difficulties ramping up our testing capacity.
• We now have 93 accredited testing laboratories nationwide and we are aiming to conduct 1.4million tests by end of July and ensure a quick turnaround time of 48 to 72 hours.  

COVID-19 response

• I would like to express my gratitude to all those who made possible the steady supply of food, water, and basic utilities [to] our households and the provision of basic social services and financial assistance to our people.   
• Let me also recognize the efforts of the local government units that stepped up and initiated their own response measures to contain the effects of COVID-19 and its impact to their constituents. 
• I pray that the officials of each LGU in our country — from thebarangay to the autonomous regions — would set aside partisan politics and selfish interests to do what is right and good for all.

COVID-19 vaccine

• The vaccine is around the corner. Sooner and not later, the virus that gobbled up thousands of lives will itself be laid to rest.  
• I made a plea to President Xi Jinping that if they have the vaccine, can they allow us to be one of the first or if is needed, if we have to buy it, that we will be granted credit so that we can normalize as fast as possible.

Cyber security

• We must patrol the country’s cyberspace and enforce online consumer and data protection and privacy laws.
• We must run after online scammers and those undermining the people’s trust in online transactions.
• We must continue to protect Filipinos in the new normal and remind the world that we are responsible stewards of data.

Death penalty

• I reiterate the swift passage of a law reviving the death penalty by lethal injection for crimes specified under the Comprehensive Dangerous [Drugs] Act of 2002. 
• This law will not only help us deter criminality but also save our children from the dangers posed by illegal and dangerous drugs.

Delivery of government services

• To our business community and the general public, we assure you that the landmark Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act has been gaining momentum.
• Frontline processes, including consular services, processing of building and business permits, and services for overseas Filipinos and seafarers were streamlined. Passports and drivers’ license validity were lengthened to ease the burden of the public.
• The national government shall lead the way in our transition to online systems. I reiterate my call for all government instrumentalities to implement systems that shall make physical queuing a thing of the past.
• We need e-governance [to provide] our people with the services they need [from] the comfort of their homes or workplaces. It will enable ourbureaucracy to better transition into in the 'new normal' and cut or minimizered tape.

Disaster response

• We must also modernize the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Bureau of Immigration with urgency.
• I emphasize the creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience. Our people’s safety cannot be delegated to a council or commission. 

E-commerce

• The DoST offers its Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program to enable businesses to access training that will help them transition to online and contactless operations.
• I direct the Department of Trade and Industry to ensure the empowerment of Filipinos on their consumer rights, and coordinate strategies between public and private organizations in building a fair, safe, resilient, and sustainable economy.
• We need to build trust and confidence in online transactions, stronger protection for online consumers and enabling measures for online businesses is needed through the enactment of an InternetTransactions Act (ITA). 
• I thus direct the Department of Trade andIndustry and other relevant [government] agencies to work closely with Congress in ensuring that the provisions of the proposed bill are responsive to theneeds of the consumers while promoting the growth of e-Commerce in the country.   

Economic recovery

• I call on Congress to fast-track the passage of proposed measures such as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE Act. This immediately cuts the corporate income levy from the current 30 to 25% and give the government flexibility to grant a combination of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, among others. 
• The Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer or FIST Act will set up mechanisms allowing banks and other financial institutions to dispose of and transfer non-performing assets and loans to asset management companies similar to Special Purpose Vehicles.
• To open up the economy to pre-COVID-19 levels at this time is not an option because whatever good it can produce will only be gobbled up, or be outweighed, by the bad it will generate.

Education

• Until the COVID-19 vaccine is available, I will not allow the traditional face-to-face teaching or learning unless [all] risks of exposure to sickness are eliminated.
• Courses that are not substantial can be supplemented. Education that is delayed can be recovered.
• We must implement online learning, modular learning, and TV- and radio-based broadcast, which students coming from different backgrounds can avail. DEPED will provide printed modules for those who cannot afford online learning.  
• In support of the Learning Continuity Program through blended learning, we plan to increase the number of schools with ICT equipment in the coming months.
• The DepEd and the DICT are building up the Public Education Network or PEN that will connect all public schools and DepEd offices nationwide.

Employment opportunities

• We came up with the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program. We extended financial assistance to over 650,000 affected individuals in the formal sector, 110,000 OFWs abroad, and almost 83,000 repatriated OFWs. 
• We also provided temporary wage employment [opportunities] to displaced marginalized workers through the TUPAD Project. Our indigent senior citizens were also provided with a stipend for the [first] semester of the current year.

Food security

• I am also requesting Congress to pass the Rural Agricultural and Fisheries Development Financing System Act. We aim to provide adequate, accessible and affordable food for every Filipino through the Plant, Plant, Plant Program. 
• This P66-billion agricultural stimulus package will help the agriculture and fisheries sector recover. 

Foreign policy

• The Filipino nation claims its rightful place inthe community of sovereign states. Thus, we will continue to pursue an independent foreign policy. 

Frontliners

• Our profound gratitude goes to everyone who helped keep our country’s food supply chain running, the valiant soldiers, policemen and security guards who kept peace and order in our communities; the dedicated personnel who kept our essential establishments operational. 

Government salary

• The Salary Standardization Law of 2019 increases the salary of civilian government workers.
• I hope that this law will inspire our government workers to perform better and encourage young, brilliant citizens to join public service. 

Healthcare

• In 2021, we aim to increase access to healthcare services by continuously hiring and deploying more than 20,000 health professionals. This will augment health workforce in the LGUs, particularly in isolated and disadvantaged areas. 
• We will implement projects to establish and improve Barangay Health Stations, Rural Health Units, and other healthcare facilities.
• Now is the time to pass the Advanced Nursing — iyan ho — Nursing Education Act and the law instituting the Medical Reserve Corps.

Housing

• Owning safe, decent and affordable housing is every Filipino’s dream. But the housing market remains inaccessible to most of our countrymen. 
• I renew my call for Congress to pass the National Housing Development bill and the Rental Housing Subsidy bill. These will enable all Filipinos—regardless of social status—to live in decent homes where their families can lead meaningful lives.

Human rights

• My administration always believed that freedom from illegal drugs, terrorism,corruption and criminality, is itself a [human right].
• Our achievements along these lines have been extolled by an overwhelming number of our fellow member-States in the UN Human Rights Council, during its recently held 44th session last June.
• Rest assured that we will not dodge our obligation to fight for human rights.

Illegal drugs

• The dealers and purveyors of illegal drugs, hiding in the shadow of COVID-19, have stepped up their activities.
• The amount of shabu valued at millions of pesos seized during police operations speak volumes of the enormity and weight of the problem that we bear. 

Infrastructure

• Our economic managers have seen infrastructure investment as an effective tool to help spur high growth, attract investments, create jobs, and achieve financial inclusion for all Filipinos. 
• The [DPWH] has resumed the construction of the North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link, the NLEX-SLEX Connector, the Cavite-Laguna Expressway, the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3, the R-1 Bridge Project, the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway Project, and the Subic Freeport Expressway Project, to name a few.  

Investment grade rating 

• We received a BBB plus credit rating despite a sea of credit rating downgrades and negative outlook revisions worldwide.
• The Japan Credit Rating Agency upgraded us from BBB plus to A minus last month.
• Meanwhile, Moody’s has affirmed and maintained the country’s ratings at B2 — Baa2 rather.
• Our fiscal position is strong, our economic and fiscal management prudent and our banking system robust. We are in a better position to weather the crisis caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. 

Jeepney drivers

• Public utility drivers were given assistance through the Pantawid Pasada Program.
• There are complaints that some drivers did not receive any assistance at all. I have directed the DSWD and DILG to look into this.  

Leases

• Nananawagan po ako sa ating mga lessors – nananawagan po ako sa ating mga lessors: malasakit at bayanihan po sana ang pairalin natin ngayon.
• Now, it’s time to be fair and compassionate. Come up with amenable arrangement with your tenants. 
• Commercial establishments are requested to give grace periods [or] allow deferment of payments, especially for MSMEs that were forced to close down during the quarantine period.  

Livelihood and training programs

• The TESDA launched an online mode of livelihood and skills training. There are 71 free online training to help upskill trainees for the right opportunities. 
• I ask the TESDA to come up with special training programs to retool our OFWs so they can find employment opportunities here at home. I am also calling on the CHED for scholarship programs for the qualified dependents of our OFWs. 
• I direct the Department of Agriculture and DTI to comeup with agri-business and entrepreneurship projects to help displaced OFWsrebuild their livelihood. 

Loans

• I ask the LANDBANK and other government financial institutions to continue providing low-interest loans to our OFWs. 
• I also enjoin the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and banks operating in the country to provide regulatory relief for our MSMEs and allow loan payment extensions, without incurring penalties and charges.

Malasakit Centers

• The Malasakit Centers Act has proven to be of great help to our less fortunate citizens needing medical services through a one-stop platform in government hospitals.
• As of today, there are 75 Malasakit Centers serving Filipinos all over the country. These centers will be of great help in ensuring that our people remain healthy and resilient during these challenging times.

Mindanao martial law

• Martial law in Mindanao ended without abuses by the civilian sector, by the police, by the military. It ended because this time I know that they know how to love the country. 

Military, uniformed personnel

• I call on Congress to prioritize the passage of a law for the Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of the Military and Uniformed Personnel without however diminishing the benefits that our uniformed personnel are entitled to under existing laws. 
• There is a need to adjust the pension system which will be applicable only to newly-hired uniformed personnel so as not to cause a “ballooning effect” against the budget of the military in the years to come and yet maintain the pension benefits of those already in service under the present law. This issue needs a solution now.

MSMEs

• The government will intensify its efforts to help businesses, especially our micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs, by providing responsive government assistance and services, capitalization, and business operations support as we adapt to the next normal.    
• The DTI, through the Small Business Corporation, set up the P1-billion COVID-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises or CARES Program to provide zero-interest loans for MSMEs affected by the pandemic. 
• As of July 10, 2020, over 2,600 loan applications worth [P182.5million] have been approved. 

National Academy of Sports

• We can now give our deserving student-athletes the training and support they need to excel in their chosen field of endeavors.

Natural resources

• The responsible extraction and equitable distribution of natural resources remain among my non-negotiables. I reiterate the need for the passage of the National Land Use Act which has been pending for decades.
• For the rest of my term, I hope to see concerted efforts in protecting the environment.

• Obviously, he [Sen. Franklin Drilon] was defending the Lopezes that they are not oligarchs. 
• Great wealth enables economic elites and corporations to influence public policy to their advantage. Media is a powerful tool in the hands of oligarchs like the Lopezes who used their media outlets in their battles with political figures.
• I am a casualty of the Lopezes during the 2016 election.  
• By taking control of the water and the electricity and power. Iyan ang oligarchy mo, Drilon.
• You [Drilon] do not protect the oligarchs here. You are the one. Ikaw lang mag-isa.

Overseas Filipino workers

• I strongly urge Congress to pass a law establishing the Department of Overseas Filipinos [focused] solely on addressing the concerns of Filipinos abroad and their families.
• If it’s only an office there in the Labor department they are overworked or for whatever reason, their needs, their pleas are not really attended to with dispatch and with care. 

Peace and order

• We are pursuing a whole-of-nation approach to bring peace and order and development in the countryside. 
• We need to provide interventions and implement the Barangay Development Program. This would provide cleared and threatened communities and… This refers to a program where the Armed Forces would play a vital role in the one-nation approach. 
• Let me assure you, for as long as I am president, there can never be a runaway crime in any of our cities.

Postponement of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections

• The postponement saved much-needed government funds and ensured implementation of projects under the current barangay officials.
• In hindsight, it also saved us from holding the polls while we dealt and continue to deal with the pandemic.  

Prices of essential goods

• I likewise issued Executive Order No. 104, which imposed ceilings on the retail prices of at least 133 drugs and medicines, and directed a continuous review of the retail prices of others. This proved to be providential now that we are facing a pandemic. 

Professional development

• I also call on Congress to amend Republic Act No. 10912 [or] the Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016. 
• In this time of great pandemic and forthcoming reconstruction, requiring our professionals to undergo seminars is burdensome and not realistic. This must end. 

Profiteering, scams

• The corrupt, the grafters and the influence peddlers also take advantage of the fear and confusion that the coronavirus generates.
• The financial and material assistance of the government to the unemployed, the sick and the destitute running into billions of pesos, are not spared from corruption and ineptitude.
• Even the donations from well-meaning private persons are skimmed before reaching their intended beneficiaries.
• The profiteers, over-pricers and corrupt felons must be laughing while they stash their dirty monies. But not for long. They cannot outrun the long arm of the law.

SEA Games

• With the commitment of key members of Congress and the Executive Department, the PHISGOC, Philippine Sports Commission, and the Philippine Olympic Committee were bound together with one vision to host the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
• Our athletes prevailed. More than that, we fostered pride, patriotism, genuine sportsmanship, and camaraderie in our South East Asian brothers and sisters.
• Indeed, we won as one.

Social Amelioration Program

• Under the Social Amelioration Program, we allotted [PhP205 billion] for poor and low-income households who were affected during this pandemic, who thrive on a“no-work, no-pay” arrangement.
• Admittedly, our implementation of the Social Amelioration Program was not perfect. And some opportunists turned crisis into opportunity. We will catch up with you sooner than you think.

South China Sea

• We worked without fail to protect our rights in the South China Sea, neither beholden nor a pawn to anyone. 
• Unless we are prepared to go to war, I would suggest that we better just call off and treat this, I said, with diplomatic endeavors.
• China is claiming it. We are claiming it. China has the arms, we do not have it. We have to go to war and I cannot afford it. Maybe some other president can, but I cannot. 
• Inutil ako diyan, sabihin ko sa inyo. And I'm willing to admit it. Talagang inutil ako diyan. Wala akong magawa. I cannot.

Telecommunications

• I call on our [telecommunication] companies to improve their services lest we be forced to take drastic steps to address the less-than-ideal service that the public is getting from you.
• I'll be straight, iyong Smart pati itong Globe, ilang taon na ito, at ang sagot palagi sa akin, "the party cannot be reached." Eh nasaan pala pumunta 'yung y*** na 'yon?
• Kindly improve the services before December. I want to call Jesus Christ to Bethlehem. Better have that line cleared. 
• I have two years. The next two years will be spent improving the telecommunications of this country without you. I will find a way. I will talk to Congress and find a way how to do it.

Tourism

• While we slowly try to put the fun back in ourlocal travels, the national government agencies and LGUs must harmonize their policies to boost tourism [while] ensuring everyone’s well-being.
• We enjoin our people to help boost the economy by traveling locally [local na lang] once the necessary systems are in place. 

TV frequencies

• TV frequencies reverted back to the government for whatever cause or reason [shall be used] exclusively to the exclusion of [private] persons or [their] dummies, to cope with the demand of the next normal. 
• These will be used to provide uninterrupted quality education to our children in our shift to e-learning.
• I am directing Secretary Guevarra, Secretary Dela Peña and Secretary Honasan, in collaboration with Secretary Briones, and Secretary Avisado, together with Secretary Dominguez, to come up with an integrated program and implementation mechanism to ensure that these TV frequencies are fully utilized by government through the facilities of PTV4 for the utmost benefit of the Filipino people. 
• For the remaining two years of my term, all that is good that belongs to government, whether it be the airwaves, whether it be the lines, or whatever that is good for the people, will belong to the government and it should be government who should be given the first option to utilize them.

US base

• I have nothing against America, I have nothing against China.
• But if you put bases here, you will double the spectacle of a most destructive thing just like Manila during the Second World War --- during the retaking of this city. One of the most devastated cities in the world.

Workplace discrimination

• We issued last year Executive Order No. 100 establishing the Diversity and Inclusion Program as a national program of the Government.
• We want to end the discrimination of persons on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and other character traits.

— Kristine Daguno-Bersamina and Patricia Lourdes Viray

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