32 things Duterte said in his 4th SONA

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(Philstar.com) - July 23, 2019 - 2:04am
MANILA, Philippines — Signalling the second half of his term, President
Rodrigo Duterte delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address on Monday.

His speech, which was delayed for about an hour, lasted for more than an
hour and a half.

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FULL TEXT: Duterte's 2019 State of the Nation Address
Outspoken Duterte silent on 2 key policies in his 4th SONA

Here are the issues tackled and promises made by Duterte in his fourth
SONA.

Illegal drugs
 The illegal drug problem persists
 I am aware that we still have a long way to go in our fight against this
social menace.

Corruption
 Corruption continues and emasculates the courage we need to sustain
our moral recovery initiatives.
 Concerning the unscrupulous persons manning our ports and
scalawags in uniform, we have been unyielding in our reforms to weed
them out of public service.
 I have fired or caused the resignation of more than a hundred officials
and appointees of government without regard to relationship, friendship
and alliance. There is no sacred cow, as the saying goes, in my
Administration.

READ: 'No sacred cows': Duterte renews vow to fight corruption

Death penalty
 Let the reason why I advocate the imposition of the death penalty for
crimes related to illegal drugs.
 I respectfully request Congress to reinstate the death penalty for
heinous crimes [applause] related to drugs, as well as plunder.
PhilHealth fraud
 The recent uncovering of the massive fraud perpetrated against the
public health insurance system proves that corruption is pervasive.
Huge amounts of medical funds were released to cover padded medical
claims and imaginary treatment of ghost patients. I am grossly
disappointed.
 I appointed a new PhilHealth President, whom I know is a man of
integrity, a military man, a former military officer, and gave him marching
orders to prioritize ridding the agency of corruption.

GOCCs
 Our government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), infamous
for high salaries and bonuses being paid their executives and
employees, have started to shape up.
 As of July 9, 2019, we collected more than P61 billion from GOCCs or
government corporations, 32% of which, or P16 billion, from
PAGCOR. [applause] This is more than the P36 billion collected in
2017.

Customs
 Bureau of Customs, though corruption-ridden, managed to collect Five
Hundred Eighty Five Billion Pesos (P585,000,000,000) in 2018. Imagine
how much more could have been collected had the BOC been clean
and less corrupt.
 If we cannot abolish their position and if I cannot dismiss them for the
reason that there is a security of tenure, I will just allow them to have
their plantilla positions but they have to report to Congress every day to
help me in the huge paperwork that we have to do every day. All of
them will go out from the premises of the Customs area. I do not want
them back.

Hotline 8888
 Our ultimate goal is for our people to be freed from using these hotlines
because government service and response have markedly improved.
 At kung totoo, Malacañan, I said, is open 24 hours --- 24 hours basta
corruption.
Boracay
 So I told the Agrarian Reform, go to the place, have it inspected
because I will declare the whole of the island a land reform program.
And I gave the islands piece by piece to the Atis, the natives of the
place para walang masabi. Marami kasi ginawa ko raw [applause] para
linisan ko, ibigay ko sa mga kaibigan ko.

Manila Bay rehabilitation

 On January 27, 2019, we officially started the Manila Bay rehabilitation.
Though we have a long way to go, we are encouraged by the test
results of the waters near Padre Faura.
 We will relocate informal settlers --- I hope it can happen during my time
--- along the waterways and shut down establishments that continue to
pollute and poison our waters.

3rd telco
 Do not worry about this. There is no corruption at all. I guarantee you,
upon the grave of my father. I do not allow --- I do not talk to them.
 I challenge this new player to fulfill its commitment to provide fast and
reliable telecommunication services to our people, especially in the
underserved areas.

Bangsamoro
 After almost two decades of peace negotiation, the Bangsamoro
Organic Law was finally passed and ratified. For decades, our Muslim
brothers in the ARMM have been mired in poverty.
 It is my hope that the Bangsamoro Transition [Authority] will fast-track
the establishment of regional government that will secure and
comfortable life for Muslim brothers and sisters, and all indigenous
communities in the Bangsamoro Regions.

Communist rebellion
 Additionally, I have taken the helm of the National Task Force to End
Local Communist Armed Conflict and have assigned a Cabinet member
 to each region to harmonize government efforts in attaining national
development [and] security.

Education
 I am proud to say that this year more Filipino learners are receiving
basic education, with over 27 million enrollees from Kinder to Senior
High School. [applause]

Sports
 For our national sports development, I support the proposed measure to
create the National Academy of Sports for High School
students. [applause]

MSMEs
 Almost 86,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises or the MSMEs
have received over P3 billion worth of loans since 2017

Delaying 2020 polls

 Congress has to postpone the May 2020 elections and ‘yung Barangay,
Sangguniang Kabataan to October 2022. Because if you read it,
this… [applause] To rectify the truncated terms. Paiba-iba na eh. The
truncated terms of sitting barangays but also provide them with the
ample time to finish their programs and projects.

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/07/23/1937073/32-things-

duterte-said-his-4th-sona#EBUsCS3Lku63QJcV.99
SEOUL-INCHEON AIRPORT — An impressive new terminal greeted me here
and it will definitely make many Filipinos wish that we have a similar airport
soon. This is huge, spacious, and modern, with Wi-Fi that is fast and free. I
am here waiting for my connecting flight to the US.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday
did not mention the new airports that are being proposed and developed
around Metro Manila. That SONA was notable because of many things that he
said and did not say. Foremost of what he said are the following:

• That corruption in government is pervasive, is everywhere. He is grossly

disappointed with corruption and asked, “When will corruption end?” Special
mention was made of PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corporation),
the Customs bureau, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Social Security System,
Land Transportation Office, PAG-IBIG, Land Registration Authority.

• That he wants to create three new departments: Departments of Disaster

Resilience, Water Resources, and Overseas Filipinos.

• That he wants more Malasakit Centers, higher salaries for teachers and
nurses, a new National Academy of Sports for High School students. Which
means he wants to expand welfare spending on top of existing agencies.

• That local governments should hasten the issuance of business permits to a

maximum of three days, reclaim public roads, and enforce the Bangsamoro
Organic Law (BOL).

• That the West Philippine Sea (WPS) is ours but we should not provoke
China, otherwise there will be a confrontation and our Marines will die.
Meanwhile, most or many Cabinet members are ex-military men.
• He pointed out that the Build, Build, Build programs are gaining ground, and
the entry of the third telco player that will provide fast and reliable telecom
service.

The creation of three new departments — how much would this cost
taxpayers?

They could cost somewhere near the budget of the agencies in the Table on
this page. Huge departments with budgets of at least P100 billion a year like
the departments of Education, Social Welfare and Development, Health,
Public Works and Highways, Interior and Local Government, and National
Defence are not included here.

Where to get the money for these new departments, agencies, and subsidies?

One is from new tax reform measures like the TRABAHO (Tax Reform for
Attracting Better and Higher-quality Opportunities) bill. Second, from
remittances by government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs). The
President noted that GOCCs, infamous for high salaries, are shaping up and,
as of July 2019, have remitted over P61 billion.
The TRABAHO bill is among the “dampeners” of more investments, local and
foreign. The proposed removal of certain incentives like the 5% gross income
earned (GIE) as substitute for corporate income tax (CIT) and local taxes, to
be replaced by lowering the CIT from 30% to 20% after 10 years, or reducing
to 25% immediately, is not favorable to many investors and job creators.

WHAT’S NOT SAID.

There are things that should not be said or issued and indeed were not said
by the President — good. Like new drug price controls, or further demonizing
tax coal and fossil fuels “to save the planet,” or creating five or more new
Departments and not just three, etc.

There was a good tweet by Senator Panfilo Lacson hours after the speech:

“SONA 2019: I like most the part when the president said, ‘I have come face
to face with the enemy. The enemy is us. We are our own tormentors… for
every transaction, commission; for every action, extortion.’ Then the camera
panned out on the audience right in front of him.”

Overall, SONA 2019 has issued more alarm bells to businesses and
taxpayers. Corruption remains high, as admitted by the President, and yet
they will further expand the size and burden of government, taxpayers will pay
for the extra finance
al baggage, waste, and evaporated money. The saving grace is that
businesses can expect easier business permits from LGUs, and things could
have been worse if some ugly and unsaid things were instead announced.

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers.