Inside Philippine politics & beyond

President Duterte confirms his deadly drug war, but this time without the 6-month deadline

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He is silent on Marcos burial, death penalty revival and “Endo”

By Raïssa Robles

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte told members of Congress today that his war against drugs will continue.

“There will be no let up in this campaign. We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier, the last pusher have surrendered or put behind bars, or below the ground if they so wish”, he said in his rambling State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Duterte did not mention running after drug addicts who, in other recent speeches, he described as beyond redemption.

Notice though, that he did not anymore mention a six-month deadline.

I will elaborate on Duterte’s drug war in a separate post.

This one will be more of a capsule on what he said and didn’t say. (By the way, I did like the fact that the yearly SONA fashion show was severely restricted by the no-frills president.)

Despite the fact that Duterte’s SONA was the longest so far in the country’s history, the President failed to mention three things that he had promised during his election campaign:

1) Duterte did not mention anything about reviving the death penalty through an Act of Congress. Perhaps he doesn’t need to, what with all those drug lords, pushers and addicts who for some strange reason keep stupidly fighting back, (nanlaban) as the police keep claiming. Which is why they get killed.

2) Duterte did not also mention ending subcontractualization in the service sector or “Endo”. Congressman Teddy Casino also noted that this was missing in Duterte’s speech.

3) And Duterte did not also mention burying the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery). This does not mean, though, that the idea has been scrapped.

Perhaps he just skipped those parts mentioning these in his prepared speech, since he kept going off-script.

Let’s wait for Malacañang Palace’s clarifications.

Duterte did announce the following significant developments and campaign promises:

1) a unilateral ceasefire with the Communist rebels “effective immediately”. Should he not issue some sort of a proclamation for this, to guide the Armed Forces of the Philippines on how to respond to any mistaken or close encounters?

Duterte noted that –

“All of us want peace. Not the peace of the dead but the peace of the living. We express our willingness and readiness to go to the negotiating table. And yet we load our guns, fix our sights, pull the trigger. It is both ironic and tragic and it is endless. While we extol the bravery and heroism of our soldiers, kayo the rebels do the same for your members and fighters. What I see instead are the widows and the orphans. And I feel their pain and grief. And no amount of cash assistance can compensate the loss of human life.

“Sorrow cuts across every stratum of Philippine society. It cuts deeply and the pain lasts forever. “

Despite this stated desire for peace, Duterte did not announce the release of political prisoners.

2) a Bangsamoro Basic Law without the “unconstitutional parts”.

3) lower personal and corporate income taxes as well as a simpler and more equitable tax system, but no tax increases.

4) emergency powers for himself to be able to address Metro Manila’s traffic congestion. But he added

 “ayaw niyo, ok lang rin. Kung gusto ninyo madalian, alam naman ninyo, sagad na. If you give it, fine. If you don;t give it, we will do ti slowly. Tanggapin ko pagmumura ninyo. Huwag lang sa malapit.”

5) a clean government.

“I assure you, this will be a clean government. If that is the only worry that you have and I can understand your misgivings. He, haba. Wala na ito sa script. Ako magarantiya 101% it will be clean.

Problem is, I can only act through agencies and departments….I cannot guarantee their honesty at all times. Cabinet members, yeah.”

6) relaxation of the bank secrecy law. But he did not say for what and who would be able to access bank information.

7) a parliamentary and federal form of government with a ceremonial president. Duterte took great pains to tell congressmen “I would be disqualified” from running for office. He also mentioned the fact that “not a single congressman” had backed his presidential run.

8) tickets for MRT and LRT to be sold in malls. More trains to run at higher speed.

9) a law to protect whistleblowers.

10) an affirmation of the favorable decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the South China Sea.

11) an extension of the passport validity from five years to 10 years;

12) and less red tape in government transactions.

At the end of his speech, Duterte returned to his favorite topic – eradicating the drug problem.

He gave this excuse why no big fish among drug lords had been killed by the police:

“The drug lords whom you desperately want to strangle are not here. The ones you just catch are just the lieutenants. They are cooking it (the drugs) in the international waters.”

“The sheer problem, believe me, will drown us as a republic. How can we solve the problem now by arresting? Hinahanap ko bilang president.”

Just a suggestion – he could try giving China the list of drug lords and asking them to cooperate and send them over for trial – or arrest them in the mainland, make them stand trial and bring over the evidence there.

In the past, the Philippines had been very cooperative toward China in their requests to repatriate their fugitives from justice, such as criminals operating fraud schemes in the Philippines while victimizing Chinese mainlanders. I’ve written a couple of stories for South China Morning Post on how the Philippines handed over Chinese nationals captured in the Philippines to Chinese mainland authorities.

With Hong Kong, the Philippines has an agreement on criminal matters. This was how the Philippines once requested Hong Kong to repatriate an ethnic Filipino-Chinese Alfredo Tiongson who had fled there. Unfortunately, the Philippine judge threw out the case.

Duterte said he had told the military that if they should ever come across a foreign drug lord, “sabi ko sa military pag nakita mo pasabugin mo. Show no mercy to them.”

Duterte did not also mention the names of congressmen and mayors whom he said were drug dealing. That would have set his speech apart from all other SONAs made by previous presidents.

That would have delivered the promise of a  “powerful” speech made by his aides beforehand. In addition, the promised tearjerker-of-a-speech turned at times into a one-man comedy show. He’s a natural in the latter, though.

Since Duterte does not give press conferences, we are left to speculate why he did not do as he had promised – to name names.

Ending his speech, he mentioned something about the dawn breaking at the height of darkness. But he did not contextualize this.

Then he ended by saying, “All the mirrors in the world will reflect the passion that can change his life. Daghan salamat.”

I’m not sure whether he was referring to himself or something else. But that is how he ended a Brillante Mendoza production on #SONA2016.

By the way, the “speech” that is posted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer is not the complete speech. It does not contain all the ad libs he made.

Comments

  1. CORRUPT ALERT,

    PINAAALAM KO SA LAHAT NG MAMBABASA NITO NA NAKAHALERA SA APPOINTMENT MULI SA GOBYERNO ANG MGA TAONG BABANGGITIN NA TINANGGAL SA PWESTO DAHIL SA RESULTA NG INTERNAL INVESTIGATION NG DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE. MGA NAKIPAGSABWATAN SA MALALAKING NEGOSYANTENG INTSIK PARA MABIGYAN NG TAX CREDITS KAPALIT NG MALAKING SUHOL MULA SA NEGOSYANTE. NIREKOMENDA SILA NI GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO MAKABALIK SA GOBYERNO.

    1. ULDARICO ANDUTAN
    2. VILLAMOR VENTURA PLAN
    3. RAUL DE VERA
    4. ROSANNA DIALA
    5. ANTONIO BELLICENA

    MGA MANDARAMBONG ANG MGA TAONG ITO. ANG DAMI NG ITINAKBONG PERA ANG MGA ITO SA IBAT IBANG BANSA AT NABUBUHAY NA PARANG TUMAMA SA SWEEPSTAKES. NAGKUKUNWARI PA ANG MGA MAGNANAKAW NA ITO NA MAY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION.

    BANTAYAN.

    • It’s high time the party list system – created by the Cory Constitution – should be abolished since its usefulness as a marginalized sectoral representations have been abused by moneyed politicians and maoist groups.

      • narinig ko lang, 2001 iyan ipinatupad.
        panahon ni erap o gma. Jan 17, 2001 nang agawin ni gma kay erap ang upuan.

  5. Amendments: Abolishing Party-List system

    PDuterte to Mikey Arroyo (Ang Galing Pinoy and son of GMA):

    “I will not allow it…inabuso lahat yan ehang nananalo ay yong may pera (it is being abused…only moneyed people win). Representing what? The security guards?” the President said on Friday.

    “That’s the mockery of the law. ‘Yan talaga ang pinaka bastos na nagawa mo. Kasi ikaw, ‘yung pera, mag-bili ka ng ano diyan? Ano ba ‘yung ano mo? (That’s the most shameless thing to do. Because you have the money, you can buy anything? What is your group?) United idiots association,” Duterte said.”

    http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/07/31/1608503/rody-wants-party-list-system-abolished

    • Cont…

      The President noted that once the constituent assembly is able to finish its job of revising the Constitution, he would be there to read it.

      “So you could only come up with the Constitution that is responsive to the will of the people…this party-list, it will never come again,” he added.

      • MANILA, Philippines – A “pro-Filipino” Constitution will take the place of the current one, President Duterte assured the nation on Friday as he warned lawmakers against using the constituent assembly (con-ass) approach to Charter change to protect their vested interests and keep themselves in power.

        “I am not stupid to allow the new Constitution to be anti-Filipino. Expect that. That is the job of the President. If worse comes to worst, they won’t know what will come to them if they disrespect the Filipinos,” Duterte said in his address to troops in Davao del

        http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/07/31/1608500/rody-promises-pro-pinoy-charter

        • As another alternative. . . why not PDutz just write on a yellow pad paper his own idea of what the federal system should be and have Congress as ConAss bless it for recommendation to a referendum. . . what Gen. D. MacArthur did to the Japanese Constitution. . . !

          Japan has a ‘Douglas MacArthur’ constitution. . .

          Let’s have then a Pres. RodDutz constitution. . . No much Expense. No much Tagal. No much Work.

          6 Months for Pres. RodDutz to do it. I will VOTE yes if I like what he wrote.

        • So, ConAss is acceptable to you if PDut will copy what the prima donna general did for Japan. I think there’s already one in place with regards to federalism since Nene and Kiko Pimentel are the most prominent proponents of it. Other provisions that need to be changed will be laid out to the public for us to scrutinize, in the right time to build trust. All in all, it’ll be a good debate for all, pros and cons.

        • For a choice. . . I prefer ConCon but matigas ang mga liderato, what can I or you or we – DO?

          Choice for the lesser of two evils na lang. As I said ‘I will vote for approval if good or no approval if not good.’

          We are of the belief also that even with a ConCon, Pres. Dutz might be better than it. Possible? Yes.

        • I still entertain the hidden agenda of PDu30 of his commitment to bobong marcos through federalism and election of a prime minister by majority of elected parliamentarians from 13, more or less, regions of the country,

          Con-ass is less expensive and could be finished in so short a time – BUT CAN WE TRUST OUR INCUMBENT LAWMAKERS WHO BELONG MOSTLY TO PDP-LABAN, the party of PDU30?

        • What if under this administration they laid out specifically the provisions that needed to be changed like what PDut is harping, magbabago ba isip mo para ito ay suportahan?

          Alam naman natin na meron talaga na dapat baguhin lalo na sa economic part although the federalism issue ay mahabang discussion pa. At kahit si PNoy pa ang presidente ay sila sila rin naman ang nasa Congress.

          Walang amendments siguro na mangyayari if maghihintay tayo ng Kongreso na mapagkakatiwalaan. Nagririgodon sila kapag may bagong upo pero sila rin ang cast.

        • right, the default behavior should be to not trust any politicians at all.

          only trust what the law says. but even this has now become problematic because politicians like to weaken the laws in their favor so that they can be exploited without them going to jail. which means the more you can’t trust them.

          in democracy, presidents are changed regularly precisely because of the idea that they can’t be trusted. and the longer they stay in power, the more untrustworthy they can become. so, in essence, people are not now being ruled by duterte, previously by pnoy, and before that by gma, etc. people are really constantly being ruled by the constitution and the laws of the the land. presidents are there to do the best for the country without breaking these laws and guidelines. many have died for this privilege to be ruled by law so it is no joke to throw this privilege out the window and allow presidents to break our laws. the short term gains are likely to cause greater long term harm. the laws are there to prevent this from the shortsightedness of some and the willingness of politicians to take advantage of it.

    • i agree with PDutz to take away the happy days of the parti list. . . gov’t allots money to comelec for this idiocy !

      …another false saying we don’t have money !

      ConCon pa rin.

      he he

        • Normal yun protesta nila, kasi products sila ng idiocy?

          ha ha ha

          But it is the right thing. . . REMOVE parti list system. The name alone already is messy: parti

          partition, division, segregation, separation, demarcation, at kung ano pa.

          Have we heard from parti list officials united to pressure their colleagues in Congress to pass an Anti-Dynasty or FOI bill? Nada ! What are they doing? Nada ! Now, they are UNITED in protest against their abolition.

          HA HA HA

  7. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3715617/Eye-opening-images-cramped-crowded-conditions-inside-Philippines-Quezon-City-jail.html

    Another shame on the Philippines in the eyes of the outside world. Perhaps President Duterte can put on his Urgent To Do list the building of a few prisons. Especially as he intends to put anybody who looks like a druggie under bars.

    Mind you, the pictures serve as a good deterent. Put the jailed drug lords here and move the people who have yet to be found guilty to Bilibid.

    • ‘Section 19. (1) Excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment inflicted. Neither shall death penalty be imposed, unless, for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes, the Congress hereafter provides for it. Any death penalty already imposed shall be reduced to reclusion perpetua.’ Article III Bill of Rights 1987 Constitution

      The prison as the picture shows it is . . . cruel, degrading or inhuman. . .punishment.

      Are the prisoners there still humans? If yes, then why are they treated like they are not?

      Usual answer: No money daw. Then why put people in jails like that? But there is money around. Ayaw lang mag budget. Pera para sa ibang bagay.

      The Judiciary Dept. is principally to take care of this after the courts takes jurisdiction over criminal cases. The Executive Dept and Congress are ‘blame us on this.’

      3,600 inmates inside a space good for 800 is like that boat Dona Paz that sank with 4,000 passengers for a space good for 600. This prison will not sink but explode one day soon.

      Try going inside and sense the smell alone. If 1,300 have not taken a bath, you will faint from the smell or mag susuka ka !

      Again. . . the usual answer is NO MONEY. Always no money. Where are the money paid for taxes?

      Na holidap: DAP, PDAF and more holidaps – huge bonuses, pork barrels atbpa.

      Perhaps perhaps and maybe PERHAPS. . . need to build more prisons and detention spaces.

      :-) Don’t Forget – take another look at the PHOTO from the link.

    • kaya nga pinapatay na lang, hindi na dinadala sa presento, para hindi na madagdagan pa ang sobra nang puno na mga bilangguan.

  8. A government of nonsense

    -hindi naman wasak ang presidential system bat pinipilit yung federalism gagastos pa at sayang oras sa lawmakers
    -bat pinapatay yung maliliit alam na PALA yung malalaking drug lords
    -asan ang pagbabago sa kahirapan bat inuna pala yain si arroyo
    –asan ang galing sa Pag ayos sa trapik bat kalbaryo pa rin

    • “hindi naman wasak ang presidential system bat pinipilit yung federalism gagastos pa at sayang oras sa lawmakers”

      That is debatable. Although I must confess to amend the Constitution first but could maintain the same political system. Palakasin ang 2-3 party system, amend the economic provisions and so on. Pero open din ako sa federalism. It appears to be not working as it was intended to and then we always want the sitting president impeached or pwersahing bumaba sa kudeta. Still, debatable din yang mga sinabi ko.

      • Nasa klase ng mga liderato natin mula sa umpisa.

        Korupt. Tamad. Kawatan. Sinungalin. Abusado. Inutile. atbpa. Kaya ang karamihan ng mga tao bayan ganoon din.

        Ang mga problema natin ay gawa natin.

        Kung ang itong mga klaseng liderato ay bibigyan ng kapayarihan ni Kristo sa sunod na buhay, may pangalawa na impyerno parehas na mga problema sa kagitnaan ng kosmos – run like hell by pinoys !

        Pag-asa nandyan subalit nawawala at hindi makita.

        he he

        • Korek ka diyan Leona. Kahit na anong porma ng gobyerno ang kopyahin natin kung meron seguro sa Timbukto or Mars, kopyahin na rin natin, same same lang iyan. Kung iyong mga gurang na laos na mga pulitiko pa rin iboboto at ere recycle ng tao, aso pa rin ang gobyerno natin. Same dog, different collar in a different cage lang iyan.

        • Agree too. A good example is manny paquiao who won a senatorial seat simply because of name recall but who attended only 7 out of 70 session days, the lowest in the lower house.

          When asked in New York City by the Fil-Am Press Club, his arrogant answer was “I don’t just sit around making laws.”
          I went around helping people, like playing basketball, singing in plush karaoke bars, etc.

          Lately, boxing promoter Bob Arum of Rank Promotion scheduled a November date for his return from boxing retirement – Why? – because Bob Arum lost more than $20 M from the last Paquiao-Bradley III fight – the actual pay-per-view being way below the expectation. Paquiao, as usual, was guaranteed $20M purse in that fight but actual payment was not confirmed.

          And he is rumored to be running for president in 2022 under UNA. Ano siya – sinusuwerte?

        • Parang chicken and egg lang tayo at paikot-ikot kapag wala talagang ginawa na pagbabago sa takbo ng batas. In fact, presidente lang naman ang nabago pero lahat ng mga nakaupo ay yon pa rin. At least, nagkakaisa ang majority na may mga dapat na talagang baguhin sa Constitution. And the president is willing to be open sa mga provisions na sinusulong niya. The question is, are we going to trust him or not?

        • MANILA, Philippines – A “pro-Filipino” Constitution will take the place of the current one, President Duterte assured the nation on Friday as he warned lawmakers against using the constituent assembly (con-ass) approach to Charter change to protect their vested interests and keep themselves in power.

          “I am not stupid to allow the new Constitution to be anti-Filipino. Expect that. That is the job of the President. If worse comes to worst, they won’t know what will come to them if they disrespect the Filipinos,” Duterte said in his address to troops in Davao del

          http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/07/31/1608500/rody-promises-pro-pinoy-charter

        • Not really ‘chicken and egg’ kasi masarap ang chicken and egg.

          Ang problem ay BOGOK na egg! Ganon tayo. Who loves bogok eggs?

          ha ha

        • although i don’t eat bugok na itlog, it is a popular delicacy in pateros/taguig area and many parts of Rizal.
          ginagawa pa iyang cake.
          try nyo lang.
          basta ako, ayoko, hehehe.

  9. Atty. Persida Acosta should resign!

    Atty. Persida Acosta should resign as Public Attorney’s Office Chief. The way she defended the Police instead of the Families of the Victims, she better apply as Police Attorney’s Office!

    She seems does not know what is her role as a Public Defender…

    Sad…

    Resign Acosta, resign!

    Parekoy
    07-30-2016

    • Kudos to DU30 in shaking things up ang cleaning the Bilibid!

      Pero bakit walang nanlaban na Druglord? Si Druglord/Singer eh tinatapik-tapik pa ni Bato?

      Still, DU30 is the only President who took action in taking back control of The Bilibid!

    • This news report? –

      Ihttp://kickerdaily.com/posts/2016/07/chief-public-attorney-backs-cops-in-war-vs-illegal-drugs-just-doing-their-duty/

      The kins of the dead, whether by cops or others, how will they seek help from the Public Defender’s Office now?

      Why did this PDO office come out with this – defending the cops? Shut up sana na lang. No harm done.

      he he he

      • #Leona. Seems like there is an extra”I” before http in your link. Perhaps you could edit it out? Make life easy for us all. 😎

      • I tried no can do. So, I just went to Kicker Daily website, I found it. Manually Na Lang. The address bar dosesn’t give a good highlight data. Sorry.

    • Noon pa sa citizenship issue ni Sen. Poe, duda na ako diyan. Tapos meron pang issue noon sa election pinalagpas ko pa rin give her the benefit of the doubt ika nga. Pero noong makausap ko mismo pamangkin ko sa PAO, iba yata talaga ugali nito si Acosta. Meron kaibigan pamangkin ko na dating staff ni Delima sa CHR noon nagmasteral sa Hong KOng Univ then sa US after a year. The lawyer was warned something that she could not go back to her work in PAO because of her masteral. Ganoon din sabi noong pamangkin ko tinanong ko kung wala ba siyang plano mag masteral, Baka daw hindi na siya makabalik sa trabaho niya sa PAO. Ano kaya iyon insecure sa mga staff niya?

      Instead of encouraging her staff to further their qualifications and gain international exposure she is the one that discourages them. A lot of the staff in the PAO I believe are really good they could have chosen to work in the best law firms but there are still some idealistic ones who would serve the government. Most of my pamangkins friends had their undergrad in UP and almost all of them are at least “laudes”. With that talent puwede niya bang iburo niya staff niya? PAOs lost would be more of our poor kababayans lost.

    • Guess lang po ito ha…di po madaming mababakante sa supreme court sa time ni pres digong? Malay ninyo ma consider siya sa position.

  10. I wonder (hope) if Raissa has it in her mind to help us all and promote discussion by posting an article which analyses both con-ass and con-con. The pros and cons of each along with words oulining which is best for transparency and obtaining a true people’s constitution.
    Or, alternatively, one of our legal beavers could take on the chore, provide links or get a real discussion going.
    I’m struggling with this one

    • @Ancient Mariner
      I agree with you. Just like the West Philippine Sea issue the charter change should be discussed at CPM.

      Between ConAss and ConCon l go for ConCon. Kung ang reason ni PDU30 ay magastos ang ConCon, I tend to disagree. Sa palagay mo kaya ay hindi hihingi ng additional remunerations ang mga legislators for ConAss. E simpling comittee chairmansip or membership nga meron, how much more sa ConAss na additional work sa kanila yan.
      Besides, ang legislation process na mandate nila ay apektado.

      On the other hand, in ConCon it’s either appointment by the president (which will be less expensive) or by election. At least makakapili ng magiging members na higit na may kakayahan at kaalaman sa pagrepaso at pagbalangkas ng amyenda.

      Ipapaubaya ba natin sa kongreso, lalo na sa nasa mababang kapulungan gayung mas may vested interest sila sa magiging mukha ng amended constitution. Unlike sa ConCon na masasala ang magiging myembro.

      My personal point of view.

    • It is sooo good to struggling like in wrestling. :-) The harder the task the joy of solving it. :-)

      But now lawmakers do not want to struggle like they should. Pres. Duterte should reconsider for ConCon.

      In France, they created a constitution after a revolution. They struggled mightily on it. In ‘Pinas, no revolution to form a constitution. So, no mighty struggle needed. Easy as it goes is our lawmakers like.

      The idea for federalism type of government is it on France type? Here is an English version of it – 1958 as revised.

      http://www.thisnation.com/library/france.html

      Easier to read France’s constitution. Though so struggling will it be to grasp this one. More to come as Ancient Mariner suggests and agreed to by duquemarino.

  11. ‘We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier and the last pusher have surrendered or put behind bars or below the ground if they so wish,” PDuterte said during his first SONA at the Batasang Pambansa.

    I just want to note:
    1. Surrender
    2. Put behind bars
    3. Below the ground (killed)

    I wish the president should emphasize more of the first 2. So, I wonder how may people who are involved in illegal drug trade are now put behind bars and facing the court of law. Killings should stop. Dakpin at ikulong. Magpagawa pa ng maraming kulungan at rehab para sa mga users.