Today, July 26, 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to deliver his last State of the Nation Address as the Philippines’ 16th President. The speech will take place at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City, with numerous vaccinated politicians to attend onsite, while others will join via Zoom.
Please do note that words inside an italicized bracket ([,]) signifies a fact-checking was done on a preceding statement or highlight.
Key Highlights
• Duterte arrived before 3:45pm at the Batasang Pambansa.
• Duterte began his walk towards the session hall of the House of Representatives shortly after 4:00pm.
• Singer Morisette Amon sang the Philippine National Anthem, which was later followed by a prayer.
• Duterte says that today is the most beautiful day as he greets the people inside the Session Hall. He began his speech 13 minutes past 4 o’clock, a little later than the usual 4:00pm start.
• “When I assumed presidency five years ago, a better life was in my mind,” Duterte said in the lead of his speech for this year’s SONA.
• He said that his visions of better life are also reachable by reforms and radical changes in the government structure and governance.
• PRRD cited that universal healthcare, free education, free irrigation, and campaign against drugs and criminality as the greatest achievements of his term.
• “I made those changes that were doable at that time,” Duterte says.
• DU30 also admitted that doing the changes he wanted to do were up against time that the constitution declared. Thus, hasty implementation of such were needed as that what he believes that the country needed.
• Duterte says that his intention “was pure and unpolluted.”
• He also thanks the private sector for their assistance during the pandemic.
• Duterte: Make no mistake about it, corruption is another term for stealing other people’s money.
• He also thank the local government units for stepping up their service to their constituents amidst the pandemic.
• Governemnt will assist private sector to regain commercial vibrance as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Duterte proclaims.
• “The past five years have truly been challenging and humbling,” Duterte reveals.
• “Not once did I wave in doing the unpopular opinion,” – President Duterte
• He thanked the Legislative branch for working with the Executive department for the modernization of AFP and PNP. Citing that it was also his priority to boost the morale of the country’s armed services.
• Because of the said modernization program, Duterte says the salaries of uniformed personnel were increased in 2018.
• Duterte asks Congress to pass laws that will provide free legal aid to the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippine (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP)
• “The continuous upgrading of our defense capability shall ensure we uphold our territorial integrity, sovereignty from external and security threats,” Duterte asserts.
• For Duterte, “[p]eace and security is not only just a military concern. Thus, it was the reason why the government “deviated from the traditional purely military approach in dealing with matters of national security.”
• Duterte says NTF-ELCAC was created to made strides in empowering the local folks who were used by communists for decades.
[However, the NTF-ELCAC was also publicly called out multiple times for redtagging several individuals without sufficient evidence.]
• Duterte says that the government “invested in farm-to-market roads, school buildings, water and sanitation (facilities), health stations, and livelihood,” through NTF-ELCAC.
• He also encourages LGUs to support the national government in eroding the communist forces.
• Duterte cites that more than 15 apparatus of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) fronts have been destroyed by the police and military.
• “Everybody in this country are paying taxes to the communist. The Communist Party earns billions, but passed on a little to their fighting men who die for an ideology that is so rotten and corrupt,” Duterte claims.
• Duterte also alleges children of communist movement officers are sent abroad to study using the money of their members.
• DU30 orders Sen. Bato dela Rosa, along with other members of Congress to investigate the importation of AK-47 guns, which he says were under the veil of being used by security personnel of business establishments. The person behind the said scheme has also been identified, the President said.
• Duterte says that nine police generals are involved in drugs. He also says that he couldn’t believe that he is fighting his own men in the administration’s drug war. He said that he also “bribed” those to leave Davao and go to Luzon instead.
• Duterte says that around 1,000 Filipinos are arrested each day due to drug trafficking.
• He says that the reason why illegal drugs are still around despite the cessation of many drug laboratories are the importation of those prohibited substances.
• He later says that his heart breaks for many OFWs, especially those who are parents to people who were involved in illegal drugs.
• Duterte also says OFWs are abused abroad, especially in the Middle East. He says that the proliferation of sexual abuse in those countries are because of the notion that Filipinos are slaves working for them.
• Duterte warns drug traffickers anew, nearly repeating the same line he used during his Presidential campaign in 2016.
• Duterte, without citing figures, said that many middle-class people where able to bail out of drug charges. That is despite illegal drugs cases being non-bailable.
• PRRD also gave his thoughts on Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto’s bid for the Vice Presidential seat in 2022, saying Sotto is a “good” and “capable” man.
[Duterte himself pronounced a few weeks ago that he will run for the same seat once his six-year term ends next year.]
• He later moved on to issues in Mindanao, saying separatist movements were only born out of correcting injustices experienced by Moro people in the region.
• He thanks the Congress for the passing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law in 2018, which saw the dissolution of ARMM and the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
• PDU30 also wants the Marawi Rehabilitation to be sped up.
• He says that in spite of having great strides in ending insurgency in the country, the Philippines still has a long way to go in the war against drugs.
• Duterte said that he made sure to increase PH’s infrastructure spending to an average 5% of the country’s GDP. He also claims that is significantly higher than each of the past four administrations.
• Duterte said that the drug war was able to have millions of drug dependents surrender and be neutralized.
• DU30 also thanked the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program for the funding of several critical infrastructure projects.
• He also recalled the “horror” that was the MRT-3 and the line’s frequent breakdowns. Duterte says that conditions at the train line have since improved. Waiting time has also been reduced as number of trains were increased from 10, running at 30kph each, to 23, with speeds of 60kph these days.
• Duterte also says that high-impact infrastructure projects outside the National Capitak Region are also to be completed within the next year (end of his term) or in the following years.
• The recently-opened LRT-2 East Extension was also mentioned, with him saying that the travel time of 2-3 hours between Antipolo and Manila was reduced to just 40 minutes.
[The construction of the LRT-2 East Extension project was given the go signal in 2015, during the term of Duterte’s predecessor, President Benigno Aquino III.]
• He also thanked the PPP (public-private partnership) for the construction of Skyway Stage 3.
• He also boasted the completion of the Poro Freeport zone in La Union and the Sorsogon City Coastal Road in Bicol. The Lanao-Pagadian-Zamboanga road was also constructed in Western Mindanao for the easier transport of agriculture products.
• He has also ordered the DBM, DOTr, NEDA, DOF, and DPWH to maintain the current momentum of infrastructure building in the country during the last few months of his term.
• Duterte also noted that the validity of the passport was extended to 10 years (for Filipino citizens 18 years old and above) from the previous 5 years.
• He also thanked the Congress once again for the legislation of the Ease of Doing Business Act in 2018.
• Transactions in government will soon be streamlined with the National ID System, which was also passed in 2018, Duterte asserts.
• “Since 2016, the Office of the President has issued 138 executive orders, 43 administrative orders, 86 memorandum circulars, 52 memorandum orders, and 1,038 proclamations,” Duterte bared.
• He says that those involved in the ‘Pastillas’ scheme were removed from their posts.
• Duterte says that corruption can’t be stopped, unless the government is overturned.
• Duterte also boasted that he passed the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill to promote transparency and accountability in the government.
[He is yet to publicly disclose his 2020 Statement of Liabilities and Net Worth.]
• He thanks our neighbors in the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) for supporting the government and the country. He also said that the country will remain as a responsible member of the international community.
• Duterte: Gone are the days when the Philippines decides on the shadows of the great powers. We will assert what is rightfully ours.
• He also said that container vans filled were garbage have been sent back to their respective countries of origin. Duterte also proclaims that the Philippines is not a dumpsite.
• Duterte says that he has no plans of visiting the United States anymore. But if he does decide to do so, it will be on his “own time.”
• He also noted the return of the Balangiga bells to the country in 2018. The bells were taken by American forces in 1901.
• He calls on the international community to put an end to the Kafala system. Saying that it is “a set-up for slavery.”
• He also says that the country will repatriate Filipinos if the system will not be corrected. “The government will make up for what they [OFWs] will lose in the process,” he noted.
• He also reacted to the critics of his stance on the West Philippine Sea issue. Duterte says that he had already talked about the topic before the UN General Assembly last year and asks his critics what more do they want.
• Duterte says that he is trying to evade the possibility of a war against China, saying that it would be “a massacre.”
• He also took a swipe against former DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario, who recently alleged that China had a hand in his 2016 Presidential victory, calling them “idiots.” He also assured everyone that “he will never do that,” and he would rather not become a President than do that.
• He says that he never accepted gifts even during his term as a local officer in Davao.
• Duterte says he is a good friend of Chinese leader Xi Jingping, citing that he had also a conversation with Xi after he won the elections.
• He also disclosed that when the [COVID-19] pandemic struck, he first called China for help.
• He later mentioned that his administration worked for the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act.
• Duterte also took note on the legislation of the Rice Tariffication Act in 2019, which he says resulted to the stabilization of rice prices in the country.
• He also mentioned once again that his administration was able to improve free irrigation, which he said was one of his campaign promises.
• ABS-CBN was also mentioned in this year’s SONA.
• Duterte says that he has no problem with the media conglomerate. That is despite his repeated remarks since 2016 that he will not renew the legislative franchise of the network on the grounds that his payment for an unaired campaign ad was not returned by the ABS-CBN management.
• He also claimed that ABS-CBN also published an article that his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte was named as a drug trafficker, describing the said piece as “garbage.”
• Despite the BIR and SEC giving clearance to ABS-CBN, he once again made claims that the network was “cheating the government” and was not paying the right amount of taxes. Duterte also claimed that ABS only pays for 4 hectares of the 44 hectares where the company sits on. Apart from that, he alleges that the ABS-CBN procures their equipment tax-free.
[The size of the ABS-CBN compound in Mother Ignacia, Quezon City is not 44 hectares. According to ABS-CBN’s 2011 report filed before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the land only measures 44,000 square meters.]
• Duterte: Our MSMEs constitute 99.6% of our country’s businesses and are vital to our economy, job creation and poverty reduction. He also hopes that through the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso Program since 2017 the government was able to help the sector.
• He also said that the country was able to have significant economic growth between the third quarter of 2016 up until the last quarter of 2019, thanks to the tax reform programs that were implemented.
After nearly 2 hours into his speech, he has finally put a spotlight on the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Duterte says that never in he never imagined that he would not only “make good in his campaign promises.” But also how well he would lead the country in the middle of a pandemic.
• Despite the gravity of the situation, Duterte still made a joke about COVID-19, saying that he might have contracted the virus since he can’t pronouce some words properly.
• Duterte boasts that PH recorded the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio since 1986, the highest revenue effort since 1997, the highest credit rating in the country’s history all before the pandemic.
• Duterte defends the government’s COVID-19 response, saying that they prioritized saving lives. “Buhay muna bago ang lahat,” he affirmed.
• He also said that the unemployment, underemployment, and poverty rates were all at their lowest in history before the pandemic struck.
• He thanked Congress again for their support on the Bayanihan Acts 1 and 2.
• PRRD cites that the Philippines’ testing capacity increased as the pandemic progressed as there are now 260 laboratories with the ability of conducting 50,000 tests each day.
• PDU30 urges all eligible Filipinos once again to get vaccinated. Those who have received their first dose were also called on to get their second shot. He directs LGUs to further expedite their respective inoculation programs.
• He also congratulated San Juan City for achieving a vaccination rate of 70%.
• Duterte also stated that there are now 9,000 temporary treatment and monitoring centers setup for COVID-19 patients, with a total of more than 140,000 beds. He also thanked the LGUs and private sectors for the creation of mega quarantine facilities.
• Philippines “can’t afford more lockdowns,” Duterte proclaims.
• He says that we 30 million doses have been received to date, with 36 million more expected to be delivered this July.
• “Today is my last SONA. But this, by no means, is my swan song,” Duterte asserts.
• He declares that he will not cease to ask the Congress to pass vital legislations that will help the country head towards recovery and revitalization.
• Duterte hopes that the Delta variant will not go farther in PH.
• He asked the legislative department to immediately pass measures like the amendment of Foreign Investments Act, the Public Services Act, and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act. He also wants the Department of Migrant Workers to be created as an agency focusing on the concerns of Filipinos working abroad.
• Duterte on education amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Despite our inability to conduct face-to-face classes during pandemic, we remain determined to deliver quality and accessible education to all.
• Duterte wants to create education centers in every city, province, and municipality which “shall provide basic needs and assistance to all evacuees during times of emergency.”
• Duterte also floated the idea of an e-Governance act that would assist the government’s transition to the digital age.
• Duterte heads to environmental actions made by his administration, with Manila Bay as a focal point. He says that they were able to close down open dumpsites illegally directing waste to the heavily polluted bay.
• Duterte also pushed the creation of public entities dedicated to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. “I ask Congress to enact a law creating the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, and the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines,” he pleaded.
• He also wants a law on the Fire Protection Modernization Program to be passed.
• Duterte has since gone off-script and reiterated some of his past points.
• He declared that his administration “made real change in governance through the reforms we pursued.” “However, this governance must be sustained and broadened,” he added.
• “We have laid down groundwork and are continuing to push for landmark reforms and key accomplishments to the last day of my term,” Duterte on his term as the 16th President.
• To end his speech, Duterte said that he has “full confidence that the Filipino spirit will persevere and triumph, and together let us rise a nation.”
• The speech ended at 6:58pm or just a little over than 2 and half hours. His officials previously said that today’s speech was initially made to run for about 80 minutes, but the President requested it to be cut to more or less 59 minutes.