President Rodrigo Duterte's historic State of the Nation Address is one of the most anticipated events for every Filipinos. This will be his first-ever speech to express his plans for the country for the next six years as the President of the Republic of the Philippines. His speech will be heard by hundreds of millions of Filipinos including foreigners who are concerned about the Philippines. His words of wisdom have been favored for his enigmatic and unique style of addressing the public regarding any concerns that relate to his government platforms.
The official State of the Nation Address was held on the 25th of July in 2016 at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Pasig City, Philippines. While addressing his annual presidential speech, he was surrounded by the remaining high-ranking officials of the Republic of the Philippines, running from the vice-president, down to the congress, governors, mayors, and council members of each town and cities. He was also surrounded by foreign dignitaries and groups who will be witnessing his annual speech.
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| His excellency President Rodrigo Duterte |
Another issue that was observed during the State of the Nation Address was the change in the dress code of all attendees of the event. President Rodrigo Duterte wants to ensure that the guests should wear clean and a non-extravagant clothing, which indicates their lavish lifestyle that can be a questionable issue under the eyes of graft and corruption watch-list. Participants are required to wear a simple and neat dress, symbolizing cleanliness and purity that can reflect their personality to be a true and trustable person and groups of interest.
During his speech, President Rodrigo Duterte seems to add more discussions that were not included from his speech that was obviously observed from his first State of the Nation Address. His excellency wants to discuss more important points related to the implementation of his country. However, time is limited for him to discuss it, due to the constraints allocated by the time frame that is only for his State of the Nation Address.
Here are some important pointers that were discussed during his State of the Nation Address
1. Moving on with the future
From his speech, he started his State of the Nation Address by telling the public that the past should not be blamed for the shortcomings of the future. We should not blame from the past mistakes that the previous government has had already experienced from the past. We should always move forward in order to have a new beginning that enable improvements and prosperity to continue with every community around the Philippines.
2. Separation of the Church and the State
The president also addressed the issues regarding the religious issues wherein he assures that the state and God should work together in harmony. Religious separation is indeed indicated by the constitution that is understandable to have their own interests with their advocacies and interests. This is to promote trust and unity with all entities across the society. This means that religious agencies enable all out support by means of guiding all entities between the private and public institutions.
3. Anti-illegal substance campaign
President Duterte's campaign to anti-drug campaign is highlighted in his speech wherein he gave a stern warning to the public not to be involved in all illegal activities such as using and pushing the use of prohibited substances. Duterte promised to hunt down even the last remaining illegal substance lords responsible for starting criminal activities across the society. Users of prohibited substances will surely face apprehension to the greatest extent in order to feel the consequences of the law.
4.Human rights issues
Human Rights is also addressed by the president, which is an important consideration that a person should avail to protect their dignity and integrity. Despite from the controversial issues with respect to the involvement to illegal substance related apprehensions, all citizens should still have their right respected by any individual, group, or organization.
5. Intensifying graft and corruption
He established a hotline for people to render their complaints against any government services that are causing a problem related to any public service. By calling the 888 hotline, the public can extend their grievances with the concerned operators in order to call for an immediate action for any public service issues that were poorly served to concerned individuals. If the grievance is accepted, involved authorities will be assigned to address the concern and apprehend the person involved with the problem.
6. Eliminating environmental related violations
Natural Resources provides a vital source of food supply to our society. Mining is a problem when they do not comply with the environmental standards provided by the government. Foreclosure is the best solution for any mining companies who were found to be violating all provisions provided by the local and international mining laws. This is to protect the country from environmental consequences such as deteriorating food supply and hazardous environment for the people to live.
7. Improving transportation systems
Manila is the only city that is saturated with transportation. To ease traffic congestion, installing more railways, roads, bridges, and flyovers can ease traffic congestion. This is applied not only in Metro Manila but also to other metropolitan areas in the Philippines. This is the best way to improve transportation system that will prevent economic damage to the country.
8. Enhancing Peace and prosperity
President Rodrigo Duterte believes that rebel groups are victims of historical inequalities and injustices. He accepted the fact that there was no proper due process served to fix problems relating to insurgencies. As the president that hails from the land where rebel roams the outskirts of his metropolis, mediation through the table is one of the best issues to end rebellion and insurgencies across the country.
9. Easing public service and Federalism
Passports will now be extended from five years to ten years to allow any overseas Filipino workers to save more money. There will be a free WiFi access served in public areas such as transportation terminals, parks, public offices, and schools. Lowering personal and business tax shall be implemented and amended in the future to prevent the burden for every Filipinos to live a better life. His economic team ensures that macroeconomic policies from the past administrations will still be adopted to ensure that the socio-economic lifestyle and business environment of the Philippines is still competitive.
Federalism is the answer to improve the country's public service. With the use of Federalism, graft and corruption will ease, allowing distribution of wealth all over the country to be equal. Power among leaders will be equally distributed as Federalism will bolster equal power and authority to distribute all public service and wealth to the people.
10. Safety and security
Rehabilitation programs are applied for surrendered criminal offenders will be served under the jurisdiction of the military. Clearing operations along the roads by means of removing all illegally installed booths will be intensified, which is believed to be the breeding grounds for creating negative elements of the law. A safe environment attracts businesses and investors to engage in numerous business opportunities that generate jobs.
*The president is more concentrated on an intensification of public service. This is to clean all negative elements of the law to make the Philippines one of the peaceful countries in the world. Discipline is the most important consideration that a person must have to adapt so that they can be more responsible for their actions and visions in life. In the long run, being disciplined can push through with a productive lifestyle.
