VICE President Leni Robredo expects President Duterte to be honest in his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 26, saying the people are getting anxious because they do not see an end to the COVID-19 pandemic soon.
“I think people would appreciate if we hear from the President where we are now and what the very definite plans the administration would take in order to lift us up from the current situation that we are in,” she told ANC in an interview on Tuesday night.
Robredo, who disclosed that she was not invited again to physically attend the SONA at the Batasang Pambansa, said the President should understand that such “uncertainty” is caused by the lack of honesty in telling the public where the country really is in the fight against the pandemic.
She said the government breeds confusion whenever it discusses its targets, particularly when it first said that it wants to achieve herd immunity by the end of 2021 through mass vaccination.
“And then we kept on adjusting our targets. Ngayon, I forgot what the term is, already.
Parang (I think it’s) ‘population protection,’” she said. “I think what contributes to that uncertainty is hindi talaga alam, e (current state). Hindi alam kung ano na ba talaga (The public doesn’t really know what is happening).
“The widespread public’s anxiety,” said the Vice President, “comes from not knowing where we are or what we hope to expect in the coming months.
“Iyon nga, kailan matatapos iyong pandemya? (That’s really it, when will this pandemic end?” she said. “I would want the President to really be very candid about it hindi lang iyong (not only about) where we are, pero (but) what the government plans to do about it.”
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said Duterte should lay down his roadmap for COVID-19 response and recovery and the West Philippine Sea issue in his last SONA.
He said there is a need for Duterte to clearly enunciate his government’s response on these issues so that the next administration will be able to follow through.
“I expect and hope that there will be a COVID-19 roadmap so that the next administration will be able to follow up, to follow through,” Sotto told CNN Philippines in an interview yesterday.
“I also hope for a clear stand on the issue in the West Philippines Sea. Once and for all, let’s hear it,” he added.
Robredo said one of the “weaker links” in the government is the failure in effectively delivering its message “and the message itself.”
She said that while there has been a lot of effort poured into the government response initiatives, “it has been very apparent that a lot of government agencies have been working in silos.”
“Iyong government agency na ganito iba iyong sasabihin. Iyong isa ibang sasabihin (This government agency will say something different from the others). Parang (It’s like) it contributes–it contributes to the state of helplessness. So I think the President could be the calming voice amidst all the anxieties that we have been feeling in the past year or so,” Robredo said.
She said it does not help that the government conveys its messages in a way that it is adding to the public’s anxiety “so perhaps, if it would be the President who will say that this is our current state and this is what we’ll do, I think it would help tremendously.”
While the government has opened more than 200 laboratories and more than a thousand isolation facilities, Robredo said the fact remains that the number of daily recorded cases has not gone down.
“If you recall last year, iyong ating pinaka-target na ma-control na natin iyong transmission by December of 2020 (our main target was to control transmission by December 2020) and we were not able to do that. In fact, isa pa tayo sa, I think right now we are second or the third country in Southeast Asia na highest daily COVID-19 case count. (In fact, we’re even one, I think right now we’re second or the third country in Southeast Asia with the highest COVID-19 case count),” she said.
The Vice President, who is expected to be the opposition’s standard-bearer in the 2022 national elections, praised the good response of local government units to the pandemic, saying the LGUs have become “our strongest link.”
Sotto said he expects also to hear legislative priorities in the President’s last SONA.
“Legislative priorities other than what we have in our table particularly those that will improve the lives of our countrymen,” he added.
Sotto said Duterte should also speak up on the state of the administration’s war on drugs since he made a “difficult promise” to end it during his term.
“That was a very difficult promise to make and to make through. No President will be able to do that in a matter of six years,” Sotto said.
Duterte held his first rehearsal yesterday for his last SONA, according to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
In his daily press briefing, Roque said the President’s final copy of his speech has been finalized but Duterte is expected to make some minor editing.
He said the President will report on “what and where we are now and looking forward” to his last year as President.
“What I know of the President’s SONA is he will look back at the past five years when he was President with focus on the country’s developments, socio programs, infrastructure, peace and security, and foreign policy,” Roque said.
Roque said Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, the President’s daughter, will not be able to physically attend the SONA. She also skipped her father’s SONA in 2016 and 2019 due to medical reasons.
PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar said he will tap around 15,000 policemen to maintain peace and order at the vicinity of Batasan Pambansa and other points of convergence when the President delivers his last SONA. — With Ashzel Hachero and Raymond Africa
