LETTERS FROM DAVAO

By Jun Ledesma

You can hate PRRD but his temper delivers

AFTER the sound of fury and the usual incendiary rhetorics and political analysis that came on the heels of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address here we back to facing the stark realities. What do we expect from human slot machines and dye-in-the-wool anti- Duterte cabal who can really dish out in unrelenting staccato of issues stored in their memory cards of virtual garbage bins. What else is new? China and the Scarborough issue, press freedom, death penalty, and lack of coherent plan to address the Covid-19 pandemic.

My take? Duterte could have just done away with a prepared speech if the items he raised in the SONA were all there is to it. Here is why. He knows quite well what oligarchy is and who are the oligarchs in this country. He knows the issues surrounding the Philippines conflict with China over the Scarborough. He could have just said that that it was as early as 2012 when then Pres. Benigno Aquino III and Foreign Affairs Sec. Albert del Rosario allowed China to stay in the island and ordered our navy to withdraw. By reading the speech he missed that vital event why China held on to that territory and that war cannot be an option.

Duterte expounded, even as he rambled through, on the immoral business practices of the oligarchs. And he was not mincing words when he mentioned the names of MWSS water concessionaires and the telecom duopoly. It was on the subject of the controversial water concession agreement that the name of Sen. Franklin Drilon was mentioned because of his alleged involvement in drafting the contract. He even called him a hypocrite. But funny, in his repartee, Drilon explained that it is in the name of press freedom that he pushed for the renewal of ABS CBN franchise. Well, Duterte did mention about Lopez, a media oligarch who had victimized him. The unfettered exercise of media empire in Philippine politics is of course legendary and for Duterte to survive the might of the network makes him a legend too.

Two significant performances deserved recognition. Finance Sec. and head of Economic Team, Sonny Dominguez, for piloting the economy and sustaining the credit rating of the country at investment grade and stable and therefore allows the country to borrow money at very low-interest rates and with a longer grace period. The President skipped the litany of infrastructure performance which was actually reported by Secretary Dominguez and his team during a pre-SONA forum last week. Sen.Bong Go was specially mentioned for expanding the socialized health outreach program of the government with the establishments of close to 80 Malasakit Centers throughout the country. Senator Bong also got a pat on the shoulder for the successful ASEAN sports event. The Senator is Chairman of the Senate Health and Sports Committees.

The prepared speech was supposed to rein in the presidential temper, but he did come out with emotional outbursts. Addressing the Ayalas and Pangilinan who control the vital distribution of water and telecom industry, President Duterte gave the duo until December to improve their delivery of service. I would interpret that to mean, Manila Water and Maynilad should sit down with government and amend or come up with a new concession agreement that would improve and sustain the supply of reasonably priced water to their consumers. It also gave a deadline to Globe and Smart telecom firms until December to raise the standard of quality of its telecommunications technology and service and to reach out to the remotest nooks and corners of the country.

The order for the telecom duopoly comes with a threat. This simply underlines the importance of an efficient telecom system especially in the emerging exigencies of the time when government and private corporations are migrating to the digital platforms for e-governance, paperless transactions, distant learning, and work-from-home among others. It is noteworthy that Globe Telecom responded positively to the challenge and we expect that Smart is not far behind.

You can hate and call for the ouster of President Duterte but his temper delivers.

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About the Columnist

Image of Jun Ledesma

Mr. Jun Ledesma is a community journalist who writes from Davao City and comments from the perspective of a Mindanaoan.