Senators give Digong Sona mixed views

MINDANAO TRIUMVIRATE President Duterte delivers his first State of the Nation Address. Mr. Duterte, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III (top left) and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez—the country’s top three elected officials—are all from Mindanao, a first in the country’s history. JOAN BONDOC

IT WAS a good start, but there could be room for some improvement.

Senators had different takes on the issues President Duterte tackled in his debut State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday, complimenting him for a message that spoke to the masses while hoping for clarification on various points about his legislative agenda.

For starters, Senators Franklin Drilon and Leila de Lima, both former justice secretaries, cited how Mr. Duterte began his over one-and-a-half hour speech by pointing out problems in the justice system.

“He opened his speech with a recognition of the need to fix our justice system. And it was comprehensive. He outlined how he would like the future to be for our country,” Drilon told reporters after the Sona.

“I was delighted to hear that the first item he mentioned was the justice system. He wants it to work. He pointed out chronic delays in the justice system,” said De Lima, a staunch Duterte critic who is now with the Senate majority supporting the President’s legislative agenda.

She and fellow Liberal Party member and neophyte Sen. Risa Hontiveros lauded Duterte’s clear statement on the recent United Nations arbitral tribunal ruling on the South China Sea, which favored the Philippines’ bid to invalidate China’s nine-dash line claim over the disputed waters.

Hontiveros said “the ruling must be used by the government to mobilize allies and international public opinion to assert the country’s sovereignty and in advancing genuine peace and stability in the region.”

That Mr. Duterte’s reference to the ruling was brief was not a problem for Sen. Richard Gordon, who added the President should not give away too much about the government’s plans.

Other lawmakers found Mr. Duterte’s speech wanting on some points.

Neophyte Sen. Joel Villanueva is looking forward to a “people-centered government” after hearing the President’s legislative agenda that focuses on the public welfare.

He and Gordon agreed that Mr. Duterte could have spoken more about the education sector.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson hoped Mr. Duterte had spoken about a more concrete roadmap for his term.

Sen. Nancy Binay in a statement called the President’s speech a “welcome break from the usual rhetoric and common presentation of statistics and endless finger-pointing.”

For neophyte Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Duterte’s speech was the “most  heartfelt Sona ever delivered.”

Sen. Bam Aquino  described Duterte’s Sona as “very refreshing and sincere.” With a report from Maila Ager, Inquirer.net