People’s Sona
On July 24, 2017, thousands nationwide will gather for protests and assemblies in time for President Rodrigo Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address (Sona). The President will deliver his second Sona amid the crisis in Marawi, Martial Law in Mindanao, US intervention and the worsening economic condition of the people.
For a year, various people’s organizations and groups raised their most urgent concerns in various venues, including street protests and dialogues with the adminstration. The People’s Agenda for Change was submitted to the President on his inauguration day on June 30, 2016, right after the Mendiola rally. The representatives of the different mass organizations followed up on these proposals in a dialogue with the President after his first Sona.
The issues raised then included land reform, an end to labor contractualization, a national minimum wage, pursuing the peace process, release of all political prisoners, a stop to the militarization of communities, national industrialization, an end to US military intervention, expanded social services and support for the progressives in the cabinet.
Fast-forward to today – one year after the historic National People’s Summit and after several meetings with the President – thousands will again take to the streets during Duterte’s second Sona to follow up on these demands and to call attention to Duterte’s unfulfilled promises.
The People’s Sona is the mass movement’s response to the worsening economic and political crisis under the Duterte government. It aims to underscore the need for fundamental change and militant struggle amid the administration’s dangerous drift to the Right.
Key issues during the People’s Sona are basically the same; land reform, labor contractualization, Martial Law, the peace talks, human rights, housing, education, health services, new taxes, and US military intervention. Many of the proposals presented last year to the President have not been satisfactorily addressed. Other demands have even been rejected by the administration.
As the Sona approaches, we are keenly aware of the drive to extend Martial Law in Mindanao and the negative effects this will have on the peace talks with the NDFP. We oppose the extension of Martial Law in Mindanao and will resist any nationwide Martial Law.
The first year of President Duterte has been a rollercoaster of avowed commitments to the interests of the Filipino people, and a refusal to depart from old government policies that have caused the Filipino people’s poverty and oppression.
The oligarchs, whom the President himself declared as enemies of the people, remain entrenched as evidenced by the same neoliberal policies that President Duterte’s economic team have adopted.
The pro-US, Ultra Right and the neoliberal economic managers have the upperhand within the Dutert regime. Duterte has increasingly relied on them in running goverment and securing his hold on power. The progressives in government are a minority and face fierce opposition from the reactionaries.--