August 7, 2019
Dear Editor:
Last July, we listened to this year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA). We, the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of the Manila Priory and the Academic Community of St. Scholastica’s College declare our great concern about the things happening in our society that are not mentioned in the SONA.
We are concerned at the continuous killings in relation to the Drug war which recently took the life of an innocent child.
We are concerned about the harassments, arrests, detention and killing of people suspected (not convicted) of being communist supporters.
We are concerned about the sedition cases filed against the most credible of the critics of this administration including the Vice President, Bishops, Priests and a Christian Brother on the testimony of the most non-credible person who goes from one side to the other without principle or shame.
We are concerned about the plight of our fisherfolk who had been attacked and who are in danger of losing their livelihood because of the President’s incredible subservience to China. We are especially scandalized at his referring to our Philippine Constitution as “toilet paper”.
We are dismayed at the continuous persecution of the LUMADS whose 55 schools have been suspended without investigation and due process.
We are dismayed at the consolidation of power, which erases the autonomy of the three branches of the government, taking away the guarantee of checks and balances. This has been recently manifested when the Speaker of the House was virtually appointed by the President even if there was a questionable election process that happened. This smacks of an undeclared dictatorship.
We do not understand how the President can sign the anti-sexual harassment law, the provisions of which he has repeatedly violated in the past and actually repeatedly violated again in his SONA speech.
We foresee with trepidation the passing of questionable laws such as the death penalty, the lowering of the age of criminality of children, the expansion of the Anti-Terrorism Act which will make all dissent terrorist acts.
AND MANY MORE . . .
We are in favor of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights conducting investigations of the many violations of human rights presented to them.
We join the efforts and struggles of Filipinos who love their country and continue to voice out their protest against all these threats to our democratic society in spite of danger to their lives and freedom.
