Release date: 27 July 2020
To our compatriots/kababayans:
In brief, here is the “State of our Nation” from Kapatiran Party’s perspective:
After more than four years into the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, we are very disappointed that our country has hardly progressed in our democratic and economic development, in what is turning out to be a de facto Martial Law.
We saw positive signs of good governance emerging in the first three years, but became sadly lacking in this past year. In the first half of this regime, there were the quick response access to calling 8888, cleansing of Boracay and Manila Bay, clearing of streets esp. in Baclaran and Divisoria, increasing benefits of senior citizens, and attempts to unity by off-and-on inclusion of the vice-president in the cabinet. But many other campaign promises remain unfulfilled, esp. the pro-poor priority to end ENDO contractualization, as well as a realistic Balik-Probinsya program.
Pandemic response. In the past five months, the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a dismal failure, especially if we compare it with most of our Asian neighbors — we continue to suffer from increasing infections and death rates. We protest the unequal treatment of violators of health protocols, like priority testing for VIPs and exemption from sanctions for irresponsible VIPs, like Senator Koko Pimentel and NCRPO Chief General Debold Sinas.
We appreciate the bayanihan spirit that has prevailed among our citizenry, esp. from the private sector, to volunteer their time, money and services, in partnership with our local government officials to address the survival needs of our poor sectors. We laud the sacrificial services of our frontliners, especially those in the health care sector. Many of them have given their lives due to the government’s failure to provide timely and effective protective equipments for them. We hope that as we open schools and turn teachers into frontliners, health protocols will be fully adhered to, so as not to jeopardize the well-being of our students and our education sector.
Apparent corruption. We question the lack of planning and transparency in the procurement of protective gears and mass testing kits, as well as the hiring of additional medical and contact tracing personnel. Why has the DOH not use the UP-developed testing kits? Why have the DOH, DOST and FDA hardly moved to verify and endorse our local organic cures, like VCO, lagundi, moringa and Prodex-B? What happened to the requirement of the president to give weekly financial updates on the implementation of the Bayanihan Act to the legislature? No reports to the public?
It would have been very helpful during this pandemic if the government could have rolled out the National ID system that was legislated in 2018 with a budget of Php2 Billion per year: where is it? What about the reported national debt of Php8.6 trillion as of June 2020: where did the money go? How is this going to be repaid? All these smell of not just incompetence but also of corruption. Even in the access to line 8888, why has there never been a report on how many calls have been received, and what actions were taken to remedy the charges of corruption? We hope the government will act immediately to clear all these suspicions, and present a clear plan for economic recovery soonest, with realistic job opportunities as we enter the “new normal.”
It is very sad that during this pandemic, our legislature showed apparent subservience to the whims of the executive, particularly in the hasty passing of the Anti-Terrorism bill and the denial of ABS-CBN’s franchise bid:
Anti-Terrorism Law. We find some provisions to be unconstitutional as written, hence we are grateful for the 18 petitions that have been filed before the Supreme Court by our respected legal luminaries, esp. retired SC senior associate justice Antonio Carpio and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales. We hope that the SC will rule to void the entire ATL.
ABS-CBN franchise. We join the majority of our people who favor the granting of franchise to ABS-CBN by Congress (per SWS survey). Thus we hope that the denial of this franchise bid in the House Franchise Committee will be submitted to the 301 members of the House to decide on the future of the said network.
Press freedom. This apparent persecution of ABS-CBN reflects a pattern of repression of critical media as well as misuse of the social media that employ trolls to proliferate fake news against critics allegedly using government funds. Our country ranks as third most dangerous nation for journalists in the world. The right to opposition and dissent is the main means for checks and balance in all democracies.
Charter change. We learn of plans by the administration to push Charter change very soon. Though we are open to Chacha towards federal and parliamentary forms of governance, we strongly oppose the proposals to take out term limits and anti-dynasty provisions. We hope a new Constitution will clearly call for a decentralized form of government based on the principle of subsidiarity.President Ramon Magsaysay said, “I believe that government starts at the bottom and moves upward, for government exists for the welfare of the masses of the nation.”
Foreign policy. We favor the administration’s claim to “a friend of all, enemy of none” independent foreign policy, so we do not wish to be a province of China, USA or any country. However there are many instances of pro-China stances, like hesitance to file protests to their misuse of our islands and aquatic resources in the West Philippine Sea, reluctance to pursue investigation on the ramming of the fishing boats of our fishermen, special treatment for online gambling operations (POGOs), and deference to abusive and criminal behavior of legal(?) Chinese migrant workers here. Thus, we salute ex-Ombudsman Carpio-Morales’ attempt to file a “crime against humanity” complaint against China’s President Xi Jingping before the International Criminal Court. We also urge the regime to clarify their off-and-on stance on the Visiting Force Agreement, which we favor at this time, in light of China’s aggressive moves globally.
Creation care. We see the mismanagement of our environment through the carbon-emitting use of coal & gas instead of alternative renewable sources of energy (like solar, wind and water/waves), and the exploitative deforestation in building the Kaliwa dam and other lands of our indigenous people.
Anti-poor actions. Besides the above abuses of the poor mentioned above, we also question the sincerity of this government to care for our poor compatriots. Why use local “gossipers” to turn themselves against their own neighbors in the house-to-house search for COVID positives? Why is there the plan to hunt down and tax the entrepreneurial poor who are trying to make a living online amidst this pandemic?
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