By Jose Maria Sison
NDFP Chief Political Consultant
July 23, 2019
I congratulate the tens of thousands of people and their organizations for braving the rains to participate in the United People’s SONA against Duterte’s SONA and express the needs and demands of the entire Filipino nation against the treasonous, tyrannical, brutal , corrupt and deceptive rule of Duterte and his rapacious clique.
Duterte’s SONA is a series of boasts and lies. At the very start, he boasts of his sham popularity conjured by paid poll surveys and the rigged mid-term election results and he threatens to continue his killing rampage by comparing himself to an ever fighting eagle determined to pounce on his powerless opponents to the end.
He continues with his pretense at fighting illegal drugs, crime and corruption. He cannot be farther from the truth because he has become the supreme protector of drug lords and drug smugglers, he has turned the police and military into his private army and main instruments of criminality and he has become the chieftain of an alliance of the most despicable plunderers.
He continues to promise falsely that he would raise the salaries of government employees. He makes it a point to give the public school teachers “a bit bigger” but far less than the doubling of salaries to ordinary soldiers and police personnel to bribe them to become his criminal instruments.
But he is at a loss as to how to raise the resources for raising salaries of all government employees, except by increasing the tax burden and raising the prices of basic commodities. By giving priority to doubling the salaries of armed personnel, he manifests a low regard for the public servants who render vital services, such as teachers, nurses, clerks and others.
He does not have any plan for developing the economy through national industrialization and genuine land reform. He avoids discussing the problems of decreasing production in manufacturing and agriculture, rising unemployment, low incomes and the practice of temporary or short-term low-wage work contracts.
He does not also have any plan to democratize the political system ruled by big comprador-landlord oligarchs and dynasties and dictated upon by imperialist powers. He is hellbent on aggravating his tyrannical rule and grabbing absolute powers through charter change and bogus federalism in order to establish a full-blown fascist dictatorship.
He refers to the National Task Force ELCAC in order to stress his US-aided scheme to destroy the revolutionary movement and his lack of interest in the peace process within the framework of The Hague Joint Declaration. He is using the all-out war against the revolutionary forces and people to accomplish his drive for fascist dictatorship
Duterte discredits himself most by speaking as the apologist for China, trying to scare the Filipino people with the threat of war from China, claiming falsely that China is already in possession of the entire West Philippine Sea (not only the seven artificial islands) and insisting that the Filipino people are helpless. Once more, he exposes himself shamelessly as a traitor and paid agent of China by conceding the Philippine sovereign rights to China.
Duterte makes clear in his SONA that he has no intention of leaving a legacy other than the ignominious end of his treasonous, tyrannical, brutal, corrupt and mendacious rule. He practically goads the people to engage in all forms of struggle and keep on rising up in greater numbers.
In this regard, the United People’s SONA is a signal for bigger mass protest actions.
The broad united front against the Duterte tyranny hopes that gigantic mass actions will arise to sway patriotic elements in the reactionary military and police to withdraw support from him. At the same time, the oppressed and exploited masses or workers are most desirous of greater advances and victories of the armed revolutionary movement in order to change the entire ruling system. ###