(Eagle News) – With a speech that lasted for more than an hour and 30 minutes, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivered his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) where he promised to bring an “enduring peace” to the country before his term ends and to help the poor and underprivileged in society.
Duterte on Monday, July 25, also outlined what he would do in the next six years, including fighting crime, reducing poverty, establishing peace, defining the country’s foreign policy, eradicating traffic and promoting better transportation, ensuring the protection of the environment, enhancing the present public broadcasting system, streamlining the bureaucracy, and pushing economic reforms, among others.
Duterte digressed from his script several times, as he became engrossed in several issues during his speech.
For the first time also, thousands of militants marched the streets leading to the Batasan Complex to express support for a president during his state of the nation address.
True to his vow to pursue peace, Duterte declared a unilateral ceasefire with the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), in his SONA.
All of us want the “peace of the living”
He also pushed for peace with “our Moslem brothers.”
“To our Moslem brothers of the Moro country, and the members of the CPP-NPA-NDF, let me say this: “All of us want peace, not the peace of the dead, but the peace of the living,” Duterte said in his SONA.
“We express our willingness and readiness to go to the negotiating table, and yet we load our guns, fix our sights, pull the trigger. It is both ironic and tragic. And it is endless,” he said.
The President said that he feels the pain and grief of the widows and the orphaned children left behind by the fallen soldiers and rebels.
“No amount of cash assistance or the number of medals can compensate the loss of a human life,” he stressed. “Sorrow cuts across every stratum of society. It cuts deeply and the pain lasts forever.”
The President said this was why he is appealing to the Moro rebels and to the communist rebels to help set the stage for peace.
“That is why, I reach out to you, to all of you today. To our Muslim brothers, let us end the centuries of mistrust and warfare. To the CPP/NPA/NDF, let us end these decades of ambuscades and skirmishes. We are going nowhere. And it is getting bloodier by the day,” President Duterte said.
President declares unilateral ceasefire with CPP-NDF
“To immediately stop violence on the ground, restore peace in the communities and provide enabling environment conducive to the resumption of the peace talks, I am now announcing a unilateral ceasefire with the CPP/NPA/NDF effective immediately,” he said followed by an applause from the audience.
The President then called on the members of the NDF and their forces “to respond accordingly.”
“Let me make this appeal to you: ‘If we cannot, as yet, love one another, then in God’s name, let us not hate each other too much,’ so it was said. I say the same to you today.”
“We will strive to have a permanent and lasting peace before my term ends. That is my goal, that is my dream,” he added.
After the SONA, the President met with the militant leaders who – for the first time in history—staged a massive rally outside the Batasang Pambansa, not to criticize a President delivering a SONA, but to support him.
The militants were also allowed to stage their rally along the Batasan Road, instead of the previous incidents where they were limited to just stage their rallies along Commonwealth Avenue under tense conditions.
On Duterte’s SONA, the militants and policemen were friendly and magnanimous, as the Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa directed the PNP to allow the militants to stage their activities near the Batasan Complex and to show a friendly attitude with the activists.
President meets with militants after SONA
Renato Reyes Jr., Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) secretary general also shared photos of the meet up with the President — who offered them merienda — in his Facebook account.
In one photo caption he said, “Nakatambay kami sa may truck habang nagliligpit ng gamit. Biglang sinama kami ng pulis. Di namin alam san pupunta. Kaya sinama ko si Beng. Hayun, dito pala kami dadalhin.”
The President listened to their views and suggestions in a lounge room inside the Batasang Pambansa complex.
This was the first time that a President had met with militant leaders to seek their views after delivering a SONA.
NDFP welcomes ceasefire offer
The NDF also issued a statement welcoming the President’s offer of peace and his declaration of a unilateral ceasefire.
Luis Jalandoni, chair of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said that he had written Justice Secretary Silvestre Bello III welcoming the President’s offer in his SONA.
Bello is the chair of the government negotiating panel with the NDF.
Jalandoni “affirmed that the NDFP shares with President Duterte the determination to work for a just and lasting peace.”
The NDFP chair also said that they were looking forward to the start of the formal resumption of peace talks with government in Oslo, Norway in August.