BLIND SPOT: What’s the state of the State?

If I were in UP, there wouldn’t be classes. It would be a holiday. His excellency opened up with the usual barrage of braggadocio on his infamous Duterte Drug War. Come on. This is like watching a student insisting his answer on a Math problem is correct when the teacher has shown him that it’s been wrong from the start. Unless he would accuse media networks of a destabilization and discredit conspiracy, drugs are still all over the nation. The same sort of heinous crimes are still attributed to drug high hounds. Yes, they were scared puppies at the start of the administration; but looking at it now, they don’t seem to care anymore. It has been a campaign that has been insensitive to casualties and comments, which could have been taken constructively. Maybe, other strategists would consider the battlefield, retreat and regroup with a different approach, but the President knows only one strategy: Charge! Sir, with all due respect; I think it’s not working anymore. On corruption, he takes pride on firing friends. Oh yes, that’s supposed to be an accomplishment. When they’re presidential appointees. So, if a Filipino just stops and backtracks just a bit, these “corrupt” government officials wouldn’t be able to exercise corruption and play with government funds like trading cards, when they were not appointed on their positions in the first place. Should firing corrupt presidential appointees be reported as accomplishment? This is simply a rightful and justified cleaning of someone’s mess. We would have understood it if he had kept it on the down low or he had not mentioned it at all. After all, who put the officials who were corrupt, and in so doing indirectly allowed them and gave them permission to make a mess of government funds with their corruption? On the most unexpected dramatic unfolding of the political milieu, “former president and current Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday, July 23, has replaced Pantaleon Alvarez as House speaker minutes before President Rodrigo Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA). The replacement made history as Macapagal-Arroyo becomes the first female House speaker, after reportedly securing more than 200 votes from the members of the lower chamber. Macapagal-Arroyo’s oath-taking took place as Alvarez welcomed Duterte as per SONA protocol, the House speaker and the Senate president must be the ones to welcome the president.” (https://filipinotimes.net) Just when we thought that vexatious personality of Congressman Pantaleon Alvarez would be a permanent character on the episodes of the drama that is the Duterte presidency, he is evicted from the House in the most unconventional of occasions, and supplanted by an unanticipated yet familiar character. Well, what do we say? We are simply left with incredulous awe. How could all those more than 200 representatives have been so sneaky all this time? The timing is just simply amazing (I try to think of another term, but I’m at a loss.) It’s quite obvious the entire House wanted to make a walking flesh of shame out of the man, since they couldn’t have done it on the single date in a year when the President, both Houses, the Cabinet, and every Filipino concerned come together. This has to be included on a list of high profile conspiracies. Now isn’t Mr. Alvarez for so long a time, seemed to parade himself as a clone of the President? what happened? Well, there had been talks of his encounters against the Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte to be the driving force behind this grand heist. Well, I guess those are rumors. But if not that, what else could it be? Well, what can we say? If ever this is true, it is quite apparent that in this administration, interest of the family reigns high above partisan politics and ideology. When pushed against the wall, if you crossed the President’s kin, you’re done. This just exposed the character of the head of the state currently in position, and sadly, along with him, the Congress. The National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week culminated on July 23 and Naga City continues the celebration of Disability Month for the rest of July. This year, the theme for the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week is “Kakayahan at Kasanayan Para sa Kabuhayan Tungo sa Kaunlaran.”. Bringing the context back to the national perspective, should it not be the primary concern – employment towards economic progress? But the issue related to this concern included on the President’s address was on the TRANE law. Issues against which, he quickly dismissed. Rather, he called for more tax reform packages. And that’s our state. “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint” Proverbs 29:18