Duterte tackles drugs killings but whips laughter in speech

MANILA (PNA) – Presumptive Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III is expecting President Rodrigo Duterte to push the shift of the form of government to federalism in his first state of the nation address (SONA) on Monday. The Supreme Court ordered the immediate release of Arroyo last week after dismissing plunder charges against her. Arroyo was under hospital arrest for more than four years. “But human rights can not be used as a shield or an excuse to destroy the country”, he told the lawmakers in a joint session of Congress on Monday.

A defiant Duterte devoted a large chunk of his inaugural “State of the Nation” address to his law and order campaign, which has claimed hundreds of lives since he took office on June 30.

Duterte also reiterated his vow to rid the bureaucracy of corruption as he encouraged the people to file their complaints against national and local officials linked to graft.

And as part of the government’s environment protection initiatives, President Duterte said Laguna Lake “shall be transformed into a vibrant economy, a zone showcasing ecotourism by addressing the negative impact of watershed disruption, land conversion and pollution”. “We welcome this”, Jumoad said.

“I am happy he stressed the truth that we can not separate God from the state”.

Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) is in one with President Duterte on accelerating economic growth by implementing energy policies that will meet the country’s specific requirements, especially baseload capacities.

“The commander in chief has initiated a very bold move and we fully support him in his effort to bring sustainable and lasting peace”, said military spokesman Brig.

He was referring to the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed component of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) that has been waging a Maoist-style insurgency against the government for more than 45 years, considered the longest in Asia and the Pacific.

Mr Duterte – who veered off script and turned Monday’s planned, 40-minute speech into a rambling, 92-minute monologue – also promised major economic reforms such as repairing crumbling infrastructure and improving the country’s cripplingly slow internet service.

Duterte describes himself as a socialist and was a student of Sison, a political science professor, at a Manila university in the 1960s.

For the first time in the country’s history of Sona, militant groups were allowed to go within 800 meters of the sprawling House of Representatives compound to hear Duterte deliver his report.

Peace talks are expected to start in coming weeks.

Duterte, who earned a hard-nosed reputation in cleaning up crime as mayor of the southern city of Davao, has been making plans to further a peace process with Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines.

“Let me say this, all of us want peace”, Duterte said. Swept to power on a surge of public anger at the establishment for its failure to tackle poverty and crime, Mr Duterte soon made worldwide headlines with his incendiary statements, such as promising medals to any member of the public who shoots a drug dealer. “We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier, or the last pusher is put behind bars or below the ground if they so wish”, he said.