By Hannah Torregoza
Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday said President Rodrigo Duterte should present actual plans on how he would secure the country’s sovereignty over its territory.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)
Hontiveros said three years of dancing around the truth is already far too long and hopes the President would make his position on the country’s foreign policy clear in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA).
“ Three years of foul language, insulting women and inciting and glorifying violence is three years too many. Empty rhetoric, fancy camera work and a symphony orchestra will not do,” Hontiveros said.
“ It's time for President Rodrigo Duterte to give the people the State of the Nation Address (SONA) that we truly deserve,” she stressed.
Hontiveros further said the President ought to use the SONA to uphold the Philippines’ rights and sovereignty.
“The President must show us that he has an actual plan to secure our country's sovereignty and territorial integrity instead of sheepishly kowtowing to China's dictates. He must not turn his SONA into China's educational channel,” she said.
“He must explain to us his foreign policy and how he plans to address the international community's growing condemnation of our country's human rights situation,” added the senator.
Apart from foreign policy, she said Duterte should also outline his economic plans for the country in his last three years in office.
“President Duterte must also present to us his blueprint for our economy and political institutions in his last three years in office,” she said.
“ He must give us real vision, not authoritarian aspirations concealed in charter change and/or a sham federalism in an effort to lift term limits and further consolidate political power,” she stressed.
Hontiveros noted that the public is now fed up with his lectures during SONA and people are now demanding accountability from the President.
“The SONA is not the President's personal lecture to the Filipino people. It is President Duterte's report to the people. The people don't need a lecture, we demand truth and accountability,” she emphasized.