By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Local labor rights group General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA) yesterday regarded President Rodrigo Duterte’s final State of the Nation Address (SONA) as “doubletalk rhetoric.”

In a statement made by GAWA secretary-general Wennie Sancho, he said Duterte’s SONA is a well-crafted exaggeration of achievements from the perspective of the Duterte administration.

He said it is a panoramic presentation of economic prosperity in order to eclipse the economic sufferings of the poor toiling masses under the heavy weight of the pandemic and ailing economy.

Sancho criticized Duterte’s SONA pointing out there were no concrete measures presented to address the present massive unemployment and the rising number of Filipino families experiencing moderate and extreme hunger.

“We were left with empty assurances that our economy is on the road to recovery,” Sancho said.

He also hit Duterte’s foreign policy wherein he is not asserting the country’s sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.

“He proudly talks about the return of the Balangiga bells that symbolizes freedom, but he never demanded China to return to us our territories which they illegally occupied,” Sancho pointed out.

He further questioned the administration if we should surrender our sovereign rights out of fear and should we maintain our “kowtow” policy towards China.

Overall, Sancho said Duterte’s last SONA failed to focus on major economic concerns compounded by COVID-19.

“The president could have done more to alleviate the economic sufferings of the people, but the SONA is an orchestrated scenario to make it appear that all is well,” he added./DGB, WDJ