CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan – Residents of this historic capital, the birth place of Philippine democracy and freedom, were awed by the straightforward and “straight from the heart” second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Engineer Alejandro Joson Jr., a former village chief of Bgy. Tikay here, said the Duterte has brought forth his message clearly and with a touch of patriotism because it comes “straight from the heart.”
“Sa tuwing magsasalita sa harap ng tao ang ating pangulo, palagi kong napapansin na mataimtim na nakikinig sa kanya ang mga tao dahil totoo at puno ng damdamin ang kanyang mga pahayag. Lalong tumitibay ang pananalig ng mga tao na suportahan siya dahil totoo ang kanyang mga ipinapahayag at talagang naming may sinseridad,” Joson said.
Ernesto A. Alcanzare, the lead organizer of the Yes for Peace –Bayanihan ng Bayan issued a statement saying that “we welcome President Duterte’s decision to call off talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF) and his declaration that ” for a [unified] nation, we are pursuing an inclusive peace process, promoting the participation of all stakeholders, including those conflict-affected areas”
“We hope that in the next few days, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process will extend its helping hand to help ensure the participation of all government agencies that we have identified as key institutions for the holistic and convergent delivery of services.”
Journalist Orlan L. Mauricio, editor-in-chief of MetroNews-Bulacan, said the President’s sincerity to rid the bureaucracy of scumbags should start from dubious agencies in government that are causing hardship to marginalized sectors of society.
Mauricio said that he had been receiving some reaction from farmers and different organizations condemning the rampant smuggling of agricultural products that has been hurting the local industry for a long time.
He said that back in 2007-2008 onion local farmers have already been deploring the alleged “unholy alliance” between smugglers and some personels of the Bureau of Plant Industry, the agency that is issuing importation permits.
He said the agricultural sector has been clamoring for the replacement of BPI officials, partuclarly those in the importation permit section, by young and uncorrupt personnels.
He said that people believes that the president is dead serious in cleansing government units that has been notoriously known as “corruption prone”. —EMIL G. GAMOS