Tougher than the anti-drugs war

If President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s 14-minute inaugural address was the shortest on record by any Filipino president, his first State of the Nation Address on Monday was one of the longest. What was reportedly intended to last 38 minutes went on for 92 minutes after so many ad libs. No one wept as Communication Secretary Martin Andanar said he did when he first read the draft speech—instead, mirthful laughter rippled across the hall as PDU30 departed from his text and cracked jokes. Neither did the audience levitate to patriotic heights, as the highly exuberant communications chief had suggested. But PDU30 was interrupted by incessant applause as he cemented his bond with his audience.

PDU30’s first SONA was unlike any previous SONA in terms of spirit. The occasion was clearly festive. On Commonwealth Avenue, where angry and fire-breathing demonstrators used to clash with the police, the spirit was celebratory of the new government. The barbed wires, container vans, military tanks and menacing fire trucks that used to block anti-government marchers toward the Batasan were all gone, and the habitual demonstrators now milled around the Batasan waving little flags or wearing T-shirts supportive of the President.