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On July 23, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his State of the Nation Address, his second in his six-year term.
So let's get down to it, shall we?
First of all, of course, the president talked about the war on drugs.
In this light, he proceeded to talk about his stance on human rights.
But some people weren't buying it.
"I value human rights" JOKE OF THE DAY OMG
We are all PhilStar. #SONA2017
Minutes later, the president asked the congress to get a move on about the death penalty.
And naturally, people were confused.
the duality of man
Duterte min. ago: I VALUE HUMAN LIFE Duterte NOW: The only way to deter crime is to instill fear.If you do it,you w… https://t.co/fezfF3wAfy
As a further justification of capital punishment to the international community, Duterte cited our Revised Penal Code which, according to him, was given to us by the Spaniards.
Eager fact-checkers begged to disagree though.
FACT CHECK: Penal code given to us by Spaniards VALIDATION: Enacted Dec. 8, 1930 SOURCE: https://t.co/VfZOvsawyc… https://t.co/pH7TxVoIzp
The president also talked about the ongoing Martial Law in Mindanao, which he declared in May and was recently extended until December this year, as his way of countering attacks led by the Maute group in the city of Marawi.
With regards to environmental matters, Duterte focused on the country's mining industry.
Duterte goes strong against mining companies! Threatens to tax them to death if they dont restore environment virginity
"All mining operations must refrain from the destruction of our natural resources," he said.
He also touched on the subject of climate change and urged the DENR to look into it, especially for the sake of Mindanao where, according to him, erratic weather can deeply affect food supply.
Foreign policy and international relations, particularly with China, were also discussed.
In line with this, he recalled the 1901 massacre in Balangiga, Samar where, in the height of the Philippine-American war, the US Army took three church bells as war booty and have not been returned to this day.
It was a nice effort and all, but people thought the president's "selective memory" on history and his demand of taking what is ours is quite... odd.
hinihingi ang Balangiga bells pero ang ill-gotten wealth keribels, lampake?
Here's a reminder of the ill-gotten wealth the Marcoses have yet to return:
Our Balangiga bells is as important as our West Philippine Sea. We need you to demand the return and ownership of both. #SONA2017
Duterte also saluted overseas Filipino workers and tagged them as "heroes" as their remittances are a great help to our economy.
Regarding the bad flow of traffic in the metro, Duterte said he has China's assistance on building road infrastructures to ease the problem.
Lastly, Duterte urged the senate to pass the Tax Reform Bill which aims to lessen the burden of taxpayers.
The speech lasted for about two hours, which was quite long as far as SONAs are concerned, but some members of the audiences still found it lacking.
Senator Bam Aquino, for example, wondered why President Duterte didn't touch upon the topic of free education.
One hour into the #SONA2017, nasaan na kaya ang libreng edukasyon sa ating mga SUC? #PassFreeEducation [TeamBam]
Protection of indigenous tribes and healthcare were also points of interests that, members of the public found, were barely discussed.
Silent issues as of 6:05pm: Education, Contractualization/Employment,Indigenous Tribe, Health Care,Buildbuildbuild #SONA #PANGAKONGPAGBABAGO
Others wanted an update on the issue of contractualization, which Duterte mentioned in his first SONA.
I forced myself to watch the SONA to know what's the current state of contractualization and free education. All I got was immature rants.
Others were just looking for updates on the president's promises.
Some unmet promises of last year's SONA End contractualization End drug trade End CPP rebellion End Islamist separatism Raise nominal wages
There was also no mention of the Uber-Grab-LTFRB issue which caused public clamor over the past few weeks.
Worst part of the SONA? No mention of the UBER/Grab debacle
There are some missing in DU30's SONA, the growth stats, infrastructure, education and health plans. Was looking froward for that #SONA2017
A lot of people were disappointed by how the entire speech went.
: Para kayong nag-imbita sa Sandignabayan ng lasing na tito sa reception ng binyag.
But there were also those who applauded the country's leader for his courage to speak up on certain issues.
Gutsy move of Digong to talk to rallying leftists after #SONA2017. Galing, tapang.
And others were just plain amused by everything that went down.
This is the funniest yet informative #SONA2017 in the PHhistory. No fake smiles, no fake words, totoong-totoo. Not scripted. Just curses.😂
I don't have the regrets on voting President Duterte, still a wise President for me. ❤🙌 #SONA2017