State of what is happening locally

“A superior man is modest in his speech but exceeds in his actions.”

—Confucius

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WHAT most Ilonggos wanted to hear after the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28 would be the SOPA (State of the Province Address), SOCA (State of the City Address), SOMA (State of the Municipality Address), and even State of the Barangay Address (SOBA).

In the first place, are there also such aforementioned alphabet speeches by local executives other than President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s  SONA? The answer is a big yes.

These speeches by the local chief executives actually have direct impact on the lives of Iloilo folks and are not difficult to decipher.

There were instances when local chief executives have found it more comfortable and practical to communicate with their constituents in this manner rather than dish out paid propaganda rigmaroles.

These localized executive speeches are also attractive and doable in many aspects since they are precipitated with frankness and variation; it’s easy to hold the local chief executives—governors, mayors, punong barangay (village chiefs)—accountable without going after the empty promises they made during the campaign period.

 

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What they deliver, plan, and promise in the SOPA, SOCA, SOMA, SOBA can be considered as the total assessment of their performances and competence while in office.

Promises they made during the election campaign can be rescripted, copyedited and forgotten, but not during this special edition of a frontal conversation with their constituents, which can be italicized and crosshatched.

Unlike the President’s SONA that is required by the 1987 Constitution, SOPA, SOCA, SOMA, SOBA speeches are not mandated by law but are delivered usually as a matter of practice or tradition.

On a national scale, SONA, normally given every fourth Monday of July at the Plenary Session Hall of the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Batasan Hills, Quezon City, has always been much anticipated, scrutinized and even vilified. It depends on who gives the grade.

Vituperation for the President’s critics and praises to high heavens for the President’s loyal supporters and admirers.

The opposition normally has its own version of the speech delivered after the SONA.

 

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The social and mainstream media, including the news websites, have been burning hot with President Marcos Jr.’s SONA before and after.

Supporters and critics have lined up the things the president should have done in the past years—and the things he has to (and should) do in the coming years.

Local chief executives give their own addresses modeled after the SONA.

The Philippine Independent Church, a Christian denomination formed in the wake of the Philippine Revolution in the spirit of a national church, has also made a practice of releasing an annual "State of the Church" Address coming from the Supreme Bishop or Obispo Maximo.

When guests, spouses, and the female legislators themselves dressed like queens and Hollywoods stars, the “state” addresses were also subjected to intense criticism by various sectors.

If the “state” addresses tilted into being ostentatious and flashy with politicians and media personalities treating the occasion as a red-carpet fashion show, negative opinions flooded both the mainstream and social media.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)

Rodrigo Duterte wrong to use SONA to hit Franklin Drilon

“Mind your speech a little lest you should mar your fortunes.”

—William Shakespeare

By Alex P. Vidal

PUBLIC officials, journalists, lawyers, students, social media account owners, plain kibitzers were right to claim that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte was wrong to use the recent State of the Nation Address (SONA) to lambast Senator Franklin Drilon.

It’s not the right venue, crooned Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao, an independent-minded leader.

Iloilo third district Rep. Lorenz Defensor, another brilliant mind in the House of Representatives, had expected the president to focus on the government’s plans and responses to pressing issues such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, not to zero in on an opposition leader in the co-equal branch of government.

Criticism by any government official of a fellow public servant or whoever in the government service is normal, moral, and necessary but should be done in the proper place and time. 

When a public official attacks a fellow public official, it’s politics.

And politics should have no room in the SONA.

Politics is mudslinging. 

SONA is nation-building.

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Since democracy was restored in the Philippines during the 1986 EDSA Revolution, no president has humiliated an opposition figure in the SONA.

A SONA is too precious to be wasted in haranguing a fellow public servant. 

A SONA must contain the “state of the nation”— where we are now, what we have achieved, so far; and where (or what steps are we going to take) we are heading too as a sovereign nation. 

People are interested about the substance, not the personality.

When they are hungry and hankering for a food to eat, they aren’t interested anymore who cooked the meal or what he did before entering the kitchen.

We expect the decent personalities among those who idolize Mr. Duterte to have the moral courage to tell the president he was wrong.

It’s not bad to be an avid supporter of a mercurial leader, but it’s morally wrong to keep quite and give that leader an Emperor’s robe-treatment if it is obvious he erred.   

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‘THERE ARE SIX TYPES OF COVID-19.’ CBS News has reported that a new study of COVID-19, based on data from a symptom tracker app, determined that there are six distinct "types" of the disease involving different clusters of symptoms. 

The discovery could potentially open new possibilities for how doctors can better treat individual patients and predict what level of hospital care they would need.

Researchers from King's College London studied data from approximately 1,600 U.K. and U.S. patients who regularly logged their symptoms in the COVID Symptom Tracker App in March and April.

Typically, doctors will look for key symptoms such as cough, fever and loss of the sense of smell to detect COVID-19, according to CBS News.

The study, which has not been peer-reviewed, says the six different "types" of COVID-19 can vary by severity and come with their own set of symptoms.

The six clusters of symptoms outlined in the study are:

1.   Flu-like with no fever: Headache, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, no fever.

2.   Flu-like with fever: Headache, loss of smell, cough, sore throat, hoarseness, fever, loss of appetite.

3.   Gastrointestinal: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, diarrhea, sore throat, chest pain, no cough.

4.   Severe level one, fatigue: Headache, loss of smell, cough, fever, hoarseness, chest pain, fatigue.

5.   Severe level two, confusion: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain.

6.   Severe level three, abdominal and respiratory: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain, shortness of breath, diarrhea, abdominal pain.

The U.K. researchers also found that only 16% of patients with type one COVID-19 required hospitalization, compared with nearly half of the patients with type six, CBS News added.

Patients in the severe clusters also tended to be older or with pre-exisiting conditions and weakened immune systems, compared to those in the first three.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)