Nothing.
In his SONA today, Marcos Jr. has literally said nothing to address significant civil and political rights issues besetting the Filipino people today. Nothing on the International Criminal Court and the significance of the complaint on crimes against humanity in the Philippines. Nothing on the extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arrests and detention, in the regime’s counterinsurgency program. Nothing on the gnawing climate of impunity and the dire absence of justice and accountability on human rights violations. Nothing.
There is nothing new on two things that Marcos Jr. said on his anti-drug campaign and on peace and development.
The supposed new face of his anti-narcotics campaign is merely a rehash of tired old PR lines that mean literally nothing in the context of the continuing EJKs in his drug war, and his disinterest and even contempt for justice for the victims during the past administration.
There is also nothing new on his programs regarding peace and development – the programs run by the NTF-ELCAC have visibly resulted in various human rights violations including harassment, fake surrenders, threats to freedom of association and to free expression, and to political dissent.
His proposal of legislated amnesty is tantamount to a call for surrender without the resolution of the root causes of the armed conflict–another shallow and tangential approach that will guarantee not the end but the continuance of armed conflict.
One thing is clear – these types of programs, including his amnesty program for supposed rebel returnees, have failed to effectively address the root causes of the armed conflict, and in fact have engendered unpeace.
What Marcos Jr.’s SONA reaffirmed is that his government will do nothing to act on and improve the civil and political rights situation in the country, while tangential, when it came to addressing the people’s pressing economic issues.
This means that we can expect the current trend of escalating human rights violations to continue. Marcos Jr.’s SONA has left us not just deeply disappointed, but disgusted, exasperated and enraged.