PROMISES ON PROBLEMS
His address was widely anticipated and the buildup dominated by promises by his aides of a rousing speech that would stir patriotism.
But, as has become typical of the Duterte’s unconventional style, after 30 minutes reading from a teleprompter, he started to ignore it and veered far off script, attracting both applause and laughter.
A speech expected to last approximately 40 minutes went on for one hour and 32 minutes.
The budget for his address, normally a top event on the social calendar of the country’s political and showbiz elite, was scaled back dramatically and Duterte told guests to dress down, reflecting his disdain for opulence and lavish spending.
He pledged to fix a host of economic problems that have been a blight for Filipinos and foreign investors alike, vowing a major overhaul of notoriously creaky infrastructure, with new roads, bridges and trains, and a speeding up of business applications.
He promised to introduce new technology to improve the country’s snail-paced internet and free public wi-fi, universal healthcare and the pursuit of an end to separatist conflicts, including a unilateral ceasefire with Maoist rebels.
He said the current policies that have spurred one of Asia’s fastest rates of economic growth would be continued and strengthened and he ordered the military to help tackle illegal logging and mining.
But he was noticeably brief in his remarks about a festering dispute with China over the South China Sea.
He welcomed a landmark July 12 arbitration ruling that invalidated China’s vast claims and said international law should be observed and solutions found for “peaceful resolution and management” of conflicts.
(Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales, Enrico Dela Cruz and Julian Elona; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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