The President in his SONA said that a “Bagong Pilipinas” has arrived (dumating na). However, as with his father’s Bagong Lipunan, sorely lacking or absent in his vision for a Bagong Pilipinas is the issue of human rights. For the second year in a row, he failed to address this pressing concern especially with the state of impunity prevailing in the country. No mention of human rights violations, the drug war killings, the ICC, or the murders and abductions of activists. So in this Bagong Pilipinas, human rights violations will likely persist.
In his Bagong Pilipinas, there is no mention of national industrialization and sustainable job creation. There is no mention of a substantial wage increase for workers and employees. It seems even jeepney drivers may not be around to witness this Bagong Pilipinas as the issue of jeepney modernization and corporatization was not addressed, even when there is an ongoing strike. There were promises of local agriculture development , but these are undermined by the policy of importation of agricultural products.
In his vision of a Bagong Pilipinas, Marcos avoided the problem of US military bases in the Philippines and China’s incursions in our exclusive economic zone and how we are caught between this inter-imperialist rivalry.
Bagong Pilipinas, like the Bagong Lipunan of the Marcos dictatorship, harps on grand promises but falls short of actual benefits for the people. It is dominated by the same ruling elite engaged in the same anti-people policies. In that respect, it is not so new after all.
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