Duterte as the abusive Father of the Nation
Statement of Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on President Duterte's 3rd SONA

On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte will deliver his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) to the country. Malacanang said that the President will address the public as the "father of the nation," "a loving father who cares about the Filipino people."

However, a quick assessment of President Duterte's almost three-year governance will reveal that the President is anything but a loving father of the country. On the contrary, President Duterte is an abusive father. Like the abusive father who lives in a decrepit house where he repeatedly maltreats, torments, and injures his wife and children, President Duterte is drunk with power, presiding over a broken country drowned by the blood of the poor.

What kind of father directed the killing of thousands of his children and likened it to the Holocaust with pride? What kind of father responds to social ills with the iron hand of punishment, who, instead of providing job opportunities and easier access to education to the nation's "tambays," would rather round them up by the thousands, imprison them in congested jails and even allow their deaths? What kind of father is this president who is strong only against the weak, but is powerless to stop the left and right assassinations of local government officials and even keep our priests safe?

What kind of a "father of the nation" is President Duterte, when he failed to defend the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of China's unmasked bullying and militarization in the West Philippine Sea? Given his subservience, is it more apt to call him the "foster son of China?"

What kind of father verbally abuses women, objectifies us and even threatens us with violence? What kind of father jokes about rape and tell soldiers to shoot women in the vaginas? No father in his right mind would subject his wife and daughters to such unparalleled sexism and misogyny.

And what kind of a father of a country breaks his promise to the people to make their lives better? President Duterte betrayed the Filipino workers by failing to ban labor contractualization. He betrayed the Filipino farmers by reneging on his promise to distribute to them the Coco Levy Fund. The wage-earners can't make ends meet with their meager salaries. Inflation is on a 5-year high made worse by the TRAIN law. Economic growth is below government's own target and expectations. The peso is weakening. The government's ambitious infrastructure program fails to take off and the stock market is in the bear category.

Meanwhile, President Duterte's cronies are rewarding their incompetence with corrupt government deals and intemperate spending. From the immigration officials' extortion activities to the Department of Tourism's P60 Million scandal, to the Solicitor General's sweetheart deals with different government agencies, to the PCOO's mind-boggling spending, the so-called father of the nation would prioritize his incompetent and corrupt officials over the poor.

And just like an abusive father, we can expect President Duterte to carry on and act as if the country is not in a downward spiral. Just like an abusive father, despite the maltreatment, torment and hurt, he expects our gratitude and obedience.

This toxic and abusive relationship must end. Unrest is brewing, the resistance is growing and increasingly, people are coming together to oppose President Duterte's tyranny. President Duterte can turn a blind eye to the increasing suffering of the people only until we all decide that we have had enough.