Vera Files fact checks Duterte’s SONA

What’s Duterte’s speech without his trademark slogan, “Putang Ina?”

I’m bit disappointed that he spewed out only nine putang ina in his State-of-the Nation address Monday. That’s way below his usual 20 or so Putang Ina in one speech. And he spoke for two hours!

In his 2017 SONA, regaled the Filipino people with his own imagined “truths”, telling people of praises that were never uttered and ordering or taking credit for what are already long in place.

During the SONA, VERA Files did a live Fact Check of some of what Duterte said.

Here are some of the items VERA Files came up with:

U.S. President Donald Trump calling him a “hero”

Duterte: “Hindi ko talaga maintindihan ang Pilipino. It takes for an American to say that I’m a son of a bitch. And it takes for an American to say: “Oh you’re great. You’re a hero in your country.” O saan ako pupunta dito ngayon?”

Fact: Trump never called Duterte “a hero in your country.” In a transcript of the telephone conversation on April 29, 2017, Trump congratulated Duterte for “an unbelievable job on the drug problem.” He said, “What a great job you are doing,” and he wished Duterte to “keep up the good work, you are doing an amazing job.”

One Facebooker, Queenie Santos-Dimapawi, pointed out it was not former President Obama who called Duterte son- of- a- bitch. It was the other way around.

Independent Foreign policy

Duterte: “We pursue good relations with all nations anchored on an independent foreign policy and the basic tenets of sovereign equality, mutual respect, and non-interference…We will engage nations with full respect, for the rule of law, sovereign equality and again non-interference. These are the principles that we are upholding as we advance towards this year at the meeting as the chair of the ASEAN.”

Fact:The principles of mutual respect, sovereign equality and non-interference that Duterte overstressed are already embodied in the Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), that the Philippines is bound to uphold as founding member. The charter was signed by all 10 ASEAN member countries on Nov. 20, 2007.

Occupy hospital

Duterte: “Kayong mga Pilipino nakikinig sa akin ngayon: Magpa-hospital kayo. Ako ang magbayad. Tutal hindi man nila ako mademanda. Pasok lang kayo doon. Occupy the hospital, sabihin mo lang… totoo. Pasok kayo ng hospital, sabihin ninyo na sabi ni Mayor Duterte, pagamot daw kami, siya daw ang bahala magbayad.

Fact: Republic Act 8344 or the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law prohibits hospitals from rejecting patients who cannot give any advanced payment as prerequisite to medical care.

Money for AFP

Duterte: “From now on I will save money for the Armed forces of the Philippines.”

Fact: The AFP has a total budget of P 132.9 billion for 2017. This is almost four percent of this year’s national budget which amounts to P 3.35 trillion.

Bully

Duterte talked briefly about his banner program- campaign against illegal drugs. The new object of his tirades were the Left calling them “enemies of the state.”

Duterte in his SONA: Talagang bully ako. Talagang bully ako lalo na sa enemies of the state.

Less than one hour after, in front of the rallyists outside Batasan, Duterte said: Sino ako mang-bully sa inyo?
That’s the state of our nation.