By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
President Marcos earned two well-deserved standing ovations in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) the other day: the first, for shouting out to the world the country’s equal resolve to sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea as to peace in the region; and the second, for banning all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) pronto.
Kudos, BBM! Firing Line applauds and respects these tough yet determined decisions of the administration, which future generations of Filipinos will surely smile upon.
Never mind the few elected ones who boycotted the SONA or the ones who protested in the streets without lending an ear to this climax of the speech. As the nation gains from this policy direction and redirection, it is their loss.
POGO money
Aside from the reasons Marcos had cited for leading him to the decision to disallow even legal POGO operations, there are murmurs that money going around from their continued operations will only serve the vested interest of “friendly” politicians — especially as the coming weeks draw us closer to the campaign period for next year’s the midterm polls.
Whispers in the security and intelligence community suggest that POGO money may even fund a destabilization plot against the Marcos Administration. Some augur that something may happen in January or February next year.
Fake drug video
Something to frown about on SONA day was the release of images in the United States purportedly showing BBM sniffing drugs.
The audacity to circulate a fake video showing the President in a disparaging light is both a desperate and shameful act that certain quarters attribute to groups identified with the Dutertes.
The Defense Chief calls it an attempt to destabilize the Marcos administration.
While it was cowardly staged in Los Angeles instead of here and timed with the SONA, these stunts using tech-altered images will not fly. The perpetrators, who bear malicious intent, must be found and punished. Their crime is not only to the President or his government but to the Filipino citizenry they intended to fool and mislead. If you want to bring down this President… show us a real video!
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