MANILA (UCAN): In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered on July 22 at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, in Quezon City, Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, insisted the West Philippine Sea belonged to his country, but defended his agreement to allow Chinese fishermen to operate in the area, saying it was not a constitutional violation. 
 
The South China Morning Post reported him as saying he made the agreement with China’s president, Xi Jinping, to ensure there would be no war in the disputed South China Sea.

HONG KONG (SE): Dolores Balladares Pelaez, the chairperson of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong, said she is happy about the first State of the Nation Address of the newly-elected president, Rodrigo Duterte, because he showed concern for overseas Filipino workers.

She added that Duterte’s pledge to the Filipino people is unprecedented. “No other previously elected president has delivered with such intensity, simplicity and sincerity,” she said.

MANILA (SE): In his first State of the Nation Address delivered to both houses of the congress on July 25, the president of the Republic of The Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, painted a pretty grim picture, describing its dysfunctional legal system, inefficient and corrupt public service, shoddy law enforcement, volatile warring lands and vast poverty as leaving the nation in bad shape.