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.