“He avoided the issue of genuine agrarian reform, especially free distribution of land to farmers, essentially patronizing his audience belonging to the haciendero and comprador classes,” Casilao said in a statement.
Casilao said the President’s “pronouncement on utilizing the natural resources for the local demands was askew as he embraced the messianic belief that the foreign investments via foreign monopoly will build the national industry in the country.”
“His promise of ending contractualization of labor has been totally omitted. So, too, his fulfilling the legitimate call of the urban poor for a service- oriented mass housing program,” he added.
Casilao also said that the President’s “continued coddling of the military and police only encourages more abuses, and is neglective of the miserable state of farmers and indigenous people, especially in Mindanao.”
“He never assured the people of Mindanao of safety, and subjected them under a martial law rule that condemned them to the abuses of state forces,” he noted.
Casilao said Duterte “totally adopted the militarist line of addressing the armed conflict with the NPA, instead of seriously tackling the root causes through the peace talks with the NDFP, primarily regarding the systematic landlessness among poor farmers across the country.”
