Security has been tightened around the Congress compound in the Philippines ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s first state of the nation speech today.
Thousands of activists were expected to hold protests ahead of and during the speech in the Manila suburb city of Quezon.
While police have vowed to exercise tolerance against the protesters, they have warned them against forcing their way beyond the barricades set up kilometres away from the venue.
The theme of Duterte’s speech, scheduled to begin at 4pm (0800 GMT) will be “a comfortable life for all,” said presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella yesterday.
The Philippine president’s assessment of the state of the country under his first year in office “will be frank, challenging, realistic but hopeful,” Abella said, adding that the 72-year-old was also expected to make off-the-cuff remarks.
The military said it has not monitored specific threats to the state of the nation address, but troops were on alert.
“We are hopeful that there will be a peaceful and meaningful state of the nation address,” said Colonel Edgard Arevalo, a spokesman for the military, which will provide support to the police.
Among the key legislation that Duterte was expected to push for during his speech is a tax reform programme designed to boost revenues to finance infrastructure projects and make taxation more equitable. He was also expected to submit to Congress his administration’s proposed budget for 2018, worth 3.767tn pesos ($75.34bn), with the biggest allocation going to education.
Duterte: likely push for tax reform plan
