When Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, a meandering and profanity-laden spiel that broke the record for a speech that clocked in at two hours and 45 minutes, he faced headwinds few of his predecessors had encountered.
Duterte acknowledged as much in his speech when he said that his “dreams and visions of a better life for all Filipinos” had run into some “unforeseen events”, referring to COVID-19 and the lockdown that stalled his plans.
As a result of the pandemic, the country’s 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 9.5 percent – the worst since 1947 and the first contraction since the Asian financial crisis in 1998.