INSTEAD of enjoying “a comfortable life for everybody,” as President Rodrigo Duterte promised in his previous State of the Nation Address (SONA), recent surveys and reports show the opposite. But that is largely because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic that has been severely affecting the economy.

“Our goal for the next three years is clear: a comfortable life for everybody, all Filipinos,” Duterte said at the closing of his lengthy speech at the joint session of the 18th Congress in July last year.