Philippine leader vows recovery but quiet on human rights

By JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has vowed to considerably ease poverty, boost economic recovery and defend the country’s territory in his first key policy speech. But he stayed away from contentious issues like human rights and corruption in his first state of the nation address before a joint session of Congress on Monday. Amid crises sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and the global fallout from the Ukraine war, Marcos Jr. assured the “state of the nation is sound” and added “we will endure.” Activists rejected his upbeat outlook and criticized his silence over longstanding human rights issues, his plan to deal with decades-old communist and Muslim insurgencies, allegations of widespread extrajudicial killings and his family’s legal issues.