MANILA - The founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines criticized Tuesday President Rodrigo Duterte's third State of the Nation Address, saying the chief executive has turned police officers "into kidnappers and murderers."

In a lengthy Facebook post, CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison scored Duterte's 47-minute speech for showing "no remorse" over the promises he failed to fulfill in his two years as president.

The communist leader said Duterte was "true to form as a tyrant" when he slammed human rights advocates and said the war on drugs will continue under his presidency.

"Criminality is aggravated by Duterte by turning the police and military into his criminal instruments for extrajudicial killings and assuring them of impunity and rewarding them with cash and promotion in rank," Sison said.

What's worse, he said, the problem of illegal drugs has become more rampant "because Duterte himself has become the supreme drug lord by protecting his own close relatives and associates who are involved in illegal drug smuggling and distribution."

In his SONA, Duterte said his drug war will continue and will be as "relentless" and "chilling" as the day it started a couple of years ago.

He also said rights groups cannot dissuade him from continuing the drug war, stressing that he is protecting human lives in running after people involved in illegal drugs.

"Your concern is human rights, mine is human lives," he said, drawing applause from the audience.

Since Duterte's war on drugs began, police have killed more than 4,500 people they say were suspected drug pushers who resisted arrest.

Human rights groups are alarmed by the bloodshed and say thousands have been summarily executed in what amounts to systematic extermination of drug users in the poorest communities. Police vigorously reject that.

The drug war has also been marred by allegations that Paolo Duterte, the eldest son of the President, is part of a so-called "Davao Group" involved in smuggling and has links to a Chinese drug triad. The younger Duterte has denied the allegations.

During last year's Senate inquiry, Duterte refused to show a back tattoo that allegedly revealed his drug links.

He resigned as vice-mayor last December 25, 2017.

THE COMPANY HE KEEPS

Sison also slammed the President for allowing rampant corruption to continue despite his campaign promise to bring to justice those who steal funds from the coffers of the government.

"He declares grandiloquently that justice will catch up with those who steal government funds. But why are his closest allies--the biggest plunderers, like the Marcoses, Arroyos and Estradas?" he said.

Sison called out Duterte for "traitorously selling" the country's sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea to China and entering into deals with overpriced projects with the Asian economic giant.

Since assuming power, Duterte has sought to downplay Manila's South China Sea dispute with Beijing in pursuit of better economic ties with Asia's largest economy.

Meanwhile, Sison also criticized the President's extended martial law in Mindanao, which supposedly allowed the attacks on the lands of the Bangsamoro, Lumad, and Christian communities there.

Sison mocked the President's push for a shift to a federal form of government, saying that doing so would "concentrate executive, legislative and judicial powers in his hands."

"By establishing his fascist dictatorship, he and the regional dynasties and warlords of his choice would have the utmost freedom to oppress and exploit the people," he said.

During the campaign period, Duterte promised federalism, which he sees as a solution to distribute the country's wealth equally among the regions, not just to Metro Manila.

"By establishing his fascist dictatorship, he and the regional dynasties and warlords of his choice would have the utmost freedom to oppress and exploit the people," he said.

The CPP founder also found Duterte's speech lacking with regards to the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

"He does not want to address the roots of the armed conflict through comprehensive agreements on social, economic and political reforms in order to lay the basis for a just and lasting peace," he said.

Sison said Duterte should take responsibility for shifting the tax burden from corporations and wealthy individuals to the people in his tax reform law, which triggered rising inflation.