The state of the nation...
By eileenleyva
@eileenleyva (27560)
Philippines
July 23, 2011 7:14pm CST
As usual, there is so much hype about the forthcoming state of the nation address of the president. The July 25th SONA will be President Benigno Aquino's second SONA, and everyone is actually expecting if he had delivered what he had promised a year ago, in his first speech about the state of affairs of the country. Reality check, he had but less than a month when he prepared that. I suppose he has more to elaborate on now, after a year in office.
But recalling the year that passed, the Maguindanao Massacre, the Luneta Hostage Unfortunate Event, the China Crisis, the Middle East Unrest, the Japan Earthquake, the Porsche Purchase and LTO Car Crimes, the President must admit that the facial lines and the more prominent receding hairline are due to these... He can't go unscathed. The buck stops at him.
But for all it is worth, I give him credit for being transparent and for holding good governance over and above his undertakings.
The SONA might outline the progress that had been done in the different departments of the government, but not till I see the thoroughfares clear of begging children will I conclude that we are getting better. And considering the young girl who always come to my car window, we still have a long way to go.
You five more years, Mr President. Please get it done.
10 responses
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
27 Jul 11
i posted my disappointment with the sona. i talked about the housing projects the president had promised to give the members of the pnp, including the firemen, of the bjmp and other members of the military. i said, being a state worker who is in the lowest of the ranks, we were not mentioned or the president could have forgotten about us. people responded with housing is not the top priority that could be talked about by president, but there is health, food, etc.
anyway, let's give the president more time to give us the Philippines we are dreaming of to be.
1 person likes this
@TheAdvocate (2392)
• Philippines
26 Jul 11
Hi Eileen!
I was not able to listen to the SONA because I was hard at work (or so my boss thinks). I did watch all the reports and coverages after. I especially liked the one done by GMA where they compared the first years of the past presidents, except for Marcos (I don't want to speculate why). The one point that was hughlighted to me was the fact that in almost all areas, it was GMA's presidency which brought the economy down. I wonder why this is so when she is a topnotch economist? Anyway, coming from the heels of GMA, I don't think PNoy can do worse. Aside from the Porshe purchase (which was ill-timed more than scandalous), I think that we are on our way to recovery. I don't think though that the Philippines will get there within PNoy's term so I expect him to just lay the foundation. The fact that people are being made aware of the corruption committed by the past adminsitration is a step in the right direction. Justice is all about making people accountable for their actions. If PNoy's only contribution is the eradication of corruption, or at least minimize it by a big chunk, I would declare it a victory. I think it is up to us to continue the progress that he started.
1 person likes this
@ybong007 (6643)
• Philippines
25 Jul 11
The Philippines will always be a poor country for years to come. Decades of graft and corruption have taken its toll and that's not something that Pnoy can solve even in six years time. However one thing that I will give him credit for is his campaign against corruption and his being able to remain unblemished up to this time. But like everyone else, I can't say that his attempt to clean the bureaucracy is successful not until someone is put behind bars or their ill gotten wealth sequestered by the government due to graft. Crisis will always arise but those are just tests for his character, what's important is how he reacts and learns from it. What's important is he's already started something that if successful will make every Filipino proud and that is a corrupt free Philippines. That would be the beginning of good things to come.
1 person likes this
@ellebj (784)
• Philippines
24 Jul 11
you are right.. the president must be detailed and must be clear of his plans for the whole year round. his speech last year is so ideal that we don't know what he really means by the "daang matuwid".. though it is good to give connotations in speeches but he must be precise and particular to what he wants to do with the country.
1 person likes this
@greenpeas (998)
• Philippines
24 Jul 11
I think you should add the Gloria Arroyo prosecution in the list, since it is one of the priority and not just an option as some suggests.
Some people are so impatient with the eradication of poverty and corruption. Even the greatest president of any nation will not be able to accomplish these within just 1 year. These takes time, and whats important is that PNoy have laid out the fundamentals and so from here even when his administration expires, the next administration should be able to takeover and continue to pursue the policy of clean governance which is one of the requirements for development of any nations.
1 person likes this
@BannedHelsing (693)
• Philippines
24 Jul 11
I don't really expect much from him since I didn't vote for him and I really don't believe in his capacity. But still, I pray that he'll perform each year better than the previous year.
Like what the priest said in the church in his sermon, it is not enough to be righteous if you are a leader. You also need the capability to discern what is good for the country. He still has a lot to work on that department, I think.
@mensab (4200)
• Philippines
24 Jul 11
yes, you are right. the president can somehow go into details of the progress of his agenda in office. i think he won with his campaign promise of good governance and anti-corruption. he has to elaborate more on this matter citing the accomplishments of charging officials of graft and corruption. while his popularity and approval ratings are going down, he must not buck down to these disruptions. i wish him the best.
1 person likes this
@jeanneyvonne (5501)
• Philippines
25 Jul 11
Ahhh...here comes the experts, the commentators and the whole bunch of reporters trying to cover this events. It will be a day of mixed criticism, praise and hope in what the administration will do and what it has already done. Old social issues are being resurrected and digested as they will be done in the next five years until this guy gets out of the office. Another poor guy will be brought in for the same job and same issues.
I watched the last year's SONA and I don't think I will watch again when in the last years of PNoy. I reckon it will be the same stuff over and over again, only made good by a speechwriter (or perhaps PNoy's words since everybody called the speech was a hands-on material).
Anyway, I think I am more interested in work rather than words. Words fade away too quickly for my liking.
@averygirl72 (37845)
• Philippines
24 Jul 11
Well, I also look forward to the coming SONA. Last year, the president made a lot of expose about government officials corruption. What I have observed this year is there are so many exposes on government officials unlike before the time of Gloria as they are starting to be discovered and wake us of how terrible is the corruption in this country. Game shows seems to helped the lives of the poor Filipinos. I do not know why the government is very slow to resolve poverty and corruption,,
1 person likes this
@michaelv26 (30)
• Philippines
24 Jul 11
Hopefully people the next years of Pnoy become much better that his 1st year. He cannot do it by himself, everyone must do their shares to get better results
1 person likes this
