SONA 2012

CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON P-NOY’S SONA

            The Philippine President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino in his third SONA gave a detailed list of the present administration’s accomplishments particularly commending the members of his cabinet who were able to deliver noteworthy actions in response to what he said were mostly backlogs of the previous administration.

            I couldn’t help but notice how he kept on comparing the accomplishments of his present administration to that of GMA’s that it became almost a mouthful of finger pointing when we all know that this present governance also has its share of shortcomings.

            There are certain parts of his speech which made me squirm to my seat and made me contemplate and compare to what has been said and to what is actually happening around us.

            Take for example how the President said that the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” is set to benefit 3.1 million Filipinos whose beneficiaries he said are now being carefully chosen as opposed to how it used to be.  To this my thought drifted to those people falling in line in ATM machines with their 4Ps ATM cards in hand although while some are obviously poor looking there are certainly some of them who doesn’t fit the description as you see them decently dressed with gold accessories at that.  Reality strikes back with the fact that still some of these beneficiaries get enrolled because the Barangay Captain or someone with a higher position endorsed them.  This point being that up to this day, some beneficiaries get political backing to be listed, now isn’t this form of corruption?

            The President also mentioned of how Sec. Rene Almendras of the Department of Energy is making it possible for far flung sitios to benefit from its electrification program but he never mentioned how the government can solve the problem on the rising cost of electricity and the lack of its supply particularly in Mindanao area. 

            Then the President said relief goods are now waiting for the victims of disasters and not the other way around but sadly the President is most often out of sight at the height of every calamity unlike the previous administration who made it a point to be on site where the calamity is taking place to issue orders and make sure everything is in place.  Pnoy relies mostly from his cabinet secretaries to respond and take action probably because he himself does not know exactly what to do.

            Moving on to the crime volume which the president boasted to be going down as compared to the previous years but then how come statistics remain to rise every single day. 

            On a lighter note being a daughter of a government employee it was a welcome development when the President said that government employees will be able to avail of 35 thousand pesos cash incentive based on their performance aside from the Christmas bonus they receive.   I just hope that this will be truly realized and not be subjected to politicking as well.

            The President made special mention on the Sin Tax Bill and that of responsible parenthood which is clearly about the RH Bill although he didn’t really elaborate on said subjects still it was enough validation that indeed he supports the said legislative measures. 

            It was also noteworthy that the President cited the exemplary performance of Butuan City’s very own Chief Executive Mayor Ferdinand Amante.  Indeed, Mayor Amante set a good example among politicians by exercising political will in going after illegal loggers and seizing said logs which are now being converted into school chairs to benefit many school children around the country.

            In a way I find the President’s SONA lacking in substance.  It was just a reportage of accomplishments but nothing solid and concrete were said on how the present administration can address the clamor of the people for reform through legislative measures.  While it blamed the previous administration for the ten years that was supposedly taken from the Filipino people still the President should be reminded that his present administration is actually still utilizing most of the policies which GMA started like the 4Ps and the PHIC universal membership as examples.  The present administration has up to this day is not able to introduce radical measures which it can truly claim its own. 

            Perhaps, the President can work on moving on and stop casting blames as what he has done in the last portion of his speech blatantly expressing his reluctance to forgive and forget the past administration he can at least start creating a mark of his own.