PNoy’s SONA sounded more like a valedictory
Like many Filipinos, we expected a reconciliatory tone from Pres. Benigno Aquino III when he delivered his State of the Nation Address. After all, last July 14th when he lambasted the Supreme Court for declaring the Disbursement Acceleration Program as unconstitutional, the Filipino people finally saw his dark and dictatorial side when he got sore with the Supreme Court for not taking his side on this highly controversial issue.
So we thought that the President would use the SONA as a gesture for reconciliation. But as he entered the Batasan Plenary Hall, wearing his signature Yellow Ribbon on his chest, it clearly sent a chilling signal that PNoy was going to make a statement that things were as usual and that he was representing the Aquino family rather than the Philippines as a nation.
As expected, the lady senators, congresswomen, and wives of congressmen and senators came with their flowing obviously expensive formal gowns because they knew that they were going to be on nationwide TV. As expected, the TV news crews gave this fashion show a lot of coverage, unmindful of the fact that many of our legislators have been tagged by Janet Lim Napoles as those who stole from the government coffers.
Yes indeed, it just makes you wonder if these gowns were paid for by the Filipino people through their respective percentages from their Special Allotment Release Order courtesy of Janet Lim Napoles. My Creative Director Nath Ybañez posted a note in his Facebook asking the question, "Why do they treat the SONA like it was the Oscars?"
Obvious to us where the members of the Legislative branch and their wives sporting their yellow ribbons as a sign of their fealty to Pres. Aquino while many in the opposition wore Peach, which stands for impeachment! As usual, the President spoke in Tagalog and spoke for an hour and a half. But what a change. PNoy wasn't his usual combative self, but instead became emotional. But the Filipino people didn't get what they expected to get…the resignation of DBM Secretary Abad!
Perhaps to lengthen his SONA, he gave full details to the modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which to my mind is his best achievement. But what the Filipino people wanted was for the President to explain to the people his own P150.6 billion personal fund that he got from the DAP, which COA insists hasn't been accounted for.
Just like his predecessor, former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, PNoy used videos of ordinary people who were supposed to have been helped by government agencies like TESDA or DepED. But we'll never know if those people gave their testimonies freely or they were paid to do so.
Of course the President's speech was interrupted by a hefty applause from his Yellow minions inside the Plenary Hall. This was to be expected because Pres. Aquino was in the midst of his peers… the political elite of the country of which he is today their Capo di Tutti Capi. But the President's speech sounded more like his final valedictory, as he got very emotional towards the end of his speech, nearly breaking into tears ala Kris Aquino. PNoy has taken the posture of being a "Drama King!"
As I said earlier, I honestly expected a reconciliatory tone from Pres. PNoy, but instead he charged at his critics… (That includes me, of course) that we are in the minority and we are speaking against the Filipino people. In the end, as many TV Networks pointed out… the real State of the Nation was the violence against the militant groups outside the Batasan being hosed with water by police guards with shields and truncheons. Shades of the anti-Marcos sentiment? For sure, it gave me a sense of déjà vu.
But this time, the militant leftist groups were not alone in their protest. Over at the Supreme Court, court employees held a rally at the Supreme Court and everyone wore red and black in protest led by Jojo Guerrero, president of the Court Employees Organization. I understand that this protest was done all over the country.
At this point, I was disappointed when the President failed to mention two things in his SONA. The first was his failure to explain to the people about his personal P150.6 billion personal kitty that he already spent in the last four years but with zero accounting and the other one was his failure to prioritize and push for the Freedom of Information bill, which is one of his campaign promises.
Finally, Pres. Aquino told the Filipino people to choose wisely your next leaders, saying that we are the boss, we are the power, we can choose to change but he didn't mention of any investigation on the PCOS "Tikas". For his litany of infra projects…none of them are here in Cebu. Need I say more?
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