Noy’s SONA a game-changer, says lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday was a “game-changer” that put his critics on the defensive and debunked notions that he was a lame duck president, according to administration lawmaker Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone.

Evardone said he wanted to call for a political ceasefire but decided the country has a vibrant democracy and most of the President’s critics have “blinders.”

“I don’t see a brief respite of attacks from a handful of the opposition and the leftists, especially now that 2016 is just around the corner,” Evardone said.

“President Aquino is very much still a powerful and influential political figure,” he said as he expressed doubts the opposition and the left would be able to attain their main agenda to weaken his endorsement power in 2016.

“The handful opposition and the leftists will have to go back to the drawing board to assess how to counter the President’s new track of just focusing less on politics but more on genuine public service,” he added.

Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, one of the endorsers of the impeachment complaint against Aquino, said “crying won’t do him or the country any good.”

Ridon was referring to the part of Aquino’s SONA where he seemed to turn emotional and teary-eyed when he recalled his parents, and expressed fears that he may not be able to finish the reforms he had begun.

“The crying telenovela was good. It was a well-played out speech and maybe it did gain some public sympathy, but it did not fool the people and it will not dampen our resolve to have him impeached,” Ridon said.

ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio said Aquino only made his SONA about himself.

“After invoking their memory, he then proceeded to place himself on the same pedestal as his parents, Ninoy and Cory. Riffing on his father’s most famous quote and he proffered his own variation ‘the Filipino is worth fighting for.’ He even asked the public to fantasize about what it would be like if, like his father, he died at the hands of his enemies,” Tinio said.

Failure to address issues

Presidential sister and actress Kris Aquino said she and her other sisters were affected by their brother’s SONA, especially when he talked about his mortality.

“I think we’re very proud of him. We’re with him and we want him to live a long life,” Kris told reporters. “We don’t like to hear him talking about his end.”

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II said he and other Cabinet officials were touched by the speech as it showed the President’s sincerity to make life better for Filipinos. – With Jess Diaz, Edu Punay, Rhodina Villanueva, Danny Dangcalan