State of the Nation

The most unpopular president in our country’s history delivered her State of the Nation Address (SONA) a few days ago. She was supposed to talk about our country’s current status, not her impossible dreams.

The SONA was more like a “wishlist.” The hour-long speech never dealt with the real issues facing the country today such as poverty and corruption. Instead, as expected, it was just the president babbling empty promises. Sadly, when we talk of promises, she’s one person who is bad at keeping them. Just remember her promise not to run again a few years ago.

At the start, she said she wasn’t going to talk about politics. But then, the whole speech itself was pure politics. She just showed how good a politician she is. Not leader, just politician. She made sure everybody that mattered was happy. Not Juan dela Cruz, but the other politicians and government officials.

She talked about our improving economy, using the dollar exchange rate as her basis. However, if we really think about it, this is the result of the strong dollar remittances from our overseas workers. It only means that Filipinos would rather go abroad and work, losing hope of better lives in the Philippines.

The SONA was a roll-call. She kept mentioning people and saying good things about them. Think of it as an early start of campaigning. Right now, what matters most to her is her political survival. And one measure was to get the support of the local government officials.

That is why she kept promising different projects for the different places in the country. Projects involve money. More money means more corruption – money straight to the pockets of local officials. Just like their boss in Malacañang.

Where do we get the money to fund the infrastructure projects planned by PGMA? We already have a 12% VAT, but still that wouldn’t be enough to finance the costly projects such as the implementation of “Super Regions.” In the end, it would just possibly mean more debts for our already poor country.

She talked so much about highways, bridges, and airports – but barely mentioned education and health. Yet, she mentioned Manny Pacquiao, the Mt. Everest trekkers, and the beauty queens. Is she trying to take credit for these achievements? Sure, this gives a message that as Filipinos, we could do anything. But those victories are really not directly related to her administration.

If you have a house and you want to make some improvements, shouldn’t you clean up your place first? That’s what PGMA should do. Clean up her own mess first before proceeding with her other plans.

The SONA was simply gibberish. The real State of the Nation Address was expressed by the people outside the Batasan. The real state of the nation is best revealed by them calling for GMA’s ouster. Filipinos are tired of empty promises and traditional politics.

The SONA took place while a typhoon was in our country. Ironically, the typhoon was supposed to be named “Gloria”, but the PAG-ASA had changed it to “Glenda” even before it entered the Philippines.

But in our country, the real typhoon tormenting Filipinos is Gloria herself – the fake president. Not a typhoon destroying houses and causing floods along its way. But a typhoon destroying the institutions of our government – the courts, the COMELEC, the Congress, and even the Church, and causing floods of misery and oppression to the people along the way.