“To the Filipino nation, my Bosses who have steered us toward this day: Thank you very much for the change that is now upon us. The Filipino people are, finally, truly alive.”Noynoy Aquino
Finally, the much awaited SONA of President Noynoy Aquino had come last July 25, 2011. In the SONA of President Aquino, he focused on TRANSFORMATION. This transformation is about transforming the society and changing the mindset of Filipinos towards the government. During the SONA, President Aquino had mentioned the anomalies during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. These anomalies include the corruption in the AFP, misappropriation of government funds, and over importation of rice. Included in his SONA were the issues of the 1 billion spent by PAGCOR for coffee. All these issues are the reasons why President Aquino’s focus is about transformation. He is not only after the economy of our country; he is also after the perception of his countrymen towards the government.
As part of the president’s speech, he enumerated some of his accomplishments throughout his 13 months reign. Under his administration, he was able to eradicate the “utak wang-wang” of Filipinos. This “wang-wang” doesn’t only pertain to the sirens of vehicles, but the “wang-wang” includes the “wang-wang” for the taxpayers, for the DPWH, for the soldiers, and for rice importation. He was able to improve the credit rating of our country which will result to lower interest rate for our foreign debts. Another accomplishment was the revival of the confidence of investors in our energy sector. Part of his SONA which was applauded most is on the issue of enhancing national security and national pride. This national security and pride is pointing out on the relationship of our country between China in the issue of territory. President Aquino also mentioned the unemployment rate was which was reduced to 7.2 percent in April 2011 from 8 percent in April 2010 due to job generation project. Another program was the government's Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program; in which 1.6 million Filipinos were already receiving conditional cash transfers (CCT); that is equivalent to over 100,000 family-beneficiries monthly. President Aquino also vowed to address corruption in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) where "politics have been dominated by horse-trading and transactional politics." He said the ARMM must "experience the benefits of good governance."
These were just some points tackled by our president in his SONA. His SONA was delivered in our own language in which I admired it most. Previous SONA of our former presidents were delivered in English in which not all Filipinos are able to understand their speeches. I hope that any promises made by our president will not just remain as promises. I also hope that his wish for transformation will come true. CHA
On July 25, 2011, President Benigno “PNOY” Aquino delivered his Second State of the Nation Address. It is a special occasion wherein he will disclose to his people all the things he has done to develop and improve the Philippines for the past one year of his administration. With the help and support of his cabinet members, from 20.5% self-rated hunger in March, it dropped to 15.1% in June which is equivalent to a million of Filipinos that can now have a proper meal pear day. He cited also that there will be more private investors on power plants; seven-times all-time high in stock market, housing projects for policemen, soldiers, and employees of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and Bureau of Fire Protection; upgrades and modernization of the equipment of the armed forces; and conviction of more human traffickers. In addition, there is also an increase in rice production of 15.6% which is achieved through the use of effective types of seedlings and proper irrigation.
As a Filipino, we cannot yet judge President Aquino right now because he just started. Let us give him a chance to prove that he deserve all the trust and support we placed upon him. Nothing will happen to our country if we kept on insulting and criticizing all his plans. He needs our trust and support. Let’s wait and see if all his promises to us during his campaign will all be fulfill. JAM
“Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.”These were the words P-Noy wants to define his presidency. In his second SONA, Aquino emphasized his obsession to remove the “utak wang-wang” in the Philippine government. By citing accomplishments of his administration, he indicated that he had succeeded in stamping out the noisy “wang-wang”. For the past weeks, many cases were exposed that have shown us how top government officials during the Arroyo administration stole and misused billions and billions of pesos meant for the people and the service for the people. Yes, but still these people accused of graft and corruption are free when supposedly they should be on jail now.
Among the accomplishments he cited were the decrease in the number of self-rated hunger from 20.5 percent in March to 15.1 percent in June, the Philippine stock market reaching seven record highs in the past year and the improved credit ratings resulting from the governments “prudent use of funds and creative financial management”. The President ended his speech by calling on Filipinos to end the culture of negativism and crab mentality and to recognize instead the good that is being done to give the country a much-needed lift. I agree with him that change should not only start with our government but should begin in ourselves too. We should not depend all on the government. We must do our part too to achieve the better life that we all want to have.
One of the future directions that he mentioned on his SONA is the Philippines’ rightful claim to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. “Now, our message to the world is clear: What is ours is ours; setting foot on Recto Bank [in the South China Sea] is no different from setting foot on Recto Avenue [in Manila],” he added. I hope that this conviction will remind us all to fight for what is ours and be aware of our rights. Not only on this issue but on everything that happens to us. Also, I wish that we will be more united for the building of a new Philippines. AMA
No comments:
Post a Comment