SONA

PNoy’s 4th SONA - SONA ng Bayan!

By this time there are many and varied commentaries on PNoy’s 4th SONA. Some never end singing ‘alleluia’ for a SONA well done. Others do notice why all appear good and sunny, except for the three bureaucracies - the Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Immigration and the National Irrigation Administration. Still others believe that the President’s SONA is a genre akin to ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

 

Some say the reactions to the SONA depend on where one stands.  The allies of the present regime belong to the first type above. They are all praise for the performance of the President. They are ‘BELIEVERS’ and PNoy does make a difference believing that the ‘matuwid na daan’ is a new culture and practice of his government, except for the few recalcitrant but their days are already numbered. The oppositions are ‘unimpressed’ by the SONA.  They belong to the last category above that believes PNoy’s SONA is a recitation of dreams and dreams they remain until they wake up to a stark cruel reality of poverty amid the foisted GDP growth of 7.8%.

 

I have been asked several times what I think of the President’s SONA.  I may fall in the second category that notices that PNoy’s SONA paints the country with a new coat.  Everything appears good and sunny and as stated earlier except for a few exceptions.  Definitely, there are sunny pictures and he cited them in his SONA. I particularly like the heroism of the three police officers (all rank and file) in the culture of the ‘rub out’, non-performance and corruption in the PNP.  It is refreshing to note that there are good men and women in the rank in what seems to be ‘den of thieves and misfits’.

 

I never like ‘kilometric’ speeches or homilies.  I will always prefer a clear and straight to the point SONA with a listing of all the strengths and weaknesses and at the same time clearly articulating and identifying the vision and the direction needed to be taken.  The 4th SONA got lost in the details. While details are good but there is always the danger to overdo the enumerations and in the end lose the impact. The 4th SONA just did it!

 

What is TRUE is the context of the 4th SONA, though NOT stated, clearly serves as the backdrop of the whole event.  The President delivers the 4th SONA in the midst of a very high trust and satisfactory ratings never seen before after three years in the Presidency.  Over two thirds of the population trust him and they are satisfied with his performance as President.  This is truly a PHENOMENAL feat!

 

What truly matters is not whether the President is competent or not.  What matters is that he can be TRUSTED!  After all, the right competence and skills can be engaged for a prize.  But trust is something EARNED.  The greater numbers of Filipinos believe and trust him.  When he says that there is NO MORE ‘wang wang’ and ‘counter-flow’ in Government, they believe him.  When he articulates the policy of ‘matuwid na daan’ in the government under his watch, the people believe him. And when he says that his economic mantra is ‘inclusive growth’, the people trust him notwithstanding the fact that there has been NO impact or dent in reducing or alleviating poverty in the country amid the ‘much acclaimed’ 40 Billion peso package under DSWD's ‘conditional cash transfer’ program.

 

The President, no doubt, is a ‘fast talker’.  He is truly a son of Sen.  Benigno Aquino, another real ‘fast talker’.  In the past, there were two speakers that I admired. The first was President Marcos and the second one was his nemesis, the young Senator Benigno Aquino.

 

In PNoy’s 4th SONA, I can hear once again Ninoy speaking with the same determination to achieve and win.  You are either ‘with me’ and move forward to greater heights for this nation or an ‘obstacle’ that would be bulldozed or level off.  The choice has been reduced to either/or - no in between and no one navigates in two parallel rivers.

 

Whew! This would be tough for the opposition in government. While the activists in the streets are increasing, what registers in the minds of people are the results of surveys that came out few days before the SONA. Well, with 77% trust rating and 76% performance rating, the President has the Filipino people behind him!

 

It is for this reason, that the part I like most in the 4th SONA, is when PNoy articulates and enumerates that the 4th SONA is not his alone but the Filipinos’ - kayong magsasaka, kabataan at magaaral, etc. - ito’y inyong SONA’! This portion is the BEST of all. PNoy often repeats that the people are his boss. This time, he empowers the people and telling them that this SONA is equally theirs and together realize the dream not only until the end of his term but beyond.