July 27, 2009 is the set date for the 9th and constitutionally the last State of the Nation Address of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She had delivered 9 State of the Nation Addresses since she took oath as the President of the Republic of the Philippines last January 2001. During that time when she first delivered her very first SONA, my interests and views of any political and social issues were not that intimate and very strong as of now (I was only in grade six when the historic EDSA II happened). As what I have heard from my father and have read in the articles, the contents of SONA of our president were projects that have and will be implemented particularly in the fields of education, health and welfare, poverty, employment, infrastructures, agriculture and the economic growth. This has been the common denominator of the 8 times she had delivered her speech right in front of the joint House of Representatives and the Senate. All of what she said in each and every SONA were very promising and for the benefit of all Filipinos.
There are also some unforgettable moments during the SONA like the 3 kids from Payatas who wrote their wishes in a toy boat made of paper(bangkang papel) and then released it at the Pasig River and the walk-out of some opposition legislators who can’t take the lies that the president was saying (that’s according to them). Another was that for every achievement that the president said was responded by a standing ovation for those who are in the plenary specially her allies.
Amidst the 8 SONA's she had delivered in the past, there is only one question that was easily formulated in my mind; where are those achievements and promises that Pres. Arroyo mentioned in her SONA? Why can’t we visibly see the effects of those solutions to the real problem we are facing specially in poverty and education? In the 8 SONA’s, there will always be mentioned such as improvement in the quality of education, additional classrooms, 1:1 ratio of books, less drop-outs in public schools. Where can we find it? Name a school that has all this stuffs? In the rural areas, elementary students walked for 7 kilometers and even cross 26 rivers just to learn. Is that what they called accessible education? What about those who are living below the poverty line? Does their number decreases? According to them yes! But look around and you can find the answers. What about the crisis here in Mindanao? They had proudly said in the media that there were no more Abu Sayaff in Mindanao, but what happened to Ces Drilon, and the 3 Red Cross Volunteers? Why they were kidnapped?It’s been 8 long years and Mindanao was still as dangerous as it is before. What about the corruption that plagued this administration? What about the ZTE/NBN deal, the Hello Garci issue, the fertilizer fund scam, the C-5 road extension project? Were we given a satisfactory explanation from our government? We are talking of billions of pesos in those projects and let me remind that those were taxpayers’ money. What about those who were involved in this scandal, were they properly interrogated? What about the extrajudicial killings? Were they given justice? These are the questions that for the past 9 years, no acceptable answers were given. I believe that these issues and scandals will soon be forgotten as she steps down in position, that if she will step down.
What makes this last SONA more interesting is that the House of Representatives will open their last session under the term of Pres. Arroyo. Take note that before they recessed their sessions a month ago, they magically approved H.R 1109 convening the House of Representatives as a constituent Assembly even without the participation of the Senate. Now everyone specially those who are in the opposition, political and law experts and every single vigilant Filipino are waiting and watching if the House of Representatives will now convene as a Constituent Assembly and start to amend the constitution and eventually change the form of government into a parliamentary. Every one of us knew that convening the congress right after the SONA is illegal and unconstitutional, but what else is new? Remember that the content of HR 1109 was also illegal and unconstitutional. It was clearly said in the 1987 constitution that the House of Congress cannot convene themselves as a constituent assembly without the participation of the senate and the senate didn’t even attempted to discuss con-ass and cha-cha in their sessions. So we must expect the unexpected in the SONA later. Rallies by the opposition and some church leaders were already prepared to counterpart the SONA of Pres. Arroyo. The opposition always insisting that the real SONA were the rallies and noise barrage in the streets and not on the paper and in the 4 corners of the House of Representatives.
Let me clear myself that I am not a pro or an anti Arroyo, what am I is a pro government. I go for those in which the majority will benefit. I stand and fight in whatever means I can in actions that will completely destroy the future of our country. Yes I agree that the Arroyo administration has done its best in providing solutions to the problems they inherit from the previous administration.
It’s time for us youth to stand up and fight for the future of our country. We must learn a lesson from this administration as the future leaders in our country. It’s time to make a difference and I’m starting it RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW!- AKO ANG SIMULA!............................
There are also some unforgettable moments during the SONA like the 3 kids from Payatas who wrote their wishes in a toy boat made of paper(bangkang papel) and then released it at the Pasig River and the walk-out of some opposition legislators who can’t take the lies that the president was saying (that’s according to them). Another was that for every achievement that the president said was responded by a standing ovation for those who are in the plenary specially her allies.
Amidst the 8 SONA's she had delivered in the past, there is only one question that was easily formulated in my mind; where are those achievements and promises that Pres. Arroyo mentioned in her SONA? Why can’t we visibly see the effects of those solutions to the real problem we are facing specially in poverty and education? In the 8 SONA’s, there will always be mentioned such as improvement in the quality of education, additional classrooms, 1:1 ratio of books, less drop-outs in public schools. Where can we find it? Name a school that has all this stuffs? In the rural areas, elementary students walked for 7 kilometers and even cross 26 rivers just to learn. Is that what they called accessible education? What about those who are living below the poverty line? Does their number decreases? According to them yes! But look around and you can find the answers. What about the crisis here in Mindanao? They had proudly said in the media that there were no more Abu Sayaff in Mindanao, but what happened to Ces Drilon, and the 3 Red Cross Volunteers? Why they were kidnapped?It’s been 8 long years and Mindanao was still as dangerous as it is before. What about the corruption that plagued this administration? What about the ZTE/NBN deal, the Hello Garci issue, the fertilizer fund scam, the C-5 road extension project? Were we given a satisfactory explanation from our government? We are talking of billions of pesos in those projects and let me remind that those were taxpayers’ money. What about those who were involved in this scandal, were they properly interrogated? What about the extrajudicial killings? Were they given justice? These are the questions that for the past 9 years, no acceptable answers were given. I believe that these issues and scandals will soon be forgotten as she steps down in position, that if she will step down.
What makes this last SONA more interesting is that the House of Representatives will open their last session under the term of Pres. Arroyo. Take note that before they recessed their sessions a month ago, they magically approved H.R 1109 convening the House of Representatives as a constituent Assembly even without the participation of the Senate. Now everyone specially those who are in the opposition, political and law experts and every single vigilant Filipino are waiting and watching if the House of Representatives will now convene as a Constituent Assembly and start to amend the constitution and eventually change the form of government into a parliamentary. Every one of us knew that convening the congress right after the SONA is illegal and unconstitutional, but what else is new? Remember that the content of HR 1109 was also illegal and unconstitutional. It was clearly said in the 1987 constitution that the House of Congress cannot convene themselves as a constituent assembly without the participation of the senate and the senate didn’t even attempted to discuss con-ass and cha-cha in their sessions. So we must expect the unexpected in the SONA later. Rallies by the opposition and some church leaders were already prepared to counterpart the SONA of Pres. Arroyo. The opposition always insisting that the real SONA were the rallies and noise barrage in the streets and not on the paper and in the 4 corners of the House of Representatives.
Let me clear myself that I am not a pro or an anti Arroyo, what am I is a pro government. I go for those in which the majority will benefit. I stand and fight in whatever means I can in actions that will completely destroy the future of our country. Yes I agree that the Arroyo administration has done its best in providing solutions to the problems they inherit from the previous administration.
It’s time for us youth to stand up and fight for the future of our country. We must learn a lesson from this administration as the future leaders in our country. It’s time to make a difference and I’m starting it RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW!- AKO ANG SIMULA!............................
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