Albert Don Lee A.

Atienza

MANAORG C31

11405368

07/30/14

SONA 2014: A Drama of Hide and Seek

On the 28th of July, President Aquino delivered his longest State Of the Nation Address
yet. The House and the spectators gave him around 85 applauses on his hour and a half long speech,
but it seemed very different from the event a few days ago, when not everyone dared to wear a
yellow ribbon for his cause. Though he did not dare to mention his enemies specifically and his
shortcomings the preceding months, he did mention the achievements of his administration and
made sure his eyes are not dry after his speech.

Without reservation, his speech contained many of the achievements of his presidency and little
of the other side of the coin. We were given data to make us believe what he was flagging such as
the number of infrastructure project we had or the amount of money given to TESDA for their
programs. However, these data would not be much of good use if the audience sense little of this.

HIs Excellency has done incremental improvements since last year. As mentioned before,
TESDA received P1.6 billion for their fund. This fund, as he stated, granted scholarships to
223,615 beneficiaries and 146,731 graduates are currently working. It did help mitigate the
unemployment rate and support the families in need of these. Furthermore, he was proud of the
Expanded Conditional Cash Transfer Program. With a budget of P12.3 billion, there is a decrease of
the poverty rate to 24.9% in the first quarter of 2013. In addition, the government, particularly the
Department of Public Works and Highways, doubled the budget for infrastructures and minimising
corruption on these projects. This resulted to Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3, Ternate-Nasugbu
Road, Basilan Circumferential Road and Aluling Bridge and paved 12,184 km of roads. He was
undoubtedly sure that the increase in investment grading for multiple companies has improved our
economy, as the data shows and as he sees it. He also made references to Armed Forces of
Philippines modernisation and Philippine National Police 1:1 pistol to police ratio. Lastly, he
included the limited casualties of the recent Typhoon Glenda. As a speech for the nations state, he
made sure to get the audience believe his good performance thought his surveys told a different
story.

President Aquino showed us a lot about his good performance, but he did hide a lot of issues
from us. One of the most obvious is the nearing breaking of his promise of self-sufficiency in rice.
Back then, the people were optimistic of this ambitious goal, but their faith seems dwindling today
with another major importation of rice. Some may say this is probably done to eradicate hoarders
due to the low prices of these imports. Then, the hoarders will experience losses and will turn their
back to hoarding. However, as we put it, we have little in our hands to bring justice to these
hoarders such as filing of anti-trust charges, and have little improvement in our agricultural sector
given that the past month, we can hardly use garlic in our cooking and the controversy surrounding
the use of funds for agriculture. This might be a reason of not mentioning his colleague Sec. Alcala
for a job well done, given that he mentioned of investigation in concerned agencies.

In addition, he was boastful of his performance of eradicating corruption and why should we trust
him. Nevertheless he did not even mention the Freedom Of Information Act. As concerned citizens,
we should have an instrument to check on the accountability of what is the government doing with
the money that is by the people and for the people. He was appreciative of the better tax collection
Commissioner Henares made. But, we can not be sure that this money will not go to someones
pocket for the sake of preparing for the elections. Our parents do know the line between
contributions to the welfare of the society and food to satisfy humans hunger for money in
Page 1 of 3

Albert Don Lee A. Atienza

MANAORG C31

11405368

07/30/14

surrendering 30% of their hard-earned money. After all, as Atty. De Jesus put it, Accountability
isnt about seeing the untouchables in jail, but about getting everyone involved served with justice.
Moreover, the youth compromises a third of the population yet his only direct reference was
making sure they like farming. Whereas, the youth was left hanging for his words on the
Sangguniang Kabataan. It is important to remember that in order to enlighten our future leaders we
should expose them to governing even in small scale manner. The youth sector has been a very
powerful force in imposing transformations, and ironically the theme of his speech was
transformation. Moreover, in order for them to live to the day they see their fellow youth become
leaders, the government should have done something to protect them, especially in a place where
they spend most of their time: school. Our fellow La Sallian left the world due to the ever present
hazing. We have the measure yet they are not implemented, some say this is because the lawmakers
themselves have done hazing before. We, the youth, have the rights and responsibility for nation
building, and the government should be aware of this.

In order for us to exercise the rights, we should be educated. The President mentioned of the
impressive budget of TESDA, but ignored the education that we should be moulding. If they seek
people for nation building, then they should invest more on substantial education. Why put a lot of
budget on TESDA when the students in public schools have multiple labyrinths? Why spend so
much on that when some teachers just let the student pass so it will not affect their reputation?
Consequently, some students who have graduated high school can not even tell the difference
between their and theyre" tell the square root of 121, or say that Eygpt is in Europe. People,
especially the marginalised, are more likely to enrol in the shortest education for the job and money
they desperately need. It is beneficial for the multinational companies looking for people who will
change the bed lines or call centre agents. Unfortunately, even college graduates become call centre
agents. They should provide education that make the youth become a critical learner and an
effective communicator for the sake of improving their intellectual capabilities. Nevertheless, the
vocational training might be of some use for the short-run but dangerous for the long-run.

Furthermore, we need an outlet for this educated people, this implies we need a liveable quality
of life. The President gave us a glimpse of the available jobs in the future. It was a good number but
a futile presentation. He may have made some people optimistic regarding these jobs, but there are
some who have to go through needle holes for a job. He did not present where the jobs could be
found. Is it nationwide or will it be condensed to the NCR? Moreover, the people who have jobs are
indeed making a living but does not live. With the sky high prices of basic utilities like electricity,
water and crude, a middle-class family, not disregarding the low class, will surely scratch their
heads every time the word hike is said on the television. On the infrastructures, the traffic woes are
getting worse by the day. Just to leave Taft Avenue in rush hour will take you an hour at best.
Commuting is equally disturbing, if one is patient enough, then be prepared for that skin to skin
moment and start practicing on how to hold you breath. Walking? I suggest you bring on a mask to
conquer that pollution and pepper spray just in case you get into trouble for that nice outfit. In that
case, the government should regulate if not revert to the public ownership of basic utility
companies. Given as such, we need this information to be available, and the government should
take steps on improving our quality of life.

Equally important, His Excellency was proud of our improved economy and better investment
grading yet this can not be felt by the usual Juan. The country has indeed increased its Gross
National Product, but its effect is usually on the cities. Take the example of Bonifacio Global City, it
truly is a wonderful city with wide sidewalks, high-rise building, and savvy park. However, once
Page 2 of 3

Albert Don Lee A. Atienza

MANAORG C31

11405368

07/30/14

you have crossed the borders outward the city, one would see the contrasting glass covered
buildings with the D-I-Y houses surrounding it, ready to become a huge bonfire and the least we
can do is hope for the people living there not to become a barbecue. It is obvious that we see a
drizzle down effect, an event where the people at the top with the least number get the most
resources while the people below with the greatest number receive least. It is evident that there is a
huge gap in income and social standing, a form of social injustice, a contrasting feature of inclusive
growth. Mr. President, where is the inclusive growth you were talking about?

Lastly, our national security is still in question. Though our PNP has improved resources, they are
still awful if not awfuller than before. The crime rate has tone higher the past months. Even an
attorney is getting impatient with slow and tedious gun registration. How can someone have a good
time if they keep looking over their shoulders? Also, he avoided the topic regarding the territorial
dispute with China. The Philippines used to be a regional power, but today, it is a black sheep ready
to be eaten by a dragon. National security is now something that Filipinos have a concern of.

Given that, the President still has many opportunities ahead of him, though he had burned some
already. One of these, in order to eradicate poverty, he has to eradicate corruption which is
interconnected with the fact the corrupt politicians use this money to buy the votes of the poor. Pres.
Aquino has been trying so hard to break this chain. But he should also implement reforms in the
civil service, to make sure they are happy in serving people rather than controlling people. His
theme of transformation is beginning to take shape but not in the way we expected it to be.

Without a doubt, his hard works are in question and may end unexpectedly. To illustrate, he was
proud of the expanded conditional cash transfer program, but a person who lives in a community is
aware that it is not distributed properly, reaching the people who currently have a good income
since their family members are OFWs. Questions also arise in respect to claiming the money such
as Did you vote for me? Besides, his programs and platform should be sustainable in order to
reach the goal of a wonderful nation. One is not certain if his anti-corruption drives will push
through to the next administration given the nearing election especially if he, himself, has stated in
his speech about his possible assassination.

It is preferable to call his speech a performance. A performance of drama of hide and seek. His
speech did not directly attack his enemies nor did it show the dark side of the nation. The speech
was more of trying to get the peoples sympathy with his emotional acts than addressing the
nations state. However, people are more vigilant nowadays. He showed the people a lot of data
regarding the improvements, but does everybody care on those data? The people speak of what they
see and what they see is the reality, the reality of problems still rooted in the society that some
people need to be more than persevered just to get through the day. Mr. President, you said have
added that the Filipinos are worth fighting for. If you ever come across this prose, please tell us if
the Filipinos are worth serving for.

!
!
References:
!

http://www.gov.ph/2014/07/28/english-benigno-s-aquino-iii-fifth-state-of-the-nation-addressjuly-28-2014/

Page 3 of 3