That was the lousiest State-of-the-Nation Address I have ever heard. To begin with, the President showed disrespect to his listeners by speaking for more than two hours. The duty to report on the state of the nation is mandated by the Constitution itself. In the discharge of this obligation, the President should have been more considerate to the Filipino people struggling to survive on a day-to-day basis. Simply put, it was gross disrespect for the people- whom he described as his bosses- when he took more than two hours of their time largely for matters that should not have been included in a SONA in the first place.
After five years, the people have earned the right to expect that the President will summarize his accomplishments thus far in the SONA. He instead wasted the first 50 minutes of his speech engaging in his favorite pasttime: bashing everyone for the mess that he found when he assumed office. This would be fine had this been his first and second SONA in order to lay the basis for the Herculean task of rebuilding. But five years later, this is wholly unacceptable. Yes, there were obstacles in the beginning of his term which could be attributed to his predecessor. But after five years in office, he should have been able to address these challenges had he only governed well. The reality is that PNoy spent a lot of time condemning the past regime because he has failed to govern. In other words, he continues to rant about the past because he did nothing to clear the mess that he found at the beginning of his term. Ironically, his never-ending tirades against PGMA are also a strong condemnation of his own malfeasance and misfeasance.
Then he enumerated his alleged accomplishments. He began by singling out his appointees for their integrity. But shouldn’t the accomplishments of these appointees be attributed to them and not to the appointing power? He cited Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, former Commission on Audit Chairperson Grace Pulido-Tan, and Bureau of Interval Revenue Chief Kim Henares as examples of his appointees with integrity.
But what about the scoundrels such as former Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, Technology Education Skills Development Authority Secretary Joel Villanueva, Transportation and Communication Secretary Joseph Abaya, former Health Secretary Enrique Ona, Budget Secretary Butch Abad, Moro Islamic Liberation Front collaborator Teresita Deles, PEACE bond scam mastermind Corazon Soliman, all of whom have been embroiled in one scandal after another?
It seems clear that while PNoy cited four gems among his appointees, they simply were outnumbered by rotten appointees embroiled in never ending scandals.
He cited alleged gains in the economic front including unprecedented GNP and GDP growth, increase in foreign direct investments, and supposed increase in employment. While all these economic indicators may have indeed increased, the question is: did it benefit the poor among us? The answer is a resounding NO! Bayan Muna Party -List Rep Neri Colmenares cites that the wealth of Filipino billionaires listed by Forbes magazine increased by 250 percent from 2010 to 2015. Compare this to the increase in the minimum wage for the same period, which increased by a measly 3.5 percent. This means that while economic indicators indeed increased, it did not translate to inclusive growth. Hence, the rich became even richer and the poor became poorer.
He then enumerated one infrastructure project after another. Goodness! This should not have been included in a SONA simply because any government, provided there is a national budget, could have built the infrastructure. He also boasted about the Conditional Cash Transfer. How can he claim credit for a program started and implemented by his predecessor?
If at all, PNoy could only claim credit for legislation such as the RH Law, the Competition Law and the Cabotage Law. The problem here is that credit should go to Congress for these laws and not to the President. Moreover, for every law passed, there was a bill not enacted to law. The FOI bill is one such bill.
The worst part of the speech was the never-ending expression of gratitude to his family, hairdresser and Yaya. At one point, I thought PNoy had to thank his yaya and hair dresser because they were true members of his Cabinet, responsible for his lousy policies. Levity aside, when the Constitution required the State-of-the-Nation Address, it was not so that the President could thank everyone in his life, both private and public. He can do that as he leaves Malacanang before noon on June 30, 2016.
So what did he not say? Plenty.
There was nothing on his promise to protect and promote human rights. This is consistent with his policy to completely ignore human rights, including the fight against extra-legal killings, enforced disappearances and torture.
There was no mention of what he intends to do to the SAF 44. Maybe this too is consistent with his position that the SAF 44 had to be sacrificed to appease his new BFF, the MILF.
There was no mention of how he would oversee clean and peaceful elections. Maybe because he could not care less and simply wants to end his term. Maybe because his anointed one, who is currently lagging in the polls, intends to cheat? Who knows!
Despite all the shortcomings in the last SONA, the best news is that it was indeed his last! This was the good news in the SONA.
Good riddance, PNoy, and may the nation never choose a college council President ever again, particularly one who was also a foreigner for 13 years.