Whew times flies so fast ! It was just one year ago, July 28, 2009 when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave the 2008 State of the Nation Address.
This coming Monday, July 27, 2009, our President will again give her annual State of the Nation address or better known as SONA 2009.
This I believe the 2009 State of the Nation Address is one of the most important, considering that it will be her last one. Well it remains to be seen if it will be her last one as only the president knows what her real intentions are. (Anti-adminstration camps always insist that the President hopes to remain in power and in order to achieve this they will do this by cha-cha or charter change through a con-con or constituent assembly)
As far I am concerned, she gave her word that there will be an election on 2010. But mind you she never said unequivocally that she would neither run for any elective post nor did she say anything about being nominated as prime minister. Did I just catch the paranoia of the anti-administration side? heheheheh 🙂 As far as I am concerned she might just do any of the above so get ready to get some election promotional materials or promotional pens from her. 🙂
As usual, both camps has prepared for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s 2009 State of the Nation Address. The administration has beefed up security in the House of Representathieves. Sorry, I mean Representatives (Why do I always misspell this) 🙂 The police force is getting ready to maintain peace and order in case protestors become troublesome. Protestors on the other hand are busy planning, organizing and even ferrying people from far flung provinces just to form a huge crown in time for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s 2009 state of the nation address. Some anti-administration congressmen are planning to boycott the State of the nation address and join the protestors in the street instead.
So what can we expect from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s 2009 State of the Nation Address? Well, an executive summary given to the Inquirer revealed that she will renew calls for amending the 1987 Constitution. According to the executive summary, the last point that the president will make is that “. . . the push for constitutional reform has to be continued, to achieve a more effective basis for legislation that can hasten the advancement of the nation to its desired status in the global community.”
Other stuff that will be discussed in the 2009 state of the Nation address is of course the ongoing global crisis and our economic resiliency plans, climate change, education, programs of the administration more specifically with regards to trade and investments, agribusiness, mining, tourism, environment, energy and technology, achieving peace and order by crushing terrorism and rebellion and of course addressing the issue of corruption.
I don’t know if the President will use some gimmicks this time such as Bankang papel or the much criticized and publicized “Mang Pandoy” stunt of President Ramos. However I do believe that given a choice, the president will probably choose not to give the 2009 state of the nation address considering the trouble that comes with it. Unfortunately giving out the State of the Nation address is not just something that the president wants to do. This is a constitutional duty that the president has to execute as stated in Article VII, Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution.
In fairness to President Arroyo, in the 2008 State of the Nation Address, she outlined a specific strategy on how to address the global economic crisis and true enough we weren’t as badly hit as the rest of the world. Is it because of her economic genius or that she has really done something good for the nation or is it because she is just “one lucky bitch” as described by one of her closest economic advisers. (Forgive the language but this is the exact words used by Economic advisor and Albay Governor Joey Salceda) 🙂
My own personal opinion is not that it has something to do with luck. But it is probably a combination of the President doing something good for the nation and that the Philippines is not as badly hit because we are not as sophisticated in terms of our financial instruments compared to other nations plus the fact that our institutions are not that exposed considering the fact that our capital markets are very small. Critics may disagree with me but believe it or not, the job of the President in balancing the budget, balancing GNP and GDP growth achieving inflation targets among other things is no small feat. Considering that we are where we are right now in terms of not being so badly hit by the world crisis, my advice to critics is to give the president a little credit because she deserves it. Her administration may be rocked by scandals, graft and corruption but at least she somehow contributed to getting us through this global economic mess.
I have no problems with critics, lashing out against the administration for corruption, inefficiency, bureaucratic red tape among other things. However I believe that we should give credit where credit is due and that we should be more constructive in our criticism instead of being obstinately and unreasonably critical. Besides I am not alone in my assesment. A study conducted by the University of Asia and the Pacific finds the “cute economist” as “the most likely president to have her economic legacy felt by future generations” (Although I agree with the assesment of the UA&P I don’t totally agree with the “cute” assesment hehehehe):-)
Anyway, I will not try to make President Arroyo’s 2009 State of the Nation address nor the opinion of her critics add to my problems at least I already contributed my two cents to this importantly national issue. Instead of making this a problem, I’ll just invite you to watch the State of the Union of President Bush in 2004. Perhaps the President Arroyo can get a tip or two from him just like the clip I posted last year hehehehe 🙂
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=) the most numbered SONA delivered by a President in our countr.Her SONA gave us more doubtful questions if she really would like to reliquished her throne as the second female President of the Philippine Republic…,is she leaving the presidency or not?More questions than answers to her 9th SONA…PGMA is really small but terrible.