Skip to content

State of the Nation Address 2009: Nothing New

Our children are our most cherished possession. In their early years we must make sure they get a healthy start in life…President Gloria Arroyo

As I type this entry, I am watching the State of the Nation Address via ANC. It’s been my habit the past few years since she became President of our country. Last year, I wrote about my Mother’s Hope for the country. That’s because the President said that she always thinks of the poor and her fellow Filipinos in her State of the Nation Address (SONA 2008) . She kept saying ““I care…”

She says “I did not become president to be popular” but I can’t help thinking all the statistics and progress report she is spewing are all embellishments or the creative work of fiction from her speech writers.

1. The state of our nation is a strong economy.

2. The country weathered a succession of global crises in fuel, in food, then in finance.

3. Our economic plan centers on putting people first.

4. In the last four years tourism almost doubled to a $5B industry

5. The BPO remains resilient. With earnings of $6B and employment of 600k, the BPO phenomenon speaks eloquently of competitiveness

6. Cash handouts give the most immediate relief and produce the widest stimulating effect.

7. Our average inflation is the lowest since 1966. Last June it dropped to 1.5%. Paano? Proper policies, lowered interest rates.

8. Rent Control Law 2005-2008 allowed 8%increase, under new law, 1 year moratorium then only 7% increase.

9. We increased indigenous energy from 48% to 58%.

10. Public debt declined from 78% of GDP in 2000 to 55% in 2008.

11. The BSP will be more effective if Congress amends its Charter.

12. We call on tax-paying citizens and tax-paying businesses: help BIR and Customs spot them (those not paying taxes)

13. Taxes should come from alcohol and tobacco and not from books. Tax hazards to lungs and livers, do not tax minds

13. We built 95,000 classrooms, hired 60,000 teachers.

14. Our children are our most cherished possession. In their early years we must make sure they get a healthy start in life.

15. Foreign reserves have grown by 3 billion dollars. My foreign visits corrected historical injustices, eg US veterans compensation

16. This is the crux of her employment-making policy – export people

17. Our vigorous international engagement has helped bring in foreign investment. Net FDI multiplied 15x during our admin.

18. Obama and I will be talking about climate change and impact of recession on the poor.

19. RP economy posted uninterrupted growth for 33 quarters since 2001.

20. Real government is about looking beyond the vested national interest

21. Talk about how you will build up the nation.

22. Manny Pacquiao an epitome of a great Filipino.

23. A national problem cannot be knocked out with a single punch. A president must work with a problem as much as against it.

24. A president must be on the job 24/7, ready for any contingency, any crisis, anywhere, anytime.

25. I have not flinched, I have not faltered. Hindi ako umatras sa hamon.

26. And I have not ever done any of the things that have scared my worst critics so much. They are frightened by their own shadows.

27. I have never expressed the desire to extend myself beyond my term

28. I’m falsely accused, without proof, of using my office for personal profit. I am accused of misgovernance.

29. Those who live in glass houses should not cast stones, those who should be in jail should not threaten it, esp if they have been there.

30. Governance is not about looking back and getting even. It’s about looking forward and giving more–to the people.

The nation comes first?

Noticed how president GMA said “At the end of this speech I will step down from this stage, but not from the presidency. My term does not end until next year.” or ” I have never expressed the desire to extend myself beyond my term”. She does not make a categorical statement that she won’t run for office or prevent the Constituent Assembly (CONASS) to implement a Charter Change before the 2010 Election. She neither said Yes nor No that she won’t run.

Ouch and I think this is addressed to Senator Mar Roxas. “To those who want to be president, If you want something done, do it hard, do it well. Dont pussyfoot and don’t say bad words.”

Well, I won’t say bad words, President Arroyo but my golly, I do admire your creative speech writers for turning out a great work of fiction and fantasy.

Geesh, I know what you mean “Our children are our most cherished possession. In their early years we must make sure they get a healthy start in life” but please, what have you been all doing to ensure the future of our children. We did our part. Now do your share.

Here is the complete text of her SONA Speech.

You might want to check these other blog entries

How much of these claims are FACT and how much is FICTION?
Fact Checks 1
Fact Checks 2

Number-crunching, Lying and Arroyo’s SONA

The State of the Filipino Nation

21 thoughts on “State of the Nation Address 2009: Nothing New”

  1. Geesh, I know what you mean “Our children are our most cherished possession. In their early years we must make sure they get a healthy start in life” but please, what have you been all doing to ensure the future of our children. We did our part. Now do your share.

    Amen…

  2. Una s lahat hindi ko ito inilhad pra sumang ayon o tumaliwas sa SONA 2009 ng Pangulong Gloria Arroyo.

    Hindi na nararapat pang ilahad lahat ng pangako at lahat ng natupad ng nino mang umupo s pagka Pangulo ng Pilipinas.
    Nangako ng kaayusan, kapayapaan, trabaho, edukasyon, sariling tahanan,pagkain sa bawat mesa ng masang Pilipino.

    May ilang nakakakita ng kagandaan ngunit mas marami ang nakakakita ng kapalpakan at katiwaliaan.

    Naghirap o naghihirap man ang bawat isang Pilipino, Hindi man natin ito ginusto, lalo namang hindi ginusto at gugustuhin ng Pamahalaan na mag hirap ang kanilang sinasakupan.

    Ibinigay mo na ang kamay, pati ba nman braso ay aasahan?
    Tama na magbigay ngunit ‘wag nating subuan.
    Tama lang na humingi ngunit ‘wag maging tamad,
    tumanggap ngunit ‘wag iasa sa kanila ang lahat.

    Laging bukang bibig nating mga Pilipino na tayo ay may kalayaang magpahayag ng damdamin o saloobin. Ngunit ‘wag din nting kalimutan na tayo ay may kalayaan din na magtrabaho at magsumikap.
    Marami mang kabataang nagugutom, marami din namang napapakain.
    Di man sapat, ‘wag naman nating sabihing kulang.

    Hindi sila umuupo sa pwesto para turuan ang mga Pilipino na maging tamad.
    Isa rin po akong Pilipino, tumanggap ngunit masasabi kong hindi ako umaasa.
    Kaylan ba tayo nakuntento? At kaylan ba tayo makukuntento?.

    Gusto ng pagbabago ngunit mismo ang bawat isang Pilipino hindi kayang magbago.
    Tinulungan mo na, may nasasabi pa…

  3. salamat po kung sinuman po ang gumawa ng site na 2 dhil may magagawan na po ako ng assignment ko sa A.P. maraming salamat po hope yung ibang assignment ko tungkol sa news naandito thans po

  4. well,ok nmn sona nya. Shes right,lahat ng mga nag rereact realy so insecure to her dahil sa dami ng ibinabatong accused sa kanya until now she still our president,im proud of her. Yeah..maybe corrupt nga sya,but lets not blame on her all,why??sya lang ba ang nka-upo jan sa gobyerno?? hows the government in your place?,some of the people in … Read Moregovernment,and iiba ng ta-take advantage coz they know na ang – be;blame din lang ng mga tao ay ang president.
    yong mga natatamaan sa sona nya.like some of senators who wants to be a president,its a ponder on them,di sila dapat magalit. Some critic said hindi maganda and sinabing iyon ni GMA na parang nanghahamon,,,for me its ok,at least for the last time in her sona naipapalabas nya lahat ng gusto nyang sabihi.
    Im still proud of our president,if we want changes and progress in our country start it in ourself. Its in our hand the success of our country.

  5. What I don’t like about a lot of people’s opinions is that some of their claims are unfounded. @Michelle, did she really promise food for every poor Filipino? Is that a possible feat? Where is your empirical data or hard evidence that she promised this? To the writer of the article, where is your evidence that what GMA has said is fiction? Is building 95,000 classrooms fiction? It’s just that you judge with the wrong criteria. Could you please prove to us that each of the 30 points stated in your article are actually fiction with empirical data? Your article deserves fair judgement for both sides, not a biased opinion column clearly lacking in research. You think she was lying with her SONA, because you think she was lying before? If we follow your pattern of logic, is it fitting to say that liars only tell lies? Is GMA absolutely evil? Is your criteria for judging her fair, or is it mixed with personal bias and anger?

    People fail to see the fact that the president is actually doing her job, however, with the massive rate of the growth of our population, population still exceeds development. Why the hell are people so concerned with GMA this and GMA that, when one day she will be dead? One day, GMA and all her allies will be dead anyway. Why are people afraid that Congress will elect GMA as premier, if the Filipino people themselves have voted the congressmen we have now, to Congress? The government only governs some aspects of our lives, not all. Are most of the problems in the Philippines only her fault such that it is only fitting to cast such a skewed perspective that she must be the root of all evil in Philippine government? If 2/3 of the Congress do vote for a constituent assembly, it is only fitting that it will happen because it is written in OUR laws that it is legal to do so. Don’t think yourself as superior to the laws. Don’t challenge those laws if you aren’t willing to change them. How will these laws change? If people started considering Charter Change. If people stopped thinking for a moment about the political ambitions of other people, would they start thinking of the good that Charter Change could actually do for our corruption-riddled system of governance? Have you actually noticed that most of her SONA is not about her, but actually about our country? All this time you waste bashing some people could be put to good use if you spend your time being the change you want to see in our country. The Filipino people who patronize vote-buying and vote for popular candidates who have little qualification are actually guilty of tolerating the culture of corruption so deeply embedded in our government. The government is not absolutely bad, but it is certainly not absolutely good. If you want this culture of corruption to stop, TELL other people not to accept money from vote-buying to stop the practice. Encouraging them to accept the money under the reason that it is taxpayers’ money will only perpetuate the practice. You live your life being so critical of the government, but you do little to actually change how it runs. Whatever political party you support certainly has its own share of trapos and crooks and liars and half-truth tellers. People are so quick to forget that there are a lot more of other politicians in government who are corrupt, why aren’t you people tracking them down? Why is it the billions of pesos are plundered right under our noses? It’s because Filipinos tolerate this system. Ayaw ninyo magbago yung Charter? Then be happy with this system. Thank you.

    1. wow..jug hah….tama ung mga comments mo….kung ayaw natin sa chacha…we should be contented sa sistema ng gobyerno m,eron tayo…
      isa pa…kung guzto natin ng pagbabago….simulan natin sa ating sarili… hindi ung padalos dalos tayo ng batikos eh tapos,,,wala naman pla tayong ngawang tama para mapabuti ung gobyerno…
      Pero minsan rin kasi…nadadala rin kasi tayo ng takot kaya tumatahimik nlang tayo sa nakikita nating mali sa paligid…kah8 ndi tama ang vote buying…sige nlang go nalang…tannggap nalang kz talagang sila rin naman ang uupo sa pwesto at uubusin ang kaban ng bayan,,,in result si president ang tatapunan ng batikos….
      actually…ndi ako mahilig sa mga political comments…but touch ang heart ko eh….
      mag-isip nalang tayo kung anong maitutulong natin sa gobyerno sa paraang alam natin at simple…

  6. yeah your absolutely right jag..I agree with you. Ewan ko ba sa mga taong ang kikitid ng mga isip at ganon na lang nila iniisip ang kasamaan ng pangulo.. ask your self “what can i do for our government?” hindi yong “what the government can do to me”…

  7. I find it very ironic that some GMA critics are complaining about how the economy is bad and that millions of Filipinos are actually starving, and that they spend millions of pesos in TV ads of themselves, instead of spending the money on some of these hungry people of which they speak. They have enough money to hold very expensive political campaigns, but when hungry Filipinos are in need, they point to the government. Ironically, most of them are part of the government.

    One more thing, I don’t enjoy how Erap is being touted as a potential president candidate. I, along with others, find the notion of electing someone whom we had tried to impeach, disturbing. Known to have made Malacañang a gambling and drinking den at night. Has been reputed to have just two appointments in a day, and would still cancel one of them. An actor by profession who never even graduated high school. Elected to 1998 as president by basis of popularity, and not qualification. Known to have had underdeclared his actual assets, known to have had PHP 500 million+ in personal accounts, PHP 189 million in the Jose Velarde accounts, PHP 200 million in the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation which were all declared forfeited in favor of the government. How did he amass such wealth? Illegal use of alias ‘Jose Velarde’ to hide the true identity of the owner of multi-billion peso accounts. Well ask him. Perhaps acting pays big, especially in government. He is not known to manage any big business which can amass such wealth. Fine, I will let go of the fact that he was pardoned right after he was convicted. But, I will not accept him if he were elected as president once more. The Wikipedia page entitled ‘The Trial of Joseph Estrada’ is super-whitewashed with information that tries to cast him in a good light. He is the Thaksin of the Philippines, sympathizing with poor and taking advantage of their gullibility in order to garner him the numbers to re-elect himself as President. He claims to be a ‘person for the masses’ but he’s the one who hides unexplainable wealth behind their backs. Maybe he is not guilty of stealing from taxpayers’ money, but there are also things such as kickbacks that can be repaid with such things as ‘presidential favors’. A lot of politicians practice kickbacks. In that sense, he used his position for monetary advantage. He couldn’t explain the billions of pesos he held, billions of Erap pesos imprinted in international magazines such as TIME magazine, touting Erap as one of the most corrupt politicians in history in terms of wealth amassed. This is my opinion, hopefully, others have their own opinions in order to defend Erap. Haha. I just hope they have the evidence to back your claims, if you have any. He was seen gambling in casinos with cronies, would you want a gambler president to gamble with the fate of our country, that is if you elect him president come 2010 Philippine Elections?

    1. yeah..your absolutley right…dapat maraming makabasa sa comments mo para maliwanagan sila.
      Erap is not a good leader for us..napapa top 10 pa nmn xa sa survey so bad… mga tao talaga ang kikitid ng mga utak… sa huli sila rin and may maraming reklamo.

  8. i dont think you have the right idea to be in favor of PGMA. She is nothing but a trash. Yes, ERAP had been corrupt but PGMA is more corrupt than him. If she is doing her job well, she will not get any comment from people. She will not be in the news for almost everyday of our lives. There will be no critics as what stated on her SONA. And yes, people might not be contented because she make people realize that she is doing her best for the nation but the truth is she is doing her best just for her own sake. Those who are favor on her in Congress, well good luck to all of you. You are just in her favor because i believe you are getting something from her I just don’t know what it is. MAybe power? Money? Security? or whatever she can give you in order for you to stay by her side all the time.. You are just like her dogs. She will ask you to stand or to sit or to crawl or even to bite whenever she want to. And sadly she will just throw you and kill you if you don’t know how to obey.. All of you are so pathetic. PGMA made you believe that she loves you, No, she only needs you to guide her, to teach her on how she will be a corrupt leader but appearing as if she is still a good leader to all..

  9. @gel

    Where’s your evidence that GMA is more corrupt than Erap Estrada? By the way, everyone has critics, don’t forget that. And of course, those people who are on her side in Congress, well not all of them are supporting her for money, wealth or power. They might actually believe in what she does, because she is at the least doing her job as President properly and that we can’t complain that she’s lazy. She does not ask anyone to stand or sit or crawl, why don’t you meet her in person first? Before you judge her? Right?

    Until GMA is convicted by a court of the judicial system, reserve your judgement first. Innocent until proven guilty, as dictated by a democracy. The only problem with our mediocre country is that everyone thinks that everyone else is guilty until proven innocent. Judges will have to judge the evidence that her critics have against her and weigh it against the defense of her allies, before giving a verdict. Don’t prejudge things, she will probably get her trial someday and it will either convict or vindicate her. The trial need not be on Earth. Don’t act like a saint condemning her for things that she has not yet been convicted for. Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone is a victim of unfair media and unfair prejudgment from critics who are bent to prove that they are saints and you are sinners.

  10. @gel, by the way, who said I’m in favor of GMA? I’m just giving BOTH sides analysis. ISN’T THAT WHAT FAIR JUDGES SHOULD DO? So before you call anyone trash, consider her side first, thanks.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *