‘SONA deficient, defective, divisive’

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) was “deficient, defective, and divisive,” meant to lower the expectations of Filipinos on his capacity to run the country, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said yesterday.

In his “counter-SONA,” the opposition lawmaker said Mr. Aquino’s SONA was generally a partisan press release, not a blueprint for development and policy direction, as minority lawmakers had expected.

“(It was) a complaint sheet, a compendium of motherhood statements and a continuation of campaign rhetoric,” he said.

Lagman said his counter-SONA sought to correct Mr. Aquino’s allegations against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.?The House minority had waited to be informed of Mr. Aquino’s legislative agenda, he added. ?Lagman said instead of presenting a roadmap on policies and programs, the President gave a discourse on inherited problems that overwhelm him and painted an atmosphere of woe with very tentative and deficient solutions.?“The SONA was bereft of specifics or particulars,” he said.

“His proposals were virtually hanging in the air and most probably, he expected Congress to fill in the blanks.

“Or was it purposely vague or ‘safe’ so that the people could not hold him accountable for a concrete program once it fails?”?Lagman said he has been cautioned to go slow on the SONA because Mr. Aquino enjoys a tremendously high approval rating.

“But when the Emperor wears no clothes, can I honestly tell you that his robe is regal and majestic?” he said.?Lagman said Mr. Aquino suffers from a “prosecutor’s complex” made evident when he announced that he will sign an executive order to create a Truth Commission to investigate alleged misdeeds of Arroyo while in office.?“(Mr. Aquino’s ) divisive disposition plants a wedge among our people and leaders, instead of integrating and unifying sectors of society and institutions,” he said.?Lagman said Mr. Aquino was apparently fed wrong information by assistants and some members of the Cabinet.? “Nakuryente ang Presidente despite the fact that his SONA was not electrifying,” he said.

“Not realizing that he was given wrong data, false statistics and flawed analyses, he still appealed to Congress that these errant appointees should breeze through the Commission on Appointments. This is shockingly aggravating.”?Lagman said Mr. Aquino failed to mention several more important issues, like how he will pursue and achieve sustainable human development and how it would improve and enhance the principal human development indicators like health, education, food security, employment, mass housing and the environment.? “The agrarian reform program was completely forgotten despite having been the centerpiece program of the late President Corazon Aquino,” he said.? “(There was a) default on the promotion of human rights and protection of civil liberties, except a passing mention of six extrajudicial killings very early in the Aquino administration which are claimed to being addressed.”?Mr. Aquino also failed to mention his stand on overseas Filipino workers and labor issues; climate change mitigation and adaptation; the Freedom of Information Bill; and debt service, Lagman said.?

Migrante: SONA was bland?President Aquino’s SONA was bland (“matabang), according to Migrante International.

Garry Martinez, Migrante chairman, said Mr. Aquino merely stated the obvious in a SONA empty of merit.

“(Mr.) Aquino said that we can dream again, but there was no mention at all of plans that would give hope to millions of overseas Filipino workers,” he said.

“What of the dreams of those 102 in death row, 1,655 victims of human trafficking hundreds in jail, more than 10,000 stranded in other countries and the six to 10 remains of OFWs arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) every day?”

Martinez said OFWs worldwide are “very disappointed” with Mr. Aquino’s SONA because contrary to their expectations, he did not deliver concrete plans for migrant workers.

“We were not shocked at all by the figures he brandished, we were expecting them after nine years of Gloria Arroyo,” he said.

“But he failed to mention figures that are a matter of life and death to OFWs.”

Martinez said OFWs badly need the release of the P150-million repatriation and legal assistance funds from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

They also want the investigation of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration funds, which has been subject to numerous allegations of misuse, he added.

Martinez said the mandatory $25 OFW contributions to OWWA are believed to have reached P12 billion this year, on top of other compulsory fees imposed on OFWs.

“It seems that only big businesses and foreign investors are allowed to dream in his speech,” he said.

“Public-private partnership in deference to foreign investments and our continuing dependence on export is precisely the blueprint for forced migration and cheap labor export.

“It has come to a point where our very own labor force are being utilized to cater to foreign and multinational demands or their services outright exported as if they were produced.”

Martinez said they are waiting for a categorical statement from Mr. Aquino that he would deviate form the Arroyo administration’s labor export policy and focus on national industrialization and genuine land reform.

“But from the looks of it, his thrust to intensify privatization, commercialization and adherence to the global market further douses all hopes for OFWs,” he said.

Martinez said the development of national industries and agriculture is very essential in stopping migration of workers.

“It would stop the general sense of desperation and hopelessness that have been driving our people to dream the impossible dream abroad,” he said.

Martinez said currently 11 million OFWs are leaving the country at a daily rate.

“Remittances of OFWs have reached a record high of $1.6 billion last May,” he said.

OFW remittances have kept the Philippine economy afloat amid fiscal deficit and the global economic crisis, Martinez said.

Women disappointed at SONA

Women’s rights advocates expressed disappointment yesterday in Mr. Aquino’s lack of a definite stand on the Reproductive Health bill in his SONA

Clara Rita Padilla, EnGenderRights executive director, said they would have wanted him to cover other matters like the passage of the Reproductive Health bill into law.

“It would have been good if he raised the issue of the passage into law of a comprehensive RH bill as a priority agenda,” she said.

“If he says that he is a president of the people then addressing issues such as access to reproductive health information and services, and sex education for adolescents are primary issues related to women’s and adolescents’ rights, public health and poverty.”

Padilla said half of all pregnancies in the country are unintended, and that one third of these end in abortion.

“In the Philippines, 11 women die daily due to pregnancy and childbirth causes and about 1,000 die yearly from complications due to unsafe birth,” she said.

Aquino dared to ensure safety of journalists

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – President Aquino is being challenged by Filipino journalists to ensure their safety.?Nestor Burgos, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines president, said government must ensure a more secure environment for journalists so they do not lose their lives in the performance of their work.

“As watchdog of government, the media will continue to scrutinize the present administration and will be uncompromising in reporting the truth to the public,” he said.?Burgos said if Mr. Aquino’s administration would be true to his promise of reforms, he should ensure unhampered access of information to the public to allow journalists to do their jobs.

Mr. Aquino did not mention in his SONA the Freedom of Information Bill that would ensure transparency of government transactions, he added.

Burgos said Mr. Aquino made no categorical statement ensuring justice for victims of the Maguindanao massacre and an end to the killings of journalists.?Mr. Aquino was also silent on massive contractualization in the media industry, low wages of employees and worsening retrenchment and termination even of regular employees, he added. —Paolo Romero, Jose Rodel Clapano, Helen Flores, Artemio Dumlao, (The Philippine Star)