Aliviado: The President’s SONA

TODAY, our President will deliver his first ever State of the Nation Address (Sona). I’ve listened to the news him saying somehow juicy previews about the contents of his Sona. Looks like he was dangling these previews like carrots and the media are the rabbits waiting to take a bite at them. Anyway way, we would hope that the contents would not be categorized as some of sort of telenovela scripts, that is, full of empty rhetoric or, as what they say, explosive exposes on the previous administration.

Updates on President Benigno Aquino III's presidency

Perhaps P-Noy should learn to stick to the proper agenda of his Sona, that is, his plans for the six years of uplifting the standard of living for the entire Filipino nation. It is not enough and it would be a sorry state of zarzuela if P-Noy’s Sona content is all about the evils of the previous administration. He would look like a small kid reporting to his teacher about the misdeeds of his classmate. And we don’t need a small kid to run this nation.

We need somebody matured and capable enough to steer this nation from the quagmire of decadence. It is not that we don’t want to listen to these evils, but we would appreciate more if there are programs that he is going to implement that would greatly benefit the people. We want to hear resolutions also that the evils that persist in the government, such as graft, corruption, red tape, nepotism, would be lessened and ultimately eradicated.

It would be ideal even for P-Noy to focus more on solutions so that we can really say that his government is going to the right direction. We may need justice and accountability for the shortcomings of the previous administration, but it is another thing to be vindictive on them without taking care first and foremost on the basic necessities of the countrymen.

He may need also to check his facts first before he vent his ire on erring public officials, just like what he did to the weather bureau on the recent typhoon Basyang that hit hard on the Metro Manila area. It was not enough that he berated them; he needs to upgrade the equipment and facilities of Pagasa throughout the country, aside from giving our weathermen substantial salaries to prevent them from seeking employment abroad. With weather disturbances constantly lashing at this country, we need these dedicated men more than ever.

Deliverance from despondency of the Filipino majority is something that one man cannot do alone in six years and P-Noy would certainly need our help to make his goals come true. Yet it is not a small thing to ask him to start at a good and proper footing so that we could get things moving. This Sona should be the first steering wheel for his whole presidency, as his following Sonas would be rooted on this one. Words are not enough to make the goals realize; actions are better appreciated rather than continuous feeding on our minds of excuses and misdeeds of other politicians.

I am afraid actually of P-Noy’s content of his Sona reciting the misdeeds of his predecessor like a script for a soap opera. Without clear and solid objectives for his entire presidency, it would look like that we will be taken for a ride again. (Send comments at jaliviado2001@yahoo.com)