PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo never said "paalam" but she did say a lot of thank you directed at Congress.

In her State of the Nation Address (Sona) yesterday, Monday, Arroyo denied she ever wished for a term extension as she acknowledged that her term as President will end next year.

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But she did not say goodbye in the way President Corazon Aquino issued a "paalam" at her last Sona.

Arroyo made no mention either of reports that said she would seek a seat in Congress as representative of a Pampanga district in next year's elections as a strategy to protect herself from criminal prosecution once she steps down from Malacañang.

What stood out in her almost one hour speech was her "thank yous" to Congress for the several laws that got passed. These are laws on economic reforms, poverty alleviation, rent control, renewable energy, biofuels, and securitization.

"Thank you, Congress." "Salamat, Kongreso." "Again, thank you."

It was only towards the end of her address where she thanked, finally, the people for giving her the chance to lead. She said, "And to the people of our good country, for allowing me to serve as your President, maraming salamat. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas."

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At least, this time, Arroyo did not have to sound like a commercial endorser for telecommunication companies. It was in her 2008 Sona where Arroyo said that the rates for text messages have been cut by 50 percent. "It is now 50 centavos per text to other networks," she said in the 2008 Sona. That rate adjustment turned out to be promotional at that time by the telcos.

The President, in falling for the promo announcement, unwittingly allowed herself to be a commercial endorser.

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Sona in multimedia. Her last Sona was a first in terms of multimedia coverage of news organizations. Sun.Star, for one, covered the President's address on its website at www.sunstar.com.ph through regular news updates, breaking news, a running account and almost real-time Twitter feeds. In addition, the website carried photos, video and a live video feed taken from a government channel.

The live feed allowed Filipinos to view the President's address wherever they were around the world and at real-time. A chat facility allowed an exchange of comments among the viewers.

A special on the Arroyo administration (ArroyoWatch) carried too an online poll where people graded the President's performance based on 10 major issues, namely, job generation, food security, peace and order, education, health, environment, housing, governance, fuel and transportation, and infrastructure. At 622 votes cast, Arroyo got the lowest grade in all 10 aspects.

Post-Sona online chat. Those who cannot have enough of the discussion of Arroyo's Sona can continue with the exchange in an online chat today at 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the Sun.Star website. Go to http://www3.sunstar.com.ph/chat/ for the login instructions and guidelines. Guests in today's online chat are Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar and former United Nations executive Manuel E. Valdehuesa, also a civil society leader.

Those who wish to read the President's Sona for the past nine years or from 2001 to 2009 may download these from the website.

(ninicab@sunstar.com.ph)