Monday, July 28, 2008 Opposition calls for snap polls By Rimaliza Opiña
MONDAY’S State of the Nation Address (Sona) again generated a mixture of reactions, depending on which side one is in.
For opposition lawmaker Teofisto Guingona III of Bukidnon’s second district, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s nation address is nothing more than a harping of what this government has achieved and plans to do in the coming years.
“Pampapogi lang ang lahat, (It's all for show)," the lawmaker said, adding the latest Social Weather Station Survey which showed a -36 percentage rate confidence level is an indication that the President has lost the moral ascendancy to govern.
To solve the current crisis the country is in, snap elections should be called, Guingona said. He compared the country to a vessel that is about to sink, whose captain, President Arroyo, need to be replaced to salvage it from further sinking. "We need a new leader now not in 2010. We need a leader that can inspire, give us hope," he said.
"Ramdam ang kahirapan," Guingona said referring to the opposite of a slogan that the government promotes since it began imposing the value added tax, which is "Ramdam ang kaunlaran."
He also hit administration lawmakers for not considering the alternative budget that the opposition proposed. Instead, the government focused on wrong priorities like giving subsidies and paying foreign debts that Guingona claimed need not be paid yet.
This resulted in the depletion of funds for education, health and agriculture, said Guingona.
He said the fuel and fertilizer subsidy given to poor families, meant at mitigating the impact of increasing prices of commodities are only temporary and a result of wrong priorities of the government.
Proof of the unstable economy we have is the three million unemployed and the five million hungry individuals all over the country.
If funds used to subsidize the needs of the poor are depleted, the poor will experience in the same situation they were in, Guingona said, adding that food security has not been sustained as shown by the fact that the Philippines is the number one importer of rice in Asia.
He also criticized the way by which the Department of Energy (DOE) handles the increasing cost of fuel.
Guingona said the DOE should be more aggressive in exploring alternative sources of energy in the country and not rely on only source-oil that is exported from oil producing countries.
The government should also reconsider its earlier decision of retaining the 12 percent tax on fuel. Instead, sin taxes should be increased, Guingona said, adding that Congress will also consider studying proposals to lessen the expanded value-added tax to five percent.
Guingona, whose father is a known critic of the President, said he is not attending the Sona at the Batasang Pambansa.
