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Monday, July 24, 2006
Akbayan turns a deaf ear to official SONA
Party-list group Akbayan gave President Arroyo failing marks in delivering basic services.
It also warned the people against what its delegate to the Lower House, Rep. Mario Aguja, described as her attempt to mislead them in her State of the Nation Address (SONA) today.
Aguja said the President will have by her side boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, beauty contest winners and successful athletes, in an effort to make the people believe that Filipinos have become achievers during her term.
“Bisa’g dili siya presidente, si Manny boxer gihapon. Without her, daug sila gihapon (Even if she will no longer be President, Manny will remain a boxer. Without her, these achievers will still keep winning),” he said.
Aguja expects the president, a trained economist, to focus on rising gross domestic product (GDP) and overall economic growth, but not on “the reality” of joblessness, poverty and lack of education.
“Ang presidente nagsugod 2001. Makapangutana ta, naa bay nabag-o si Gloria sa kahimtang sa mga Pilipino? (Since she became President in 2001, did our lives become better?)” he said.
In his own SONA delivered before Cebu City party-list members yesterday, Aguja said living conditions for the Filipinos have deteriorated during Arroyo’s term.
The Armed Forces is divided, as are the church and the people. That is why many could not be faulted if they seek better opportunities abroad, he added.
Akbayan today will hold a rally, not only to protest against Arroyo, but also to tell the public “the true state of the nation.”
“Ang tinood nga state of the nation madungog sa karsada, dili sa Kongreso (We will hear the true state of the nation out on the streets, not in Congress),” Aguja said.
By Akbayan’s reckoning, the Arroyo administration has failed to improve peace and order, health, agriculture, education; failed to protect human rights or create more employment; failed to enhance agrarian reform; and failed to provide water, housing and economic stability.
With the perennial lack of classrooms and better teachers, quality education, in particular, remains a dream, Aguja said. And instead of creating domestic jobs, the government prefers sending Filipinos abroad so dollar remittances will keep coming.
“Ang gusto sa gobyerno adto mo sa laing nasud. Bahala na mo didto ma-unsa mo, basta padala lang og kwarta (Government wants Filipinos to keep heading abroad. Never mind what happens to our countrymen there, as long as they keep sending money back home),” Aguja said. (RHM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 24, 2006 issue)
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