Wednesday, July 25, 2007 Editorials: President’s seventh Sona
OUTSIDE from a State of the Nation Address (Sona) being like a fashion show for women in power, it is also a chance for the Filipino people to see that those who manage the machinery of government are alive and on the go.
Thus, the last Sona was, in a manner of speaking, President Arroyo’s affirmation of her being this country’s most powerful. “I can tell you,” she said, “a President is always as strong as she wants to be.”
Now the question: How strong did she want to be as President in the past seven years? How did she use her power?
Legitimacy
The President sounded optimistic when she said that the Philippines could well be on its way to achieving “her vision of…becoming a First World country in 20 years.”
But if we are to study closely the state of the republic in the past three years, we will find that she spent that time defending the legitimacy of her election to the presidency.
It is thus obvious that the country did not get anything that could have been convincing proof of growth and concrete development.
It was even more so in her first three years as president.
She was focused on synchronizing efforts to establish peace and stability in a country that just experienced People Power 2.
But acquiring such stability sapped her administration’s strength.
Promises
The address last Monday strived strongly to show that her promises in her 2006 Sona were not empty ones.
She affirmed her commitment to the super regions, and took her audience to a sweeping tour from the Central Philippines and Mindanao to the North Luzon Quadrangle.
She laid down a vision of a nation with its poor transforming themselves into a sturdy and dynamic middle class.
Thus, investments even “in physical, intellectual, legal and security infrastructure” are designed “to increase business confidence and generate one million jobs a year.”
Additionally, “stronger and wider social safety nets,” such as quality education and cheaper medicines will be given high priority.
Never-never land
Frankly, the President’s vision contained in her Sona was full of promise and hope, high in optimism and dream.
Will the P1.7 trillion Medium Term Investment Program be enough to realize her “fairy tale-like” vision of the republic’s future?
Let’s tighten our seat belts and zoom with GMA into never-never land.
