Wednesday, July 30, 2008 Commentary: A word on Sona By Jun Sula
IT'S about time they review the way the Sona is being done before it gets out of fashion or relevance. As it is, it is increasingly becoming a boring affair, not to mention that it's becoming less and less ennobling and uplifting.
For a start, the format has to be revised - further simplified, if possible. Given what it is supposed to be, shouldn't the Filipino everyman be given a chance to grasp the meaning of it all, apart from the digestible details that go with it?
Dumb the message down, if need be, rather than the rest of the people be damned for lack of understanding, and therefore, appreciation.
Since it is a performance-versus-promises report, comparison and context should be the bases for framing the structure. Like, promises first, followed by what has been accomplished or not, followed by new promises - or plans, if you will.
If presented in simple terms - even in English - most will understand what the Sona is all about. A fairer assessment should come easy, whether favorable or not.
There should be a time limit to the report. Long means boring, so the better option is keep it as short as possible. A 30-minute Sona would be fine. Anything longer should merit a fine, if not imprisonment for unduly boring the nation that has something better to do than listen to, well, history and failed hopes. Besides, it could be done, really.
Actually, the less time is devoted for this, the better it will come out it terms of priorities, substance, sense and truthfulness. There is something in time that allows for obfuscation and insincerity.
Also those props. They don't simply add up. They distract at best, and debase the very essence of the Sona. Why, for instance, would a tribal chief mayor be allowed in his G-string while practically everybody is wrapped up in signature dresses and suits baffles me, unless it is meant to draw the audience away from the message so they can forget about it?
Besides, the props should be consistent. I mean the props used in one Sona should be the same props in the next Sona. This makes sense from the point of progression and comparison.
For instance, a prop on the government's anti-poverty program should be the same person for at least the President's full term. If the person remains poor throughout, or dies before the next Sona, that would be easy for the people to make conclusion.
As it is, they use Mang Pandoy today but display Manny Pacquiao tomorrow. There should be coherence in the message, another name for integrity.
There should also be a ceiling on applauses. More applause does not mean anything except more noise, and more burdens to the taxpayers. Those "palas", after all, are expecting something in return for making the Sona sound better than it actually is.
Like more projects or appointments of relatives in cushy, juicy positions.
I'm not saying they should outlaw it, considering that lawmakers are known for their penchant to break the rules at the first opportunity. I will settle for something like assigning the applauses at the end of the Sona.
If they want to clap till their dirty hands bleed, that's their problem. By that time, most TV stations shall have switched back to regular programming, and the audience tuned out. (Someone on stage has obviously tuned out even before it started. Guess who?)
It's also a no-no for anyone in the administration to give a peek-a-boo on what the Sona is going to be. It's obscene and manipulative. Public expectation is geared up or down by such unthinking approach - it's not even nuanced, for the life of me - and the Sona is bound to get a positive response or review.
There's a psychology to it, and any preview to something as public and sensitive as a Sona should not suffer due to some people's kinkiness or perverted mind. Ask any experienced adult: too much foreplay can destroy the mood and enthusiasm, apart from wasting the energy of the performers. As a good bishop advised the other day, discipline, discipline in bed and elsewhere.
The last thing that can be done, when all else has been exhausted, is for a minimum of one free sachet of three-in-one coffee for everybody who would watch or listen to the Sona. It's hard not to fall easily to sleep at 3 or 4 p.m. while at the receiving end of what passes for cheap entertainment. Bottomless may also be a good idea for replays.
