All rhetoric: militants
PROGRESSIVE groups lambasted President Benigno Aquino III after his 5th State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday for failing to address the problems hounding his "bosses".
Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) vice chairman Joel Virador said Aquino must ensure a genuine land reform in the countryside that help people address their needs for employment.
He added improving the productivity of the countryside will address the problem on "urban migration."
"(He) should implement a National Industrialization to absorb our army of unemployed people and not implement the policy of export labor," he said.
Virador also hit the opening lines of Aquino in his Sona at the Batasang Pambansa, saying he did not mention the hopelessness of the Filipino people.
He also brought up the issue on contractualization, which he said is not addressing the employment issue of the country.
"They have no security of tenure. Contractual workers cannot form unions because their services can easily be terminated by the management. If there is no union, the workers are not allowed to strike even if their rights are clearly violated by the capitalists. This is very clear under Herrera Law or RA 6715. These laws allows contractualization and limit the rights of the workers to hold strike," he added.
For her part, Sheena Duazo, secretary-general of the Bagong Alyansa Makabayan, lamented Aquino's failure to address the problems hounding the Filipino people for the past four Sonas.
"Instead, his statements were just rhetoric of passing the blame to his predecessors who were also equally corrupt," she added.
Hanimay Suazo, secretary-general of the Karapatan Southern Mindanao, said what Aquino said in his 5th Sona were "all lies and excuses"
"Aquino can't deny his anti-people and anti-democratic character anymore. The people are already sick of his cover-ups and schemes," she added.
The national minorities experience the same struggle. Lumads were divested from their ancestral lands because of those greedy foreign mining and logging companies and Moro people were deprived of their right to self-determination. – Jerome Aba, spokesperson for the Suara Bangsamoro.
Also, some of the city officials and business leaders expressed contentment over Aquino's SONA while others were dissatisfied.
Information Communications Technology (ICT)-Davao president Samuel Matunog said he is satisfied "that under his watch we can contemplate of a transfer of power in 2016 with a clear standard on who to choose. That is what I liked best in his Sona."
"PNoy demonstrates what a country can achieve if led by someone who is honest, fair, and just. Whatever may be his shortcomings, they are too trivial compared to what he has achieved," he added.
Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., president Antonio T. dela Cruz said Aquino's speech was more of telling what his administration has done so far.
"We recognize that but if we look at the education side there are still a lot of [things that needs to be improved]," he said.
Dela Cruz said classrooms are still lacking, adding for instance the case of Davao City where the private sector and the local school board (LSB) are one in addressing the backlogs.
For City Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, he said "it was an emotional speech." He rated PNoy's speech 7.5 out of 10.
Dayanghirang added "PNoy speech is fine but the problem, particularly the prices of rice, is not affordable -- it's P48 per kilo. Ordinary family farm worker cannot afford to buy it anymore. Poverty is still the problem. What we need is more government funds to subsidize the prices of basic commodities electricity like rice, water and housing. This is where government funds should go-- to the poor people." Dayanghirang rated.
Councilor Leo Avila said "It was emotional and I felt it was coming from the heart. I appreciate his authenticity. 'The Filipino is worth fighting for.' I like that."
Councilor Bernard Al-ag said "I am glad he did not include any statement about PDAF. I am also glad that he did not comment about the Supreme Court (SC). I felt President Aquino's sincerity in transforming our country towards better place for us and our children to live in. President Aquino has summarized for us the accomplishments and resiliency of the Filipino people in the last one year. This is not to mean that the Philippines is without problems. And this is where you and I can come in.
We can make even small contributions to make our community a better place."
"Satisfied? No. [There is] nothing new [about the Sona of the president]. After the previous Sonas, are we really expecting something good to happen? The crooks are still very much around," Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) executive director Stephen Antig.
Compostela Valley Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora said "under PNoy, the investment upgrades, the ability to fund and implement projects, the reduction of debt and poverty--all these are real, felt achievements, but we must ensure that they are also felt by each and every Filipino, wherever they may be. We fully support the President, and will continue to stand with him in the commitment to bring growth and justice to all. We will do this through the legislation of priority reforms in our agrarian policies, self-recognition for Bangsamoro, and most of all, through the budget."
"So melodramatic. What we wanted to are more than statistics. He can fool his allies but not us. His programs like the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) or the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) are unsustainable and didn't really alleviate many poors' lives because of incessant increase of prices of basic commodities like rice, power and water utilities," Pagbabago-Southern Mindanao Region convenor lawyer Fatima Irene Adin added. (Pooled reports by Antonio L. Colina IV, Arianne Caryl N. Casas, Reuel John F. Lumawag, Ivy C. Tejano and Ruji Peter S. Abat)