Political speeches are meant to impress its audience who at the Sona (State of the Nation Address) were the finely attired and exquisitely scented elite of Philippine society. Thus, BBM was profusely applauded when he soared to the make-believe world of alluring but dignity-killing freebies he promised to make up for the shortcomings of the first half of his administration.
Completely set aside was the true state of the nation. This is best seen in the day-to-day experience of ordinary Filipinos, millions of whom listened to or watched the Sona in their lame excuses of a house in crowded and unsanitary informal settler areas. What they see are people struggling with joblessness or low wages, with high prices of prime commodities, with a vastly inadequate health system (people dying for lack of medical attention in public hospitals) and with no or little education (one of five Filipino children is unable to go to school).
His promised corrective programs to some of the above were cloud-nine material that skirted the core of what is causing our ugly social reality. They are all dole-outs that most probably will be implemented on a selective basis. Speaker Romualdez seems to have plans to hijack the budget and make dole-outs available for distribution only by local government executives who strictly follow his orders.
Any effort to improve the dire Philippine socio-economic situation must deal with the main hurdles to equitable progress in the country. In at number one are political dynasties. The nation is the way it is, poor and left behind in every department of governance by its neighbors, because it goes where political dynasties want it to go, always to a place where their interests are served first. If BBM had asked, which he did not, both House and Senate to come up with an implementing law of the constitutional ban on political dynasties, his promises might yet be fulfilled. He said nothing of the sort.
In at number two is corruption, the two-legged monster that is gnawing at the moral fiber of our society. He did blast contractors who steal from flood control projects with a melodramatic “Mahiya naman kayo.” But he should have shouted at himself and at senators and representatives present “Mahiya naman tayo” for confidential funds and pork people know are not accounted for and for the commissions people know they take from all project funds. He could fund a much needed universal education program by eliminating corruption in the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue), the Bureau of Customs, the LTO (Land Transportation Office) and most other government agencies. Instead, he said nothing.
He also said nothing about our elections, the number three hurdle of political, economic and cultural democracy. The system allows only the rich to run and win an elective post. As such, it perpetuates the exclusive self-serving control of government by political dynasties.
Forty-nine percent of Filipinos rate their families as poor. The true state of the nation is not what the President says. It’s what he can’t and won’t say… that Filipinos are poor because of self-serving leaders who lack integrity, authenticity and vision.