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Republic of the Philippines RAMON MAGSAYSAY TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY Castillejos Campus Castillejos, Zambales

REACTION PAPER (State of the Nation Address of Pres. Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III)

Presented to:

MS. PRESY A. ANTONIO Subject Instructor

Presented by:

RYAN C. SISON Student

I. SUMMARY

President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III's first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 26, 2010 can be summarized as follows:

Recited the various anomalies committed by the previous administration and made the following seething exposs on the preceding administration. a. a budget deficit of P196.7 billion in the first half of the year; b. a budget of P100 billion or a mere 6.5 percent left out of P1.54 trillion; c. a depleted Calamity Fund with a large chunk spent for Pampanga, the home province of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; d. alleged abuses and corruption at the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS); e. fund misuse at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH); f. the mismanagement of the National Power Corp. (Napocor); g. the buyout of the losing Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRT); h. and the purchase of rice by the National Food Authority (NFA) that was more than needed.

Vowed that there would be no more ostentatious and wasteful spending (waldas) and tong-pats or fat commissions from government projects under his watch.

To solve the problems, President Aquino said his administration would ensure prudent spending, starting with the budget it would submit to Congress for 2011.

The President also said he will convene the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to discuss the important bills that need to be addressed. Some of which are the following: a. Fiscal Responsibility Bill, which will limit spending bills only for appropriations that have identified a source of funding. b. Procurement Law to avoid the repeat of the canceled national broadband network contract between the government and Chinese firm ZTE Corp. c. Anti-Trust Law that will give life to afford Small- and Medium-Scale Enterprises the opportunity to participate in the growth of our economy. d. National Land Use Bill. e. National Defense Act that is more responsive to the current needs of national security. f. Whistleblowers Bill to eradicate the prevalent culture of fear and silence that has hounded our system. g. Witness Protection Program. We must remember that from 2009 to 2010 alone, cases which involved the participation of witnesses under the program resulted in a ninety-five percent conviction.

President Aquino did not spare the media as he called on them to be responsible and to police their own ranks, being members of a deregulated industry.

He called on the people to remain vigilant, stressing that it was every Filipinos duty to closely watch the leaders that they elected.

Mr. Aquino also emphasized that his administration would run vigorously after tax evaders and smugglers to improve revenues.

II. REACTION The late Sen. Ninoy Aquino must be proud of his son, Noynoy, for following his footsteps of being courageous, honest and sincere in public service. But the late senator could also be wishing his son to be more careful in his pronouncements. P-Noy must double-check the veracity and figures of reports fed to him to avoid mistakes. The allies of PGMA were quick to refute his statement that the ex-President had depleted the 2010 budget, allocated huge funds to her district in Pampanga, and engaged in anomalous rice importation. He must have forgotten to mention some important issues in his lengthy speech like health and education, agrarian reform (particularly Hacienda Luisita), family planning and urban poor that the public were longing to hear from him. He should be careful next time but he must keep up the good work. P-Noy wisely delivered his message in Tagalog so that most, if not all of us, would understand it. I was a bit disappointed that he didnt show the big picture or the real state of the nation. He dug dirt and presented snapshots of the ugly side and the so-called sins of the past administration. To quote Postscripts F.D. Pascual, we heard much of our sorry state in the here and now, but not enough details about where he wants to take us and how he would take us there. P-Noy made a good delivery of his SONA, but about half of the time, he dwelt on the sins of the Arroyo administration, much of which the people already know about. What is awaited is his vision of change and how that can be achieved. Tong-pats, like wang-wang, is a catchy word but they are merely symbolic. No wang-wang symbolizes discipline in all its forms and no more tong-pats must be taken as being against any form of graft and corruption. Lets pray that whatever he does, P-Noy will pursue unwaveringly his promises.

III. CONCLUSION Pres. Aquinos first SONA was straight to the point. He didnt use props to dramatize his message, probably because its contents were explosive enough. He emphasized that there will be transparency in the use of government funds from now on no more tong-pats or quota. He received 30 applauses from solons but they were halfhearted applauses. Maybe solons realized that the days of their 60-per cent take on projects is over. He was not being vindictive when he said that the past administration had used over 90 per cent of the 2010 budget, mostly on projects in former Pres. Arroyos district. Critics said he didnt delve into other important matters. But one cant expect the President to present everything. P-Noys SONA renews the hope of every Filipino in attaining a clean government, quality life, and a healthy and peaceful environment. His SONA also provided hope to those who are unemployed to find jobs and livelihood and be motivated to stay in our country. More importantly, it assured us that the horrors that the GMA administration had inflicted upon us are things of the past. SONAs are just outlines of the state of the nation and an overview of the Presidents plan of action. The way I see it, Pres. Aquino can become our greatest President in history.

IV. RECOMMENDATION His SONA message is good and can bring our country new hope in the coming years. Its inspiring because P-Noy projects sincerity in dealing with irresponsible, corrupt officials. We must all support his vision to clean the bureaucracy. Now is our opportunity to change our nation and do away with rampant cheating. May the embedded systems protected by issued laws promoting corruption and red tape be eliminated to ease the burdens of the people and be delivered better services by competent Cabinet leaders and elected officials. Its also an urgent call for positive change and a challenge to our government officials to be honest and responsible in handling peoples money. On the other hand, I therefore recommend that if the President has strong evidence against the people he mentioned in his SONA, then bring them to court. I hope Rep. Arroyo answers point by point the accusations hurled against her by Pres. Aquino in his SONA. Moreover, the revelations of Pres. Noynoy in his SONA are not shocking at all. What is shocking to me is that he has no clear details about where he wants to take us and how he would take us away from our sorry state. Elections are over, Mr. President. Move on.

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