BAGNI, Apolo G.

Pnoys Last Sona: Agriculture

"Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa

paroroonan." This was the old adage quoted by Pnoy at the start of his speech as he
tackled how he started travelling into the tuwid na daan. Yet, his work is not easy but
his motivation to serve Filipinos encouraged him to eliminate Philippines from the
trademark of being the sick man of Asia.
In relation to Agriculture, in his SONA five years ago he promise that Philippines
will become self-sufficient in rice during his term. But this year SONA, Pnoy enumerates
all the achievements of his administration regarding on infrastructure, armed forces,
taxation system and etcetera except for agriculture aspect. Yes, he thanked Sec.
Pangilinan for improvements in agricultural sector but didnt mentioned particularly what
are those improvements.
So, what has Pnoy done for the agricultural and fisheries sector during his years
in power? In some interviews, sticking to the strategy that helped him win the
presidential elections, Aquino vowed to reverse the abuses that happened during the
administration of Arroyo including excessive rice importations. But according to Glenis
Balangue (IBON Foundation senior researcher), the rice self-sufficiency that Pnoy had
promised in his previous SONA has failed so far because Pnoy didnt met his target to
increase production and hectarage.
I realized that Pnoys SONA talks about all his achievements thats why he didnt
mentioned elaborately the agricultural sector because it was a failure. However, while
the president failed to address some issues surrounding his government, still, he has
satisfactorily fulfilled the needs of the country. As he ends his term in 2016, I hope he
finds a way to address these issues and bring more progress to the nation. I felt his
sincerity as he delivered his speech, which I think is a proof that he is doing his best to
lift our nation's situation.