SON NA ANG PAGBABAGO (Where's the Transformation)?

President Benigno Aquino III's speech lacked the power needed to really change society. It also lacks substance. If you read it, it is an attempt to replicate the powerful speeches of US President Barack Obama. Good, however, it turned out to be a mis-mash.


The State of the Nation Address of Aquino was actually a brief departamental report of the performances of several divisions. Aquino reported how several divisions (i.e., DFA, DOE, DOTC, etc) performed during the last year. There were bright spots like his claims that the government were able to save this and that, but it is clearly evident that Aquino deliberately missed several of the main and most crucial issues bedeviling this Nation since Day One.


Aquino never mentioned about the progress of peace talks in Mindanao. Yes, you may have credit upgrades up to seven times, but with just one incident in Mindanao and all would be lost. 


Aquino boasts of building new roads and bridges, but without farmers owning their own lands, how would they be productive enough to even plant those rice and harvest them and take them to markets?


He mentioned that 1.6 million jobs were created but he never did mention if these are full-time positions or casuals. He talked about renewing foreign investor confidence but he never mentioned those problems pointed out by the foreign chambers that is the continued red tape and bureaucratic bullshits that choke the life out of foreign investors.


He says that self-rated poverty went down to about 15% from 25%, but he never mentioned that this reflects the higher sociological impact of the people, not the true state of poverty incidence. Poverty incidence remains very high and in fact, has risen a couple of notches since January 2011.


The only concrete thing he mentioned was the Spratlys issue that while we seek for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, we nonetheless, find ways of re-equipping our naval forces with some sophisticated equipment like ships and air power. 


For the SONA to really be effective, it must answer the question SON NA ang Pagbabago? (Where are the changes?).


A true SONA tells us what reality really is. Every Filipino will face every problem like a man. I believe that it will not hurt if Aquino tried to really say what the root cause of the problems is.


Aquino should have levelled off with the Filipino, and while doing that, provided much needed solutions to the systemic problems of the country. It will not be a shame if Aquino told the people that these problems remain because of a bloated bureaucracy lumbering about while the world changes. That the system is really the true problem, Aquino should have mentioned that. Aquino should have admitted that the reason why changes are very slow stems from the fact that the system itself prevents changes from happening. 


Arroyo was brave enough to tell this to foreign investors and several other Philippine legislators before. People expect Aquino to be better than Arroyo. 


In short, that one hour speech was not just malamya but walang bayag.