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A HOLLOW AND SHALLOW SONA Privilege Speech of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, July 26, 2005  Posted: August 6th, 2008 @ 12:40am I rise again today on a matter of personal and collective privilege with respect to the State of the Nation Address delivered by Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday. Before I start, let me congratulate Senate President Drilon for your fortitude and forbearance yesterday in that joint session of Congress. You may have been isolated in that assembly, but your demeanor there, disappointed but yet dignified, expressed the very sentiments of your real constituency, the throng of people outside, shunted out and forcibly barred from joining that elitist gallery. Hindi maaaring malunod ng palakpak sa loob ang mga sigaw at pagtutol sa labas ng higit na nakakarami nating mga kababayan na itinataboy ng mga pulis at hinaharangan ng mga barbwire at bakod. Yesterday, our people listened to a hollow and shallow report from Mrs. Arroyo on what was supposed to be the state of the nation. We listened to what would now be the shortest and most abbreviated State of the Nation Address in recent memory. It is a SONA that now appears to have been conceived and written in haste, without regard for substance or direction. But we would have ignored this and become more sympathetic and understanding, if only Mrs. Arroyo outlined her plan - her roadmap - on how to cope with the mess she herself has created. Sa halip na magbigay ng paliwanag si Ginang Arroyo ukol sa tunay na kalagayan ng ating bansa, siya ay namulot na lamang ng mga kung anu-anong kunwa’y mga nagawa sa ating ekonomiya at sa pamahalaan. She cites that four million jobs have been created during the last four years and yet conveniently hides the unemployment rate that has risen and continues to rise. On top of this, many Filipinos are now leaving the country to seek employment abroad as nurses, doctors, caregivers, domestic helpers, construction workers at marami pang iba. Marami na tayong mga kababayang nagtitiis na lisanin ang kanilang mga pamilya para lamang humanap ng kanilang ikakabuhay sa ibang bansa. She claims that the drug menace and kidnapping have been cut in half, and that insurgency has been abated. Yet, she does not offer figures or statistics to support these and again, did not mention that our country has been identified as the most murderous place for journalists by press organizations from New York and London. She has conveniently failed to mention that armed groups and smugglers still run free and go about their illicit business in the South unopposed and unchallenged. Moreover, she would like us to believe that there have been marked improvements in tax collections and yet she continues to propose new tax measures. If this was the case, how come Malacañang pushed heaven and earth to literally strong-arm Congress into enacting revenue measures that everyone knows will break the backs of the ordinary Filipino? In a show of bravado, Mrs. Arroyo loudly and proudly asserts that the economy is on the take-off stage, that the stock market remains strong and that our currency is now recovering. Yet, she fails to report, or perhaps deliberately did not disclose to the Filipino people, that during her administration, the peso plunged to its lowest value ever. More importantly, she certainly did not make mention of the over P5 trillion public debt which has accumulated and ballooned during her four years in office and which we are now hard put to pay. Intriguingly enough, she also did not mention where the six percent growth in GNP went, how it was distributed, who benefited from it, or how it was achieved. More importantly, she obviously chose not to tell us about the harsh and cruel state of the nation, that poverty incidence has risen uncontrollably and that hunger stalks our people. Mahigit sa limampung porsyento sa ating mga kababayan ang nagugutom at halos dalawang beses lamang sila kumakain sa araw-araw. Likewise, she failed to mention that international rating organizations such as Fitch, Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s investors services had now changed their outlook on our economy from stable to negative. This is consistent with numerous advisories and warning that foreign countries have been making against travel to our country. Mrs. Arroyo, when will you wake up and smell the stink that your pseudo-administration has wrought upon this once promising country? Sabagay, mukhang mahirap daw gisingin ang taong nagkukunwaring tulog. She assails the political system as the hindrance to reform but makes no mention of the basic and fundamental problem subverting the credibility of her claim to the presidency: the “Hello Garci” tapes and the allegations of massive electoral fraud committed during the last presidential elections. Wala tayong narinig tungkol sa malawakang pandaraya sa halalan at sa “Hello Garci“ tapes na siyang naging puno’t dulo ng kasalukuyang krisis. Walang nabanggit kung nasaan na po si Commissioner Garcillano, kung saan po nanggaling ang mga tapes, at kung sino po ang nagwire-tap. These are questions begging for answers because they have divided the nation today on all fronts. And the effects are telling, considering the fact that Mrs. Arroyo now had established the record of a president having the lowest approval, satisfaction and trust ratings based on survey after survey by respectable organizations, which her administration once professed to believe in. In all these, Mrs. Arroyo’s only plan for this beleaguered and embattled nation is a one-size-fits-all magic agenda of Charter change through a constituent assembly. Sa madaling salita, ang mensahe ng Sonang ito at solusyon sa lahat ng problema ay Cha-cha lamang at Con-Ass. Naisip ko, mukha yatang si FVR ang sumulat ng speech na ito. At kung natatandaan ninyo, sapagkat si FVR lang ang tumatangkilik sa pagbabago ng ating Saligang Batas. Mrs. Arroyo would like us to believe now that Charter change is the panacea for all our troubles and that by the wave of the magic wand of Cha-cha and Con-Ass, our troubles will go away, will vanish, will be extinguished like a bad nightmare. Sabi nga ng isang kasamahan natin dito sa Senado, hindi kinakailangang gibain ang buong tahanan dahil may anay sa isang silid lamang, At kung hindi ninyo natatandaan, itong dalawang pangulong sina Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at Fidel Valdez Ramosascended to the presidency under dubious circumstances. I beg to disagree: the so-called “great” Charter debates will only further and heighten the division and factionalism among our people. Many sectors of our society, which incidentally we still have to consult on this grand scheme, can see through this facade. They know fully well that a change in the Constitution and in our governmental system will not solve our present problems, but instead will create more, that is, unless we firmly address and resolve the present one. That problem is no other than Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo herself and her credibility in the position she claims to have won. Ikaw ang problema. Gng Arroyo, at hindi ang Saligang Batas. Huwag mong sisihin ang sistema! Mrs. Arroyo does not need to look far to see the real problem besetting our country. She only needs to take a serious look at the allegations of corruption, I repeat, corruption, hounding her family to know that the problem lies at home. Do not throw the blame on a system that has worked and will continue to work. Need I remind the great pretender in Malacañang that many presidents, many administrations, who have served before had achieved many great things for this promising nation without resorting to Charter change? As is the usual problem inherent with impostors in power, Mrs. Arroyo has become so obsessed with keeping her job that she has forgotten to do her job. Finally, this nation today is confronted by overpowering and overwhelming problems that multiply with each passing day. They must be confronted squarely and resolutely. And we must begin with that issue involving Mrs. Arroyo because it is the real hindrance to any reforms, whether in our political structure, our economic system or in the dynamics of our social life. - - 0 - - |
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Copyright © 2008 Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada
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