President Benigno "PNoy" Aquino III delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address in front of senators and congressmen in Batasan Complex, Quezon City on Monday, July 22, 2014. This year's SONA had no published theme, but the striking message he mentioned was, "The Filipino is definitely worth fighting for."
The President's penultimate SONA, which marked the opening of the 16th Congress, started at exactly 4:00PM and ended after an hour and 31 minutes. It earned 58 rounds of applause from an audience composed lawmakers, government officials, local and international media, dignitaries and other important personalities. PNoy started his speech by touching the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. He trumpeted the benefits of the mechanism which helped 220,000 students of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) to the tune of P1.6 billion DAP funds. He then showed two video testimonials of those who benefited from TESDA scholarships. The address also enumerated the achievements of his administration over the past year, which includes good economic performance, increased budget in infrastructure, success of Public-Private Partnerships, calamity efforts, among others. PNoy also was combative against the critics of his administration, saying that they are actually against his "Boss", the people. He also had strong words against rice hoarders and corrupt officials at the Bureau of Customs. At the end of his speech, the President praised some religious leaders, local government heads, NGOs, soldiers and artists who made significant contributions. He also showed another video testimonials of 3 policewomen who arrested members of Martilyo Gang. He turned emotional when he reflected on the memory of his parents, slain Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and the late President Corazon Aquino. And to conclude the address, he urged the Filipino people to be the key in continuing the positive transformation that his administration started.
In my opinion, this was the best SONA of President Aquino in his 4 years of being the head of the country. It was simple and concise, and his appeal to the emotions was genuine and felt by the listeners, even his critics. He was also wise not to mention the Supreme Court and the three senators who are in jail for the pork barrel scam. And it was a relief that he did not blame this time the past administration of Gloria Arroyo for the problems the country now is facing. Again, I feel bad that he skipped on tackling the Freedom of Information bill. It was one of his biggest promises in when he assumed office 2010, and with two years left in his term, he should make it a priority. The Philippines has so many problems right now, and PNoy is right in rallying his 'bosses' -the Filipino people- to help him in continuing the positive transformation his administration has started and will be doing in the next two years.
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