7/27/2019 PNoy to His Bosses

1/2

PNoy delivers fourth SONA to his bosses!

On July 22, 2013 President Benigno Aquino III delivered his 4th

State of the Nation Address at the

Batasang Pambansa in a joint session of the Senate and the House of the Representatives and telecast

live to all the Filipino viewers. Fours SONAs delivered two more to go and as of this time the President

and his cabinet members are half way through the job of delivering his thrust during the 2010

Presidential election daang matuwid.

The SONA is one of the powers and privileges of the President enshrined in our Constitution as a

mode of reporting to the people his accomplishments during his term and his plans for his remaining

years in office. It is also his chance as the head of the Executive department to ask from the members of

the Legislative department to enact laws that will alleviate the situation of our poor stricken country

folks and to uplift our economic image in the world.

It was a lengthy SONA, it took an hour or more, and I personally it took also the patience and

excitement of those seated at the Batasan and those viewers at home. Well is it worth the length? Is it

worth the applause? Accomplishment reports should be concise and brief but if you are the President

you would want to take all the time in the world to lay down all your accomplishments and be proud to

have served your bosses- the Filipinos who gave you the mandate to serve them for six years.

So what are the accomplishments of this Administration for the annual year 2012?The President acknowledged the effort made by the members of the Congress for helping him

push through with the Sin Tax Bill that will help in the collection of more taxes that will serve as revenue

to answer the deteriorating state of our health services. The tax will help answer the improvement of

our government health facilities like, hospitals, rural health centers, birthing center and the like.

Moreover, the revenues out of the increase in taxation rates for cigarettes and alcoholic beverages will

also answer the compensation of medical professionals in government service. The law is projected to

have a two-fold purpose to curb the prolific patronage of unhealthy smoking and too much intake of

alcohols with the gradual increase of the tax.

Aside from improving our health sector, it is also the thrust of the government to improve and

answer the maladies in our education system since in his administration it was the advent of the

imposition of the K to 12 program adding two more years after the usual 4 years in the secondary levelto put emphasis on the technical vocational side of the youth so that we can be technically and

vocationally abreast and be at par with among our neighbors in the Asian region. But the government

must first answer the issues on the deficiencies of classrooms, classroom facilities, books, and the

number of teachers that will answer the ratio of growing population enrolled in the Elementary and

Secondary level. The presented reported on the accomplished construction of buildings specially on the

calamity stricken areas of the country.

The geographical location of the Philippines has been a catch basin of typhoons and an area

where there are geological lines of usual earthquakes we cant help but wonder if we are ready for

disaster management. As the President has emphasized it should not only be disaster management but

disaster preparedness and risk reduction to save lives and properties. It is now a forward move of the

President to address local government units in the Metro Manila area to relocate their residents living in

places where it is not suitable for housing like shanties along the rivers and underneath bridges that

clogs the smooth flow of water from the Sierra Madre range on to the Pasig Rivers and its tributaries. So

even before typhoon season come or any calamity may struck the relocation of these informal settlers is

a forward stern order of the President.

The President flagships the strong economy of our country, hopefully it would reflect on higher

number of employed and lower casualty of those depending on the subsidy of the government. Yes we

do have now a good credit standing but the question is can it really sustained by the poor who up to

7/27/2019 PNoy to His Bosses

2/2

now felt that they cannot enjoy the benefits a good economy. Hopefully the government can address

this problem.

In the Rural areas, it is believed that they are the bastion of a sustainable source of our food

basket. That for the protection of the interests of those who till the land and harvest the blessings of the

rivers the government must continue strengthening the means of properly delivery of the products from

the farm to market so that we can combat the deficiency or even hoarding of staple necessities and

refrain from importing these goods abroad, resulting in the unfair competition of our local producers.

The tourism sector has brought a drastic boost in our present image today not only among our

neighbors but all over the world. Lately, the European Union has lifted its ban of our flagship carrier in

their territory, this only mean that we were able to comply with the strict rules and policies existing in

their aviation laws. This would also mean that we can have a better access to tourists in the European

countries. An increase in the influx of tourist is projected and hopefully will be sustained as the term of

this present administration ends by 2016.

Recodification of our old laws should be reviewed to better adapt with the present needs of

time. Like the increase of the premiums paid by members of Social Security System where it had an

unusual increase in the benefits received by their pensioner members, this is an unhealthy practice that

will out our security system in peril. National defense support has also been emphasized during the

SONA, this is needed to protect our shorelines from our neighbors who claim territories we are indispute as well. For now all we can to address this problem said the President is to exercise due

diplomacy which is an ideal mode of settling disputes among nations.

The President has been very keen in guarding the various departments and government-owned

and controlled corporations under his helm. If he is really serious with Daang Matuwid he must and he

should have an eagle eye over this government agencies. Latest of those who have been axed are the

heads of the Bureau of Immigration due to negligence in letting a wanted Korean national come to and

fro our country and the National Immigration Administration for failing to reach the target for the

implementation of irrigation programs. Surprisingly the axing spared the head of the Bureau of Customs

and some of his deputies, they justified that indeed it is really hard to clean the mess in the said bureau

and the confidence of the President remained with its head and thus he remained.

Although there are some areas that were not addressed by the President in the SONA, over all itwas worth the wait. At the end of the day what matters most is that this powers vested in them should

serve the best interest of the public and the State. Indeed SONA mo ito!