"Ako
po si Noynoy Aquino; ipinagmamalaki ko sa buong mundo: Pilipino ako.
Napakasarap maging Pilipino sa panahong ito."
Last July 22, 2013, President Benigno Simeon
Aquino III delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA)
at the Session Hall of the House of Representatives, Batasan Pambansa Complex,
Quezon City.
SONA
has always been a part of our lives. It is mandated by the 1987 Constitution,
and must be delivered every fourth Monday of July annually. The President pins
down his amendments, expresses his desires for the country's upward mobility,
asserts his achievements, and furthermore, he convinces and motivates every
Filipino to be a part of his yearning for progress. This year, it was another
fruitful and valuable approach to the citizenry to be more knowledgeable about
the country's current status.
On his speech, I cannot merely classify the pivotal point of his address. He
tackled so many things which caused him to reach almost two hours of
conveyance. But there are things that I want to commend him with. One is, most
people already feel secured even when they have to go home late. They feel much
safer. It would be worth wondering but this is because many places already
have closed-circuit televisions or CCTVs. At this point of
time, cases of crimes and misdemeanors are now lessened thus our country is
more peaceful and safer than before. Another, our economy is really healthier
and better. In the first quarter, the exchange rate of peso to dollar is Php
40.00= $1.00. And now, it is Php 43.00= $1.00. Our country is seeing new
drivers of growth such as casinos while continuously enjoying the strong
performance of the services sector, particularly the business process
outsourcing firms. Moreover, with the strong consumption contributing bulk
of the economic growth, and with the country's large current account surplus, the
Philippines may prove to be resilient against external factors such as a
downturn in the US or in the euro zone. It is also common that every SONA,
the President will make promises. Some action items to track for the months and
years ahead are: the classroom shortage by the Department of Education,
improvement of rice self-sufficiency and coconut inter-cropping to
boost agricultural growth, completeness of geo-hazard mapping of Metro Manila
and the completion of repairs for the NAIA Terminal 3.
It was arduous reading a lengthy speech of PNOY but there’s somewhere in a part
of me that whispers that I should be concerned not only as a student but as a
citizen of this country. But then, I learned many things. Yes, a lot. And what
I really like the most is how he pinpointed that we, Filipinos should not just
complain to the government and to the social media rather, we should start
making a way towards a solution. It also appealed to me that there are so
many things to do than to hiss and whine about the faults of the political
authority. We don’t have a perfect president but at least we have a good one.
We should support him. We should help him. We should move. We should work. We
should go for efficiency and productivity. We have so many options in life but
we only have to end up with one choice. And that one choice will determine us-
for the better or worse.
To end my brief appraisal for PNOY’s fourth SONA, I like everything written in
his words to be much more of reality and not fantasy. I won’t say our future
depends on him because he is just our guide towards Daang
Matuwid. With these I like to leave a self-citation for a perception of my
own..
Today, we live in a country of liberty. Tomorrow, where shall we live? It
is our choice.
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