SONA: Hope for Better Philippines

The State of the Nation Address by the Philippine President

His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III President of the Philippines
to the Congress of the Philippines
Session Hall of the House of Representatives
July 23, 2012, Batasan Pambansa Complex, Quezon City

        The third SONA of the president was delivered in Filipino language which is very impressive because he addresses the Filipino masses, the common people which he called his boss during his term. The president gave answers to different issues in the Philippine government; from education, economy, unemployment, territorial rights, corruption and medical and health benefits.

            He started with the concept of the possibility to achieve your dreams, Filipinos have dreamt for a long time to have a better life, to achieve peace and unity, the prevalence of justice and equality, the provision of job, medical and health benefits to common people, the decrease of corruption and proper consummation of budget where it is allocated, not to mention the improvement of military and police establishment as well as the infrastructure of the national roads, highways, airport plus the typhoon monitoring which according to the president will lessen the number of casualties and property loss due to unpreparedness.

            According to President Aquino III, he faced a heavy laden on his shoulders when the former president finished her term, because of enormous debts she left in her office, but with the perseverance, unity of his government office and the removal of corrupt officials the dream and solution became a possibilities. He mentioned that some of the achievements are the proper distribution of land to farmers who deserve it, the increase of books, school supplies, rooms and chairs for every student in a community, the additional airports and roads for every province, the free vaccination for every infant against common illnesses, the increase of pension for pensioners not less than 5,000 pesos which will happen by the end of the year, the making use of PHILHEALTH benefits for all Filipinos, the distribution of electrical source in every towns and barrios, the decrease of dengue cases in areas such as Palawan by the use of mosquito traps invented and initiated by Filipino scientist, the increase of rice production because of the improve farming practice and irrigation service, the proper purchase of military gadgets, equipments and vehicles, the increase of housing projects for military personnel and common people, the enhancement of tourism projects in promotion and tourist spots of the country, the adequacy of the country to lend money to other countries, the increase of job opportunities and the decline of unemployment in our country which also reduce the OFW workers in numbers and lastly the diminution of crime rate in our country.

Such report is very impressive and the Filipino people is hoping a visible and material manifestation not only in data or in words written on papers, we hold on in every promises the government made and is currently doing, what we desire for every Filipino is that they will have faith not only in the president’s word but in God who appointed and willed the president’s appointment in the office. It is impossible to achieve such development if we will remain a critique and at the same time not to pry with governmental issues, if we will not do our part in the improvement and just be an audience, if we will continue to blame the government for our misfits, indolence and non-involvement, if we will allow corruption and compromise to what is wrong, if we will be pessimistic with the progress of our country.

Indeed every Filipino dream and continues to dream, the SONA of the president is still in the making, he cannot do it alone, the advancement may be visible or invisible as of the moment but what is important is that all of us will partake with our country’s growth and development so that the “sleeping man in Asia” will become “Asia’s Next Tiger” in the future.

To be thrilled with the report of the president is alright, however we must keep a watchful eye so as not to criticize but to bring to remembrance what he has promised. We are very happy and proud that the improvements he mentioned in his report have facts and supporting documents and testimonies from people, unlike the previous government who only based the SONA in shallow waters. Though there is no point in comparison, but it is also a very good learning ground for the current president so that the mistakes committed by the previous government officials will not be repeated during his term. Let the history of this nation serves as a wisdom and knowledge to make and create a better future for the Filipino who have their hopes on high still dreaming for a better Philippines!