The Philippine Online Chronicles

The straight path and the crooked road

President Noynoy Aquino delivered a status report.   In his opening lines he said it himself, 'this is the straight path;' and 'this is the crooked path.'

This is why the President started with a narrative on the state of MWSS, of rice importation and of how Government was mismanaged to focus on the lone 2nd district of Pampanga.

This is why the president is to vehemently against letting rice rot and the waste translated to 177 billion pesos of NFA debt, this while a nation grows hungry.

Are you not angered by that waste?

The administration's rationale has always been the same. When he campaigned he and his supporters--- and by extension every Filipino knew what was wrong. Gloria Arroyo had to go. Gloria Arroyo's brand of politics must go. Her brand of leadership has not brought the poor out of poverty.

As the new administration, this government is finding out the details of what's wrong. That's the narrative we find ourselves in.

The state of the nation as it stands now--- the lack of propriety is extensive. Self-serving greed has brought us to this place.

The Neoliberal Aquino

One can argue that this SONA might mark the death knoll of socialist and populist policies that the Arroyo Administration allowed for political expediency. Take NAPOCOR, and MRT--- projects that were not allowed to run on the free market, which the Arroyo administration supposedly was for, has been saddled with debt and are now asking for bailouts.

I don't expect people, the poor especially to realize outright that these socialist tendencies only make the biggest loser. What I do expect in the coming days, as more of these public-private transactions are taking place is that the government will explain in detail, how much a particular enterprise cost. How much are we as consumers going to expect to spend on it and where will this money go to.

Take perhaps a future construction project--- building of a train that connects Baguio, Batangas, Bicol, Ilocos, and Manila. X million is going to be needed. Once it is done, please expect that the ride will cost Y amount and Z amount will go to government. That's the kind of detail I will be looking for as the weeks turn into months, and the months turn into six years of a presidency.

The SONA is categorically saying, Aquino is a Neoliberal. Anyone who has read the President's platform and his first speech before the Makati Business Club--- "A Philippines that Works", and his blog watch interview could clearly see, he is a neoliberal.

The success of neoliberalism in the Philippines hinges on the President's ability to succeed.

unstudied, unprepared for

This part resonated with me, just as the neoliberal policy has. In the words of the President, "these projects make no sense: unstudied and unprepared for, sprouting like mushrooms." No strategy, no big picture out look of how the whole thing will come out with at the end of the day--- is a waste.

I hope this government goes down to the microlevel. Take road pavements that start off with the government making a good road then five days later--- barely when the cement has dried up, some nut job allowed for the power company, the telephone company and everyone else to dig it up.

I hope that is part of what the President is looking at.

The Truth Commission

So the President is set to sign the Executive Order forming the Truth Commission. Details have sprung up since the President talked about this in his SONA. It will have the right to subpoena. It will work with the Department of Justice. It will when the job is done, present the matter to the proper agency of the government.

DOJ Secretary de Lima hinted that whatever the results of the commission could very well be presented to the Ombudsman and this, knowing the the present occupant is known to be closed the old regime. This respect for the office, is a refreshing breathe of fresh air.

This I think signals that this Administration is not going to bend the rules to suit its need. It will work within the existing framework to get things done.

On national defense

It would be interesting to see the sort of Force structure the President is going to propose for the Armed Forces.

Yes, the Navy needs ships to, you know, actually be a navy. The air force needs aircraft for combat and for search and rescue and airlift to actually be considered an air force. The marines and the army have been honed by the insurgency but it doesn't mean they can't be armed.

I hope the president or at the very least--- the truth commission would look into if the Armed Forces' budget has been somehow mismanaged as well.

On public-private partnerships

Yes, Mr. President, I applaud that trust. We need better public-private enterprise. Dot the I's and cross the T's--- and I hope that it would be a transparent process as this part is crucial.

The nation desperately needs infrastructure. The lack of mentioning telecommunications is startling given that this president is a communicator, but i suppose some things need to be prioritized and for now it will suffice.

On the issue of the registering business names

It would be great if the Government could actually make certain that registering online doesn't take 2 to 4 weeks to get done. The paper work online is actually good. Answer all the right questions and you don't have to print anything. The thing is, once you submit it--- it takes 2 to 4 weeks if at all for a response to see if your application has been approved or rejected.

I strongly urge the government not simply to reduce paper work in each office of the government but to encourage people to go online and transact government business online. In the paper, "Broadband and the Economy," it was revealed that broadband is an important enabling technology and that the largest productivity gain is the leveraging of ICT. It cited for example, Oracle Corporation. That company by using ICT to file expense reports online cut cost by US$15 dollars-- from US$25 per employee to US$10. That same paper also noted that IBM using an Internet-based tool for booking employee travel reportedly saved per month, US$2.5 million. So I urge government to study how each appendage of the government could leverage ICT and make it work for them.

This strategy, I believe is in accordance with the spirt and thrust of the Aquino Administration.

Legislative measures

The President is asking for Fiscal Responsibility Act. It is asking congress to amend the Procurement Law. I think this is in keeping with the Aquino Administration's thrust towards good fiscal management of the Government.

The President is asking for an Anti-Trust Law. This I think is a splendid I idea, but I hope the government would seriously look at giving small and medium scale enterprises a leg up. Not through dole outs mind you, but a National Broadband Strategy. The Internet is a game changer that levels the playing field. It levels the playing field so small and medium enterprises can compete reasonably well.

The Whistleblower's Bill according to the President is meant to eradicate the prevalent culture of fear and silence that hound our system. A whistleblower today could simply be charged with libel. Mr. President, I strongly urge the government to decriminalize libel to work hand in hand with the Whistleblower's bill. To do so, guarantees that the whistleblower some protection from facing criminal charges.

The strengthening of the Witness Protection Program is a good measure to look into. And I am for the re-codification of our laws. Please, clean out laws that date back 30 to 40 years that nobody remembers but could easily be pulled to hurt the public. Please update these laws so that they maybe in keeping with the times. And I hope that in doing so, our lawmakers are mindful about spreading a culture of fear.

Peace Process

It is good that the President is in keeping with his platform. He is moving forward with his plan for peace in Mindanao that involves all the stakeholders.

This perhaps was the most beautifully crafted line of the SONA:

"Mahirap magsimula ang usapan habang mayroon pang amoy ng pulbura sa hangin."

In English, "It is difficult to begin discussions in earnest if the smell of gun powder still hangs in the air."

Trust me, for those of you who can't read Filipino, the line is more poetic in the vernacular.

I entirely believe that the CPP-NPA-NDF will not lay down their arms. They will not surrender. Their battle is over. Their rhetoric is at an end. Their socialism and their revolution is entirely unfounded. It must end.

That said, crazier things have happened.

The Call to Media

Oh, this is good. This part is great and I applaud the president from asking this. It is something we each need to do--- not just in print media but here across Social Media.

The President said, "To our friends in media, especially those in radio and print, to the block-timers and those in our community newspapers, I trust that you will take-up the cudgels to police your own ranks.

May you give new meaning to the principles of your vocation: to provide clarity to pressing issues; to be fair and truthful in your reporting, and to raise the level of public discourse."

My experience in this--- writing online on various blogs is that a great segment of the population does want this. They want to read, to learn, to advance. There are self-serving, narrow-minded cases of course, and in a democracy like it or not those ideas continue to fester like cancer waiting for the moment to rise up.

It isn't simply that we dislike those people. It is the fact that they're the only ones talking. If we truly believe that their words have no meaning, no place in this new order, if we truly believe that what they are saying is false then tell the story. Captivate the audience so that they won't be misled by those we call fools and idiots. Be the bastion of truth. The mabuting Pilipino exits.

I join Manuel Buencamino, who liked the SONA thought there are somethings he wished were there. I do too. I do wish the president spent more time on, or even mentioned things like Internet Freedom or how we could use technology to make the government better but I understand this is more about setting the tone of the Administration and that arguably to list everything under the sun with likewise be counter productive. Baby steps, so let it pass for now, trusting the bigger picture is in play.

The call to arms

The president's speech is hardly filled with quotable quotes. It is so far on track with his campaign promises. His SONA is following the plan he started to lay down in "a Philippines that works." Doy Santos, an experienced policy maker based in Australia wrote on the Pro Pinoy Project, "Five Decision Points at SONA." He is entirely spot on in his pre-SONA assessment.

Coloma is right in that there is something for everyone in this speech. One thing is clear, the President said, "how do we move forward if we keep putting others down?"

The task for each Filipino is clear: we prioritize enabling others. We will need to open a world of opportunities for everyone.

Yes, with this speech, I am entirely convinced we have begun the slow, painful steps for change. And yes, "we are now able to dream of better things for our country."

Clearly, it is the President's intent to take his 85 percent trust rating and his 15 million voter mandate for a spin to bind the nation's wounds.

The speech would not have put Kennedy to shame but it was sober and realistic. It was not frivolous. It hit the right notes. It was the first in a very long time, the true State of the Nation. Let's get to work.

Photo Credit:  Noemi Lardizabal-Dado, some rights reserved.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites