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Sona in numbers

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) delivered her seventh State of the Nation Address (Sona) last Monday. The speech lasted 56 minutes which was interrupted 106 times by loud and sometimes mechanical cheers and applause from the hakot crowd. At the Commonwealth Avenue where 7,000 protesters held an alternative Sona, the speech received seven major boos from the agitated crowd. Around 9,000 police forces guarded the Batasan Complex.

PGMA gave an update on construction projects involving road networks, power plants, disaster mitigation measures, transport hubs and environment programs. She cited the cost of these projects, number of beneficiaries and magnitude of local investments. Statistics on foreign investments, business ventures, education funding, health care, housing, corruption and job generation were also enumerated. PGMA even mentioned that the anti-terror law was first filed “3 years after the first World Trade Center bombing, 4 years before the Rizal Day bombing and 5 years before 9/11.”

Repetition of numbers could easily confound inattentive audience and impress naive listeners. PGMA, the economist, loaded her speech with numerical figures to confuse people into thinking that her government is doing more than enough and deserves to remain in power until and maybe even beyond 2010. She used only the ‘safe’ numbers that could stupefy the crowd. She failed to cite damning but accurate and relevant statistics.

For example, what is the extent of child malnutrition, school drop-outs, math and science national proficiency, quality of health care, access to medical practitioners? How many houses were demolished to give way for mega projects? How many communities were affected by the Petron oil spill in Guimaras? How big was the bribe money collected from investors? How profitable is smuggling and illegal drug trade these days? How much is the jueteng kickback? How many were victims of torture, illegal arrest, forced disappearances, violent dispersals and impunity killings? How much was paid to Lintang Bedol and company? How many died in the recent elections? For every figure cited by PGMA, there is a corresponding shameful statistic which the President refused to admit.

PGMA devoted a section of her speech on ‘terrorism and human rights.’ But she didn’t mention a single numerical figure to boast her government’s record to uphold human rights. How many killers were convicted and punished? How many military officials were suspended for failure to stop extrajudicial killings? How many witnesses were given protection? PGMA identified the tiniest roads and bridges her government is building throughout the archipelago yet she could not identify nor boast a single case of victory in solving extrajudicial killings in the country which she described as a stain on democracy. Critics may point out that the President has done nothing to prevent political killings.

Many waited to hear the President expound on the P125 wage hike proposal, P3,000 salary increase for government workers, oil price rollback, tuition regulation, debt audit. These are some of the numbers and issues which PGMA could have discussed in the recent Sona.

For the past two years, the President displayed her knowledge on Philippine geography, numerical proficiency and adeptness in name recall. But a Sona should be more than just a report card of government’s achievements. As a citizen, I could always refer to government agencies if I want to be briefed on public projects. The Sona is a good occasion to inspire the people, arouse their interest in governance and mobilize them for political goals. PGMA is setting a bad trend which should be discontinued starting next year.

Related entries:

Numbers and politics
Sona overdose

posted by: mongpalatino at July 25, 2007 09:44 | link | comments (1) |
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#1  31 July 2007 - 16:32

 

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