SONA Occasion 2010
The State of the Nation Address (SONA) in the Philippines is an occasion that creates a whirlwind of activity. The 2010 SONA was the first of President Aquino after three weeks of serving as president. To understand and draw analysis of the whirlwind of activity sparked by the SONA the following article looks at seven different angles, summarizing their positions before drawing analysis’s and conclusions. The first half of the article is divided by activity and the second by analytical typology in an effort to make it easy to navigate.
SONA 2010
President Aquino delivered his Sate of the Nation Address this week. The first half of the speech was an examination of poor fiscal practices occurring in the Philippines, particularly those undertaken by the previous administration. The examination had a shocking effect with a twist of irony when the president posed the question of “(H)ow do we move forward if we keep putting others down?[1]”
The picture President Aquino presented is a Philippines burdened, as well as a Philippines with potential.
President Aquino called on media to help act as a watch dog for the government, a strong move in partnership between business, government and the third sector. Some question this call made on ABS/CBN a network known for its biases, that has been accused of conditioning the public in a pro Aquino manner by providing prior programming intended to put the president in a positive light[2]. Another side of this is that outside of the capitol region close to half of the people use personal networks as their primary source of information on local politics, resulting in the media playing a much weaker role in monitoring local officials[3].
The solution for many of the burdens in his SONA is the potential role of private business.
Middle Class People
In the week following the SONA I asked around 10 middle class Philippines what they thought about the SONA. Based on these informal interviews I have come to the conclusion that everyday middle class citizens appear to maintain their hope in President Aquino and his commitment to improving the nation. Everyone was open to talking about their feelings on the SONA. Overall they found President Aquino’s SONA less than perfect however it met their expectations. They are glad to hear that after three weeks in office he is continuing to focus on corruption and believe that he is only just beginning to understand the scope of the problems that he has inherited.
Social watch press release 2010
On Tuesday at Max’s restaurant in Quezon memorial circle a press conference was held by those working to give voice to the unheard. Social Watch raised serious concerns about the Millennium development goals (MDG). The goals are set to be completed during President Aquino’s term in office and hold significant value both for the Philippines as part of the global south as well as for those who continue to sustain below the poverty line. President Aquino made no mention of these important measurements during his SONA. Professor L. Briones asked the question “will he be the president to fulfill the MDGs and go beyond so that no one is left behind, or will it be business as usual?”
Marivic Raquiza, an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance called attention to the programming or lack thereof addressing poverty. Poverty is a key element in the MDG’s and up till now the Philippine governments system of addressing poverty has been described as patchwork. Raquiza expressed her impression that it will continue as erstwhile based on the lack of attention given in the SONA.
Calls from across sectors were presented; women’s reproductive health, rice planning for food security, educating the millions of children not in school, equality in the work place, the environment, creating a low carbon nation, and, equal access to pharmaceuticals by ending the monopolies and oligopolies. All gave voice to their needs and requested the President Aquino open his ears to hear them.
Philippines Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM)
The president of PRRM addressed the press. He started with the MDG that remain incomplete.
“The goals are low but 30 million people are mad that no difference has occurred”
“There is no reason a middle income country such as the Philippines would not be able to meet the MDG’s”
He asked for people to ask the question “why is poverty regenerating?” Moving away from the MDG He spoke about the problems facing the nations. The president got 1/3 of the problem covered in his SONA discussing corruption and its negative impact on society however he neglected the other 2/3 of the problems. That 2/3 can be seen as poverty in all its faucets. He was looking for a SONA that left no Pinoy behind, and did not get it.
University of the Philippines (UP) Students
As the SONA approached three voices from the UP community wrote opinion essays to the campus newspaper.
One expressed the belief that President Aquino has not had nearly enough time to solve “our monumental problems”[4], at the heels of this belief they asked for a demonstration of President Aquino’s sincerity in fighting poverty. They believe this demonstration will come in the form of an immediate stop of “environmental policies that corrupt our environment[5].”
The second was critical of President Aquino’s actions thus far. Stating that “Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s regime has proved itself no different from the previous regime – not only in terms of political and economic policies but, most glaringly, with the impunity with which they have committed heinous crimes against the people in the form of extrajudicial killings.”[6] They questioned his selection for the Commission of Human Rights chair and his increase of VAT.
The third saw the SONA as President Aquino’s first opportunity to truly distinguish himself from his predecessor. The Aquino Administration questioned the need for demonstration outside the SONA and expressed a preference for any rallies to be held at the Quezon City memorial circle, a location significantly far from where the SONA was to be held. The author saw this as the first sign of non -performance in moving towards a genuine democracy. The second sign they saw was President Aquino’s continued focus on corruption, as a way to bypass the real causes and solutions to poverty in the Philippines; “inequities in wealth distribution, landlessness, inadequacy of budget for social services and lopsided trade policies.”[7] They concluded by asking President Aquino to listen to the people and to stop hiding behind exposing corruption.
Professor Briones
A witty and straight forward opinion column was written and released by Professor Briones as part of the press releases surrounding the SONA. She titled it “The State of Fashion as the State of the Nation”. Saying what many have thought but been unable to verbalize, how is it that the SONA is a red carpet event fashion extravaganza when just outside the venue is a large gathering of those that are hungry, homeless and unemployed demanding that they are recognized by their government?
12 Memorandum from the Urban Poor.
This memorandum issued with utmost respect started by thanking President Aquino for his continuation of addressing the fallacies of the past administration. They reminded the President of how many of his people are poor (1 in 3). They requested that the president address an array of issues;
· Creation of a ten year development plan including food security and cheaper medicine
· Protection of the environment
· Foster women’s and children’s health while working towards HIV/AIDS reduction
· Continue to fight for equality among women and men in all areas
· Achieve the goal of general education for all Filipinos’
· Address hunger that effects millions every day here in the Philippines
The Urban Poor concluded their memorandum reminding the president that the people are his boss and the people are them.
Analysis
The summaries above and be divided into three categories, Politicians(President Aquino), Middle class, and the voices from the extremities of society(Social Watch, PRRM, UP, Briones, Urban Poor).
Those representing the extremities of society presented in this analysis demonstrated a high degree of solidarity and similarity in terms of perception and focus. All five of them drew attention to poverty here in the Philippines. The key issues of the Urban Poor were virtually the same as the ones raised by Social Watch showing solidarity among those on the extremities of society. PRRM and Social Watch both devoted a substantial part of their conversation to the MDG’s progress here in the Philippines. It must be acknowledged that the president of the PRRM is a board member of Social Watch; however this does not discount the similar objectives of these two groups. Those present at the press conference at Max’s had expressed an overall interest in learning sharing discussion and search for common ground, furthering the solidarity of those working on the extremities of society. The Urban poor and UP students used identical language asking President Aquino to open his ears and hear the people.
Ledivina Carino, a lead scholar on civil society’s impact in the Philippines has written about three concepts that can be seen in the above summaries. First she found that there is Filipino notion of “Kapwa” that involves the binding of an individual to the collective. In this situation the relevance of “Kapwa” it can be easily identified. One needs only to define the collective in the broad sense, that of the nation. The nation (collective) is whom the SONA is about and addressing. All of the categories demonstrate a degree of “Kapwa”, with the middle class at one extreme and the established organizations at the other.
The second is that all seven angles demonstrated the Filipino notion of “pagtutulungan”. “Pagtutulungan” was identified by Ledivina Carino as a relationship among equals and helping each other as such. Every group shared their view as if it was equal to the view of the others. This perhaps could be seen as one of the more distinct conclusions of the Philippine SONA. It is rare to find another group of people who view equality in such a way.
Finally Ledivina Carino in her examination of the pre colonial period found that the “state, market and civil society were not distinguishable from each other and the rest of society during this period”. This pre colonial connection continues to have an underlying impact on the relationship between the three sectors. The activity around the 2010 SONA can be seen as a demonstration of this. Starting with the president’s announcement of his intention to use the market to move the Philippines forward and coming full circle with civil society response, voicing their role in the choices of President Aquino.
Comparisons between
Despite the differences, there are several areas for comparison. The primary comparison would be one of a feeling of past wrongs. President Aquino’s focus on corruption is a clear expression that things were done wrongly in the past. Social Watch is a group who formed because of wrongs by those holding political power. PRRM raised the question of why poverty continues and continues. UP students addressed badly designed environmental policies that were enacted previously. Professor Brionnes wrote about those that are hungry and homeless a situation created in the past. The Urban Poor voiced concern over inadequacies in the education system that has been largely ignored in the past. The areas that each group feels wronged in are different however they all trace their feelings to the actions of previous government actions.
The second area of similarity is one of solution development. President Aquino proposed actively working to end corruption and develop business as a solution to the problems that face the Philippines. Social watch emphasized working on the MDG’s as the first step in problem solving. UP student proposed that the president spend more time listening to those who are demonstrating outside. The urban poor proposed the creation of a ten year development plan including food security and cheaper medicine as a solution.
Each sector has a different solution; however they are not necessarily contradictory. It is easily imaginable to have an administration that develops anti corruption practices while working on MDG’s with specialized focus on the goals of: Maternal Health, Child Health, Combat HIV/AIDS, Environmental Sustainability, Universal Education and End Poverty and Hunger. This could be done simultaneously with the administration providing Preside Aquino with continuous opportunities to listen to the concerns raised by those protesting in the streets. With focused policy development this administration has an opportunity to truly respond and create real change in the Philippines, an idea that won the election for President Aquino now only needs to be followed through on.
Feeling wronged in the past and providing solutions to move forward can be seen as a common formula for those involved in the public sector in the Philippines. This formula allows for drastically different groups to have an easily comparable platform.
Conclusion
The SONA in the Philippines is an occasion of expression, an occasion where hopes, perceptions, ideas, problems and solutions are expressed. The commonality between all groups and people is utilizing this time as an occasion of expression. While the voices and focus vary the rhetoric across sectors is one of improvement for the Philippines. What can be learned from all of these summaries is that the Philippines is comprised of Filipinos’ and while the focuses vary they all utilize the same formats and have the same underlying hope. These similarities provide the opportunity to discussion and collaboration.
The Philippines is country with a deep and strong history and tradition of expression. Ledivina Carino has research and written extensively on this allowing a greater examination and understanding of the events surrounding the SONA.
The challenges that the Philippines faces are large. The call for the attention of President Aquino is loud and while the first three weeks of presidency have been sprinkled with gains and losses only time will show if the hopes and goals of the Philippines are met.
Works Referenced
Agham Youth. Enviromental Problems Need to be Addressed. Philippine Collegian. Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral sa unibersidad ng pilipinas diliman. 26 Hulyo 2010 Lunes. Ika – 88 Taon Blg. 07
Anakbayan UP Diliman. A New Breed of Impunity. Philippine Collegian. Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral sa unibersidad ng pilipinas diliman. 26 Hulyo 2010 Lunes. Ika – 88 Taon Blg. 07
Benigno S. Aquino III, State of the Nation Address July 26, 2010 (English) Retrieved from http://www.gov.ph/2010/07/26/state-of-the-nation-address-2010-en/ Retrieved on Aug 2 2010
Briones, Liling Magtolis. The State of Fashion as the State of the Nation. Business Mirror, Opinion. Pg. A 10. Monday July 26 2010.
Carino, Ledivina. “The Social Origins of Civil Society and the Non Profit Sector” June 18 2002
Tungkol sa Pabalat. Address or Digress. Philippine Collegian. Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral sa unibersidad ng pilipinas diliman. 26 Hulyo 2010 Lunes. Ika – 88 Taon Blg. 07
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