Credits

Sunday, July 22, 2007

State Of The Nation's Distress

Tomorrow is the big day. The queen of the enchanted kingdom will once again address her loyal(?) subjects. She'll not be addressing the Filipino people as we already know and experience the realities of Philippine life. She will be speaking to the hundreds of ass-lickers and cronies in the gallery of congress.

Last year saw the birth of the super regions and hailing the butcher as the hero of her anti-insurgency campaign. This year, characters will change and data will once again be manipulated. She will praise herself to high heavens for a job well done. I'm sure she's tickled pink at the "timely" release of Fr, Giancarlo Bossi. She'll probably laud the Comolect for an honest and peaceful elections with special mention to the best actor/senator of Maguindanao.

She will again put emphasis on her ongoing programs for education. (Incidentally, Sec. Jesli Lapus admitted that only 4,000 or 10% of 40,000 classrooms needed by our public school students can be constructed.) She'll brag about how millions of error-filled textbooks have been distributed to our clueless students. She may even thank our teachers who worked tirelessly during last May's polls (except those who exposed the cheating).

She'll brag about the strong peso due to her sound fiscal reforms. Of course these reforms include BSP intervention and the successful employment abroad of more than a million OFWs. She will brag about the sharp rise in the stock market due to bargain hunting of only 40,000 of the more than 84 million Filipinos.

The highlight of her SONA is the Human Security Act. She will toast congress for approving it. For sure she will chide the detractors of the law and insinuate that they are terrorists. She will brag about making headway in addressing the extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances. She will brag about the creation of special courts to address these cases. She'll mention the great and heroic efforts of Esperon, Bacarro and Tolentino. She might even blame the killed/abducted militants for the fate which befell them. She will drop a promise or two to keep the international community at bay.

She will say that the poverty alleviation projects of the government are working despite the report that states that 19% of Filipinos experience hunger. She will boast of the millions of jobs her administration had created even if most of them were actually due the overseas demand. We all know her penchant for taking credit for everything good. Despite all her "achievements", prices are still up. Electricity and water costs continue to rise. Despite the strong peso, commodities are up and rising. The only thing stagnant is the salary of the lowly worker.

Her report on infrastructure will be something to watch out for. She'll report on the status of her super regions. She'll say how everything is on track despite the failure to open the NAIA Terminal 3. The Northrail project has yet to commence the actual groundwork. She will boast about her Chinese connection in getting more funds for her cyber corridor.

One thing we must be wary of is her intention to run for a congressional seat. Her ambition to be the prime minister has not diminished. The woman's greed for power sure is insatiable. For sure, they will make a more calculated push for charter change this time around. They cannot afford another setback.

Her SONA will most certainly be another spin-splattered one. She will captivate her supporters and keep them salivating of prospective projects. She will dangle new carrots to the "rabbi(t)ds" in the lower house to keep them on their toes. The only people she will not report to is us, the ordinary Filipino whose tax she continues to misuse. She will keep her "mongrels" happy and the rest of the nation distressed.

Another year had passed. The people had grown tired. The wicked queen had wore down the people. She had pushed the nation to desperation and made the people zombies. It has been 6 struggling years, 3 more grueling more to go. Have we really resigned to our fate or is the people biding its time? Will the queen deliver another SONA? Or will distress finally push us to the brink? Only her next actions will tell what awaits her.

One thing is for sure, should she survive till 2010, I will go into the t-shirt business. My shirt will say, "I SURVIVED THE ARROYO REGIME".

0 comments: