In his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) in the late afternoon of July 22 at the Batasang Pambansa, Quezon City, President President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III gave his report in front of millions of Filipinos around the world watching him. The SONA 2013 marks the president’s midterm of his administration where as coming from the campaign of straight and righteous path in his first three SONAs where he call on the fight against corruption that will contribute on the changing of the country. According to him we should stop the wang wang system in the society which refers on the abuse of authority as he affirms that him and the rest of the government officials should be in service to their bosses which he refers to the Filipino people.
In his fourth SONA, it is very obvious that President Aquino delivers it in Filipino which for him it will really connect to the masses who yearly hopes for chance and wanted to see it happen. With the way SONA 2013 was delivered it will surely cater to the larger population and will understand every detail they wanted to know from the plans, programs and even statistics. In the SONA 2013, PNoy highlighted the 3.4 Trillion Pesos budget that will benefit the country and answers the needs of the sectors from education, security, agriculture, and housing. But instead of putting the larger amount to armed forces he wanted to focus more on the housing and educational needs of the country which according to him he wanted to balance it and know what the priorities in our country are.
He also mentioned that Hacienda Luisita was already on the process for distribution for the beneficiaries. In regards for the agriculture he wanted to push on the inter-change crops that will benefit the farmers the whole year round and not on a seasonal basis. Also he is pushing on a project that will benefit fisherman to prolong the freshness of their catch until it reach the market.
As for security, PNoy emphasizes on the peaceful election which according to him it is because the dedication of the Philippine Police and Soldiers who put their lives on the line in protecting the Filipino people. He also sighted some of the modern day heroes from PNP where they extended their help to the need. He also mentioned the Project Noah where they already modernized their equipments to monitor rains, earth quakes and other calamities to ensure up to date and credible reports. There’s also 6.2 Billion budget that will answer the concern on flooding in Metro Manila.
President Aquino confirms that there are already 9, 377 houses given to the victims of Typhone Sendong and 4, 347 more to be build and 53, 106 homes given to the victims of Typhoon Pablo and 17, 609 more by 2014. He also tackles the right contribution on the SSS, GSIS and PhilHealth which according to him everyone will benefit soon.
He also give emphasize on the energy particularly in Visayas and Mindanao whereas according to him he supported renewal energy that includes hydro, wind and solar energy but he wanted to ensure that if there’s no enough sunlight, less wind or no strong water current that people in this areas will not suffer the 3-5 hours black out everyday.
PNoy mentioned that 4.3 Million foreigners visited the country as of 2012 and there’s 37.5 M local tourist visiting tourist locations in the country where it brings more than 3.8 million jobs in these areas and the supporting areas. In boosting the economy through tourism he also mentioned through infrastructures, transportations, roads and ports. In the concern of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport he encourages everyone to take part in rehabilitation of it.
Coming from the rundown of his reports, PNoy never cease to back lash the critics of his administration and the anomalies among the government agencies which he mentioned Bureau of Immigrations that let the two suspects escape and the National Irrigation Administration that fails to reach the target for water irrigation that supports the agriculture versus the budget. He also drags the Bureau of Customs that doesn’t execute the right tariff instead it let some of the drug lords and firearms to pass. PNoy challenges them to do their work properly and he will haunt down the government agencies who are still in the wang wang system until they finally straight their act. He also encourages the congress to check on the civil code to screen who will be rightful in the position.
Now in the midterm report of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III he encourages everyone to be part of the crusade against corruption and wang wang in the society for change in the country toward the straight and righteous path that he envisioned for everyone. He affirms that the Filipino people are the source of his strength and he is very proud to be a Filipino.
- Read the English version of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s 2013 State of the Nation Address
Transcripts of the SONA 2013 came from www.gov.ph
