As expected, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (Sona) last July 28, 2008, was like a sonata composed and arranged to entertain the audience. And on cue, the audience -- a majority of whom were her political supporters and their dressed-to-kill-or-to-impress spouses -- applauded her. But what else could she have done? The last thing that she would do is to admit that the "Sick Man of Asia" is in the throes of economic breakdown.
Gloria started her Sona-ta by saying that the world economy has turned upside down and blamed the Philippines' economic woes on a "global crisis where everyone is a victim." However, with a display of bravura, she declared, "we prepared for it." And then she said, "For the guts not to flinch (referring to herself) in the face of tough choices, I thank God. For the wisdom (again referring to herself) to recognize how needed you are, I thank you, Congress. For the footing of the bill, I thank the taxpayers." Indeed, Gloria has made tough choices that ran counter to sound economic strategies. Indeed, Gloria needed Congress to trash any impeachment petition to keep her in power. Indeed, Gloria has a lot to thank the taxpayers for footing the excessive --and unnecessary -- government spending that only fed the greed of corrupt officials.
One of the most controversial issues that has been hounding Gloria is Value Added Tax (VAT). It is causing an uproar from all sectors, particularly the poor and the middle class. The 12% VAT has placed a heavy burden on the poor and the middle class; whereas the rich and the upper class would not feel the pinch of paying additional 12% on their purchases.
Gloria's insistence that she needed the windfall from VAT to feed the poor is an easy way out of a complex situation. Basically, she's robbing the poor to feed the poor. Well, not exactly but I think you'll get my drift.
Gloria's economic policies are predicated on generating revenues without creating new industries and new jobs. She'd rather see Filipinos go to work abroad so they can earn money to send to their families to spend which would increase "personal consumption expenditures"; thus, improving the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as its Gross National Product (GNP). It is not uncommon to see professionals and college graduates go abroad to take low-paying jobs.
She then boasted: "Just a few months ago, we ended 2007 with the strongest economic growth in a generation. Inflation was low, the peso strong and a million new jobs were created. We are all looking to a better, brighter future." Well, in just seven months since that economic surge, all of the things that Gloria bragged about are gone. Today, we have double-digit inflation, rising unemployment, and weakening peso. Poverty is spreading like a plague and hunger has become endemic. Seven out of 10 families cannot afford to buy food and pay for their electric and water bills. "Pagpag" -- scavenged food from the garbage dump -- is the only way for the poorest of the poor to stay alive. And contrary to Gloria's claim that "polls show self-rated poverty down to its 20-year low in 2007," polls have shown that poverty has actually increased since 2003.
What is apparent in Gloria's Sona-ta was that she failed to state the true state of the nation. She made a lot of promises but that is not what Sona is all about. Sona is a report of the current economic and political state of the nation. She highlighted the successes of a few individuals. That's like picking a few healthy green trees in a forest that's turning deathly brown.
On the issue of corruption, Gloria said: "More advanced corruption practices require commensurate advances in legislative responses. Colleagues in Congress, we need a more stringent Anti-Graft Act." She has been talking about this for several years now. In 2004, she expressed optimism that corruption in government will be weeded out in less than seven years. Well, she has already passed the half-way mark and corruption today is at its worst since she ascended into office in 2001. Recent polls showed her as the most corrupt president in the history of the Philippines. And twice in a row, the Philippines was tagged as the most corrupt economy in Asia and among the 10 most corrupt countries in the world.
Big scandals like the ZTE-NBN, Cyber-Ed, Northrail, Fuhua, and Spratly contracts dominated the news for the most part of the past two years. To date, investigations into these anomalous projects have been impeded because of Gloria's inappropriate use of executive privilege in the investigations of these scandals.
In a show of defiance -- and denial -- Gloria concluded her Sona-ta by saying, "I will let no one -- and no one's political plans -- threaten our nation's survival." She doesn't realize that she could possibly be the biggest threat to the nation's survival.
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