State of the Nation Address

SONA: State of the Nation Address '14

Manila, Philippines - President Aquino on Monday, July 28, 2014 delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA). Lawmakers and guests at Batasan Pambansa gave him at least 85 rounds of applause for his 1.5hrs speech.

SONA 2014 highlights the achievements of the government on education, social services, economy, improvement, infrastructure, calamity efforts, jobs, rehabilitation after typhoons and earthquake, modernization of AFP, security, ARMM Bangsamoro and livelihood. Under the controversial DAP, PNoy said that around P1.6 billion fund was given to Training-for-WorkScholarship Program of TESDA. A total of 223,615 beneficiaries have graduated with an equivalent of 146,731 graduates currently working. Aquino also boasts the Expanded Conditional Cash Transfer program which has started this June with a budget of 12.3 billion. According to him, the poverty incidence went down to 24.9% in the first quarter of 2013.
            Last year, the Philippines received high investment grade status from Moody's, Fitch, at SandP. Aquino takes pride in the holding of the World Economic Forum in Manila recently. PNoy said that the budget for infrastructure has more than double. A total of 12,184 km national roads were done. He cites DPWH Sec. Singson for cutting corruption in infrastructure projects. "Bawal ang tongpats, bawal ang bukol."

It is common that every SONA, the President always make promises. Here are the some of theaction items of the Aquino government for the next months or year:

·         Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike bidding by end of 2014

·         Open alternative roads to EDSA

·         Opening of the Palawan Busuanga Airport

·         Push Bangsamoro Basic Law

·         Ensure enough supply of power to meet the growing energy demand

·         2.606 trillion for 2015 National Budget

            Despite of the said achievements and plans of the government, thousands of protesters marched along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City toward Batasan Pambansa on Monday afternoon. According to them, Aquino is the pork barrel king as they have showed "holDAPer" effigy which pertains to the President's DAP. Meanwhile, Aquino did not mention the issue on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) with many of the politicians are involved. PNoy also failed to include the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill in his SONA. The measure aims to eliminate corruption in the bureaucracy by giving the public greater access to government transactions and records.

Stations (SWS) has released second-quarter survey results which shows that 12.1 million from 11.5 million in March Filipino families saw themselves 'poor'. In the survey, 55 percent of respondents claimed to be poor, up from 53 percent in March.