To the SONA of P-Noy

In the first part of his speech, the President emphasized again the issue of wang-wang which, according to him, has become the symbol of change not just in the streets, but also in our collective attitude. According to the President, if the abusive authorities are able to use this wang-wang in disobeying the simple traffic laws, this means that there is also a possibility that they could also have disrespect for the projects funded by the Filipino people. That is why he insisted on fighting wang-wang since the start of his term and according to him, his administration has yielded results. He was proud in saying that self-rated hunger has come down, stock market have reached seven record highs, credit ratings improved and the confidence of investors in our energy sector was revived which meant a cheaper and more reliable source of energy.

As expected, the President included in his speech the wang-wang attitude of the former administration such as the purchase of used helicopters branded as new, the millions of bonuses given to GOCC officials despite the fact that their agencies are already drowning in debt, the existence of delinquent professional taxpayers, the anomalous transactions in the DPWH and the excessive importation of rice benefitting the selfish few, He also cited some of the alleged wasteful programs such as the ill-advised plan of dredging Laguna Lake and the food-for-school programs which were not properly implemented because of no proper identification of beneficiaries. Having discovered all of these corrupt practices of the former administration, the President still hopes that he could completely eliminate this wang-wang attitude although he admits that it still persists.

I can feel the sincerity of the President in eliminating the above-mentioned malpractices which occured during the past administration. I wish that he could do so because I strongly believe that the sufferings being felt by the Filipinos especially the poor ones are due to graft and corruption. Some of our officials are using their authority and power to benefit themselves from the taxpayer’s money. Instead of using the collected taxes for the construction of roads, bridges, school buildings and other infrastructures beneficial to the Filipino people, they put the money in their own pockets not minding their poor countrymen who are not even capable of providing three meals a day for their families and to have a shelter of their own.

It is also great to hear from the President that the housing program for our policemen is being implemented and is even expanding to extend these services to the employees of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and of the Bureau of Fire Protection. I salute the President for this program because in this way, this could make the policemen think of not being tempted to make a quick buck anymore, instead, they would concentrate on providing security and protection to our countrymen and to our country as well.

As of now, my utmost hope is for the administration of President Noynoy to continuously decrease the unemployment rate in our country. We all know that every year, thousands of fresh graduates join the ranks of those who are hunting for jobs. I just hope that by the time that it will be my turn to graduate from college, if God permit, there are already job opportunities for newly graduates ready so that we no longer need to go abroad to seek for a job.