Speechless

President Gloria Arroyo spoke to the nation and was expected to talk about the country’s present state of affairs. To the dismay of our people, no thanks to Microsoft’s Power Point, the event was nothing but a dressed up social event in well-planned imagery, to proclaim the glorious state of the nation – three years, eleven months from now.

       After saying “I stand before you today to deliver a state of the nation,” she proceeded promptly to deliver exactly everything but the state of the nation.

       From start to the end, it was endless Thank you and Maraming salamat po to special people in her administration, calculated to further endear them to her person.

      But while the President may have succeeded in endearing others, she certainly disappointed the Pangasinan folk who felt that Speaker Jose de Venecia’s efforts deserved to be cited in one way or the other, but it never came.

    And when she spoke of a national plan “that is focused on what the people want” and proceeded to recite the plans “to put us on the path to prosperity,” it was evident she was hardly aware of what the people truly want in these difficult times.

It didn’t come as a surprise to many that with all the bravura she could muster, she indicated in no unmistakable terms that Charter Change, will remain a priority for her. Never mind that the issue has further divided the nation.

She was glib about construction of more roads, airports and railroads and other infrastructures, no different from the political promises she made during the 2004 electoral campaign period. The only difference today is she calls the country “Super Regions” and now claims there is money for all the grandiose plans, yet she didn’t say how much and how these will be made available.

People waited with bated breath for her thoughts on the country’s failing education system, worsening peace and order, unabated killing of journalists and political activists, the degradation of our environment, worsening poverty levels, low productivity and survival in global trade, brain drain and exodus of Filipino skills and labor and a host of problems that have shackled families to utter poverty. But the people heard nothing.

Rubbing salt on the country’s wounds, she thumbed her nose at the numerous impeachment complaints filed against her. The only apt response she had for the people who asked her to come clean was “We’re game!”

By the time she ended her speech, it was clear to all that her “Thank you” and “Maraming salamat po” were really intended for people who shielded her and protected her from the wrath of her angry and hungry constituents who have long felt cheated and insulted by her continued arrogance and hubris.

She definitely left the nation speechless. It was the SONA that had a lot of people dropping their jaws in disbelieving incredulity.

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