Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) – Storytelling, boasting, blaming.
That’s how Vice President Jejomar Binay described on Monday, August 3, the last State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno Aquino III.
READ: SONA 2015: Aquino recaps economic gains of ‘Daang Matuwid’
Binay said he was expecting Aquino’s last SONA to be a true report with a list of steps that have to be taken to improve the lives of the people.
“Ngunit ang narinig natin ay ulat na punong-puno ng kwento, pagbubuhat ng sariling bangko at – tulad ng mga naunang SONA – paninisi,” the vice president told his audience at the Cavite State University in Indang in what he called his “True State of the Nation Address.”
[Translation: “But what he heard is a report full of stories, boasting, and – as in the first SONA – blaming.”]
The statistics that the president cited in his SONA seemed to have given glitter to his administration’s accomplishments, Binay said.
FULL TEXT | President Aquino delivers his last State of the Nation Address
But the numbers, he insisted, could not mask the truth: So many Filipinos are still poor, hungry, and jobless.
“Pagkaraan ng limang taon, ang isinukli sa pagsisikap ng mamamayang Pilipino ay manhid at palpak na pamamahala,” he said.
[Translation: “After five years, what Filipinos got in return for their efforts was a insensitive and incompetent governance.”]
“Ito ang tunay na kalagayan ng ating bansa,” he said.
[Translation: “This is the true state of our nation.”]
Binay resigned from the Cabinet last June 28 to pursue his presidential aspiration. Since then he has been constantly criticizing the Aquino administration, calling it manhid and palpak – meaning, insensitive and incompetent.
READ: VP Binay steps down from Cabinet
READ: VP Binay speaks up after Cabinet resignation, slams Aquino administration
Signs of insensitivity and incompetence
In his address in Cavite, a vote-rich province, Binay recalled four big incidents that he said showed up insensitivity of the Aquino administration:
the August 2010 hostage-taking at the Quirino Gradnstand in Rizal Park, during which eight Chinese tourists were killed
the two-week Siege of Zamboanga by a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)
Super Typhoon Yolanda which struck Eastern Visayas in November 2013, in which thousands died, and up to now so many survivors are without permanent homes
the Mamasapano gun battle, during which Moro fighters killed 44 police commandos of the Special Action Force
As for the incompetence of the administration, he pointed out three concerns:
the problem-plagued MRT, which despite its inefficient and inadequate services have earned money for people close to the secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications,
the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which the Palace is trying to speed up in Congress despite questions about its constitutionality
the Disbursement Acceleration Program, which despite the billions of pesos released under it has not benefited the poor
Binay also dismissed Daang Matuwid – the administration’s good governance platform – as a mere slogan, saying:
“Kahit kailanman hindi isang slogan ang mag-aangat sa kalagayan ng sambayanan.
“Hindi ang slogan ng Daang Matuwid ang magdadala sa atin sa kaunlaran.
“Ang mga namumuno ng bansa, ang masang Pilipino katulad ng mga magsasaka, mga mangingisda, mga manggagawa dito sa Pilipinas at ating mga OFWs – sa kanilang mga bisig nakasalalay ang kaunlaran.”
[Translation: “Never has a slogan improved the situation of the nation. It’s not the Daang Matuwid slogan that brings us progress. Those who rule the country, the Filipino masses, like farmers, fishermen, laborers here in the Philippines and the OFWs – it’s on them on which progress depends.”]
An appeal to emotions?
Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, interim president of Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance, said Binay based his address on his discussions with poor Filipinos all over the country. So it would reflect the true state of the nation.
In reaction, some House members dismissed Binay’s address was nothing but a pure appeal to emotions.
Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas said the president had clearly stated his administration’s achievements, all backed with data.
Caloocan Rep. Edgardo Erice, vice chairman for political affairs of the Liberal Party, said Binay did not give the true state of the nation but just the small shortcomings of the Aquino administration.
Erice also questioned what Binay himself had been doing through the five years that he was part of the Cabinet to address the issues he stated in his address.
From the Palace side, Secretary Edwin Lacierda, presidential spokesperson, sent a text message, saying: “Limang taon kang pumapalakpak noon sa mga sinasabi mong palpak ngayon.”
Translation: “You applauded for five years the things that you’re calling a failure now.”]
In another text message, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said: “I did not listen to VP Binay. I hope he was as specific, factual, and evidence-based as PNoy’s SONA. I hope he was as uplifting as PNoy was. I hope he inspired hope in the future. If not, I am lucky then to have used my time with work.”
