SONA-WHAT?

The Sorry State of the Nation

For the President, July 27th will serve as a repeat performance, nine times over: it will be her ninth
State of the Nation Address in as many years of her term. In those nine SONAs, her speech has
constantly centered on the economic plaudits that the country has received, the GNP or GDP targets
her Cabinet has achieved, and the numerous accomplishments of her government.

While the President crows on about her achievements, the State of the Nation is that of a sorry one.
The numbers can speak for themselves:

- 25%: In the latest SWS Survey of May 2009, over 25% of our countrymen have
experienced hunger in some palpable manner, with 4% of the population experiencing
severe hunger

-14%: According to the survey conducted by the SWS as well, unemployment has
skyrocketed to 14% of the eligible working population, despite the government’s harping of
the country’s supposed 92% employment rate;

-12%: In 9 years, the total allocation of the annual budget for education, including the
allocation for education from which UP derives its budget has remained unchanged,
despite the approval of 1 trillion pesos to serve as the country’s budget for 2009-2010. As
such, despite the exorbitant tuition fees, UP, as well as other state colleges and universities
remain unable to admit the qualified and less fortunate students who deserve access to
quality education;

-10: We still continue to deploy some 2,000 overseas Filipino workers everyday. Our
countrymen continue to submit themselves to the need to find employment overseas. But
the recent death of 10 Filipinos in Afghanistan who illegally flew there via helicopter is a
testament to the desperation of our fellow Filipinos to find some way to make ends meet,
despite the danger to their lives and their loved ones;

-2nd: The Philippines, the first republican democracy in Asia, is now the 2nd most dangerous
place in the world for journalists after Iraq, it is also the 2nd most dangerous place for
unionists, with 33 union leaders being killed in between the years of 2007-2009.

Despite the inevitable parade of falsities, this SONA is important for two other reasons. First, it will
be an occasion for the President to finally be in the same halls where House Resolution 1109 was
passed, and where the majority of Congress turned the Constituent Assembly into a shell of what the
law intended it to become: one that comprised both chambers of Congress. Second, it is also fresh
on the heels of the passage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, which is still in a
precarious stage despite the Congress’ action of finally approving it last June.

As such, the battle begins after the deafening applause and after the President steps down from the
podium. We in ALYANSA believe in the need to be vigilant, in order to guarantee that this will
serve as the last State of the Nation Address of the President. This must serve as our fervent
commitment to uphold social justice and social progress, by making sure that this is the last time we
are bombarded with lies and pleasantries. We have to let our voices of dissent be heard in any way
we possibly can. And we have to commit to our call to become Iskolars Para sa Bayan: committed,
discerning and selflessly serving the country in any way we can.

26 July 2009

if you want to know more about this, and/or interested to help with this campaign,
contact UP ALYANSA at 0915 452 5116, or 0927 682 5863 or visit http://upalyansa.multiply.com