MORE THAN its ?shock and awe value,? President Aquino?s first State of the Nation Address (Sona) will be an educational and ?truth-telling? speech.

?This is not simply about exposés or accusations,? Presidential Communications Group member Herminio Coloma yesterday said of the speech that Mr. Aquino is to deliver at the first joint session of the 15th Congress tomorrow afternoon.

?Most important, it?s to let the people know the quantum of resources, and to be more keenly aware of the need to harness these resources in a very efficient manner,? Coloma said in a phone interview.

?This is not simply to cast people in a bad light. This is truth-telling,? he said.

Coloma also said that by depicting the ?deplorable state of affairs,? Mr. Aquino would be imparting a lesson to his team of officials that ?we can?t afford to misallocate or misuse funds.?

The President had promised revelations of ?shocking? anomalies in his Sona, on top of the depletion of the P1.54-trillion national budget and calamity fund.

He said on Friday that a mere 30 percent had been left of the national budget and calamity fund, with five months to go before yearend and the average of 20 typhoons a year yet to hit.

But Mr. Aquino does not intend to spite his predecessor, now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, when he details fresh anomalies in his Sona, his spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Saturday in a forum aired over dzRB radio.

?There?s no intention to spite or offend Congresswoman Arroyo. This is only an objective enumeration of facts,? Lacierda said.

?When we do the Sona, we?re not thinking of [her]. This is a factual view of the previous administration. If she gets hit, it?s only because of the enumeration of problems that we?ve inherited,? he said.

As it happens, the ex-President is to fly to Hong Kong tomorrow (Monday) with her husband, Jose Miguel ?Mike? Arroyo, for his medical checkup.

Lakas-Kampi-CMD spokesperson Raul Lambino told the Inquirer by phone that Mike Arroyo was scheduled for an appointment with Doctors Kwok Ching Kwong and Lau Chu Pak for ?a consultation on the reduction of the recurrence of his aortic aneurysm.?

?She won?t be able to make it [to the Sona],? Lambino said. But she will be at the House of Representatives early Monday, the first session day of the 15th Congress.

?GMA will attend the morning session to take her oath in the plenary as a member, after which she will leave,? Lambino said, adding that Arroyo would return shortly to attend to her duties.

The Arroyos? eldest child, the newly sworn in Ang Galing Pinoy Rep. Juan Miguel ?Mikey? Arroyo, said he was aware of his parents? trip but was yet unsure whether he would join them.

Bad mood

At the Clark Freeport on Friday, the first day of a two-day seminar for Lakas-Kampi-CMD members, Arroyo herself declined to say whether she would be present at her successor?s Sona.

Her facial expression reflecting a bad mood, she emerged from one of the conference rooms of Fort Stotsenberg at 11 a.m. and walked hastily to her vehicle, which immediately left with two security escorts.

A plane with a presidential seal was seen parked at the Air Force?s Haribon in the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport. The Air Force did not say if the ex-President actually used the plane to enter and leave Clark.

Arroyo?s youngest child, Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado Arroyo, said he would attend Monday?s opening of Congress.

Asked if his mother would do the same, he said: ?I don?t know. I?m not her spokesperson.?

But La Union Rep. Victor Ortega said it would be ?more awkward? if Arroyo absented herself.

?I cannot imagine why she would not [be there],? Ortega said.

Key points

Lacierda said the state of government coffers in 2010, as well as ?doable solutions? to a host of national problems and proposed legislative measures would be the key points of Mr. Aquino?s Sona.

Its theme will hew closely to Mr. Aquino?s campaign battle cry ?Where there is no corruption, there is no poverty.? Thus, an enumeration of measures to root out corruption and stamp out poverty may be expected, Lacierda said.

Lacierda called on Filipinos to listen to Mr. Aquino outline his ?platform of government, advocacies and legislative agenda.?

?It is not something that we will present just because it?s pleasing to the ears. It is something that we must all hear?the reality of the situation, the difficulties we?re facing as a country, and that the President is there to provide solutions that are workable and doable,? Lacierda said.

Coloma said Mr. Aquino?s legislative agenda would be based on his economic program?job creation, education, healthcare and the justice system.

DOJ to deal with anomalies

Lacierda said Malacañang would leave it to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to deal with the anomalies to be detailed in the Sona.

Coloma said charges could be filed with the Ombudsman against officials involved in the anomalies.

?It?s to be expected that [Mr. Aquino] will want to see these anomalies prosecuted, and the people responsible charged. Some of these may be administrative or criminal charges. There are existing mechanisms to investigate and bring [those involved] before the bar of public justice,? he said by phone.

He added that from his understanding, only the high-profile anomalies in the past administration awaiting closure, and not the fresh anomalies, would be covered by the yet to be set up truth commission.

?So shock us?

In a statement, Renato Reyes, secretary general of the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, said it was looking forward to what Mr. Aquino had to say.

?We are interested in knowing more of the shenanigans and misdeeds of the past administration,? Reyes said. ?We look forward to being ?shocked,? so to speak. But what we are most interested in knowing is, after the exposé, how will ... Arroyo and her cohorts be made accountable, and how will justice be achieved for the Filipino people??

Reyes said exposing the alleged corruption of the Arroyo administration would be ?a good thing.?

He added: ?Let?s hope it doesn?t stop there. The prosecution of ... Arroyo and her allies must be part of the Sona of the President. We know that there was corruption, fraud and human rights abuses. The big challenge for the new government is how to go after the perpetrators. It remains to be seen if the promised truth commission can actually do this.?

In a separate statement, members of the urban poor group Balikwas Maralita said what they wanted to hear was how Mr. Aquino would ?address the issues of homelessness, hunger and poverty.?

They said there would be nothing new and shocking in the way the Arroyo administration drained the national budget through corrupt practices.

?What we want to know is not the same old anecdotes and testimonies of corruption. We want to hear straight from P-Noy?s mouth, in his first Sona, what his real plans are for the urban poor sector, especially the residents to be affected by the upcoming demolition of shanties along the Pasig River,? they said.

Family anxiety

Asked about the timing of the former First Couple?s trip, Lambino said it was scheduled for Monday because Mike Arroyo?s doctor recommended on Thursday that he be checked soon for his aortic aneurysm.

Lambino said that despite the success of Mike Arroyo?s recent spinal surgery, his doctors had cautioned him that there was no assurance his aortic aneurysm would not recur.

?The family wants to alleviate their anxiety. So they sought an immediate appointment with cardiovascular surgeons,? Lambino said.

He also said, in response to a question, that the trip was not timed to give the ex-President a reason to skip her predecessor?s Sona. He said she was aware that even if she did not attend the event, she could not avoid knowing what had transpired.

Punching bag

Lambino also said Mr. Aquino was using his predecessor as a punching bag to lay the groundwork for his supposed inability to deliver on his promises.

?They used GMA to the extreme in 2007 and 2010 elections. They are again using GMA in anticipation of their failures. They will use her as a reason for why they could not do what they vowed to do,? he said, adding:

?I don?t know what President Noynoy wants to happen. Will this administration be a vengeful administration, an administration full of hatred??

Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, a close ally of Arroyo?s, also said he did not know why Mr. Aquino was attacking the ex-President when she had directed her allies to support the new administration. With reports from Alcuin Papa in Manila; Tonette Orejas at the Clark Freeport