Let SONA truth come out

On Monday  President  Noynoy Aquino will deliver his State of the Nation Address before a  joint  session of Congress. It’s interesting to see  how  the report of the Aquino administration compares with the report card made by the people.

What has Aquino’s administration of Aquino done so far to improve the lives of Filipinos? Has it served public welfare or ignored it?

The SONA is mandated by the Constitution under a presidential system of government . We  are a democratic country so the chief executive has to make a report to the people before the joint session of Congress.  The  Congress cannot deny the president this honor of addressing the people through the legislature  unlike what happened in the Cebu City Council on July 1.

After one year in power, I think  there is nothing much to expect from the administration of Aquino except for a few things. Revelations about anomalies and wrongdoings of the past  send the right signal to  government employees  not to cheat or to steal money because  they can be caught and prosecuted.

Excesses by  by the previous Arroyo administration are starting to unravel, from the shennanians of  some government agencies to  alleged poll cheating during the 2004 and 2007 elections.

People  in the know are starting to surface and tell what they know about dealings of the  previous administration. ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan started talking about the poll cheating in Mindanao orchestrated by  then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and family. Ampatuan’s revelation is now corroborated by Comelec official Lintang Bedol, who recently surfaced after a long absence  from his office following the 2004 election.

Another explosive figure,  former Comelec Commissioner Garciliano, has been sending feelers to the government that he is  willing to tell all about the “Hello Garci” controversy.

What is important is that the truth comes out.

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The K+12 educational program of the Aquino administration is  getting a lot of flak from some sectors as a result of  ignorance or lack of knowledge.

Fr. Dionisio Miranda, SVD, president of the University of San Carlos, has been instrumental in providing USC faculty members  the necessary information about this important reform.

Under the program, senior high school is made possible with  two additional  years  for vocational and technology subject  to prepare students for employment after graduation.

Today, there’s a marked bias for white collar jobs such that many graduates have difficulty landing a job after college. With the  K+12 program, it is expected that graduates of senior high school have more opportunities to be hired given their high school voc-tech   training which would produce welders, call center agents, carpenters, and masons, etc.

Only a few students can afford go to an expensive college. According to Fr. Miranda about 20 percent of  the student population may decide to proceed  to college to specialize in a field of higher learning.

Concerns about lack of classrooms, teachers, and  chairs are very valid but it should not stop the government from implementing the K+12 program as something good for our students and the country.

The Philippines is  one of three remaining countries in  the world implementing only 10 years of basic education.

USC is  preparing for the implementation of the K+12 educational program  which I think is a program that can’t be stopped by anyone. I  hope the government is preparing as well.

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The Reproducting Health bill should be deleted by the Aquino administration from its priority list.

It won’t work  with the effective opposition of the Catholic church. However, more debate  and discussion should be encouraged  to get to the  truth about the issue of  population, the economy  and women’s and children’s health.

I am reading an article referred by Fr. Tony Salas, SVD, vice president for academic affairs in USC about the RH bill.

So far it’s has interesting and intriguing  perspectives. It answers some of the questions in my mind about the bill.