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.