the spin that is SONA(kakasuya)

I liked it … because of its simplicity and its delivery. None of the high-flown language or the soaring rhetoric that previous presidents used to court applause. The speech was a straightforward, almost hurried, recitation of facts. I only wish all of them were true. If they were, we are indeed on the way to change.

But all Sonas are like that. They are like drugs, or alcohol, or nicotine that give us a high, especially the speaker. The President is like a painter painting a beautiful picture of the nation, an Amorsolo with words. But the painting is only good to look at hanging on the wall. The reality all around it is very much different.

that’s from neal cruz.  and siyempre, that it was wholly in simple, even vernacular, tagalog won the hearts of many, never mind the lack of substance.  sabi ko nga sa facebook, ang babaw naman ng ating kaligayahan.  na siyempre uli, ikina-offend ng constituency ni phnoy.

okay, so phnoy has convinced his constituency (and even daw the undecided, says one) that he’s on the right track and that things are looking up for the rich (stockmarket’s up) and for the poor (hunger’s down), and i’m just too lazy to rain on his parade… besides, baka sabihin utak talangka ako, lol, what a way to ward off criticism, in a sona yet, how sooo unpresidential.

oh, and the the wang wang thing?  i’m not convinced it’s really gone. i rarely step out but on one occasion i saw how vips have just gotten creative, dinadaan sa ilaw-ilaw, busi-busina, hagad-hagad effect and yellowribbon stickers, to make us patabi-tabi so they can zoom ahead.  disimulado, kumbaga, and i suppose the same goes on in every level of life where the rich and powerful are accustomed to getting ahead of everyone else.

as for thanking our schoolteachers for staying instead of ofw-ing, and the pulis na nagtatrapik nang walang kapote o payong ba, kahit umuulan…. eh siyempre kailangan muna nating tiyakin na yung teacher ay hindi naghihintay lang ng passport o contrata para makapag-abroad, ano?  at kung public school teacher na nagtitiis talaga dito out of love for country, aba hindi sapat na pasalamatan, dapat taasan ang suweldo nito, utang na loob!!!  at yung pulis na nagtatrapik kahit nababasa ng ulan, tama bang pasalamatan lang, sabay drive-on?  hindi ba dapat abutan ng payong o kapote?  ah ewan.

most nakakasuya of all is the kayo-ang-boss-ko line, because it’s so not true, or only true re fighting corruption e hindi lang naman corruption ang problema.

to top it all i wake up to this behind-the-sona fb status:

An unimpeachable little yellow bird tells me that PNoy and some of his very close circle of friends have imported (smuggled?) several Belgian FN Herstal P90 submachine guns/compact assault rifles in the country to the tune of P880 thousand pesos each. Yes, each. Aaah, the privileges of powerful oligarchs and faux-bonhommes in disguise as heaven-sent public servants.

oh my.  gearing up for war?  share naman.

read too:
SONA 2011: Little to report, less to look forward to 
Excuse us, but Recto Bank is not ours

Comments

  1. GabbyD

    “as for thanking our schoolteachers for staying instead of ofw-ing, and the pulis na nagtatrapik nang walang kapote o payong ba, kahit umuulan…. ”

    serious question: why the cynicism?

    isnt it a good thing to say thank you to public servants?

    even if they do harbor plans of moving to a better job? (like none of us do that)

    even if the govt should raise their salaries (which they should, gradually, even as we know it will never be as high as private companies anyways).

    why the cynicism?

    bottom line: there are many problems with the philippines — but why shoot down a good idea just because there are many problems?

    the implicit assumption is that you dont trust govt to 1) raise their salaries, 2) provide basic gear to public servants, but we also dont want the govt to raise taxes and borrow.

    this is weird. we want to spend more, but we cant allow the govt to earn more. weird.

  2. randy david: I have read the Plan, but I fail to see how it differs from previous development plans. My impression is that it is not daring enough in its thrusts. Its bland orthodoxy does not do justice to the reformist—almost revolutionary—sentiments that buttress this presidency’s mandate….It is not enough to say we must deal with corruption resolutely, or that economic growth must be inclusive. These are expected of every government. But what is the strategy? The eradication of corruption can indeed save precious funds, but, clearly, in itself it is not a plan for ending hunger or reducing poverty. http://opinion.inquirer.net/8759/state-of-our-values

  3. BrianB

    The man is obviously conservative. From a hacienda-owning family, I never expected revolutions from him. I’m not sure why you do. As long as he isn’t corrupt I’m OK with him. The changes will come from both direct and trickle down effect of a clean president. Suddenly, di na uso nakawan. Just imagine.