State Of The Nation Address 2013 - Benigno Aquino III

                   President Benigno Simeon “PNoy” Aquino III delivered his fourth annual State of the Nation Address in Batasang Pambansa Complex, Quezon City on July 22, 2013 with the theme, “Sa Gitna ng Daang Matuwid.”

                   The midterm SONA marked his third year in presidency and opened the 16th Congress in a joint session of both houses. The annual address started at exactly 4:03 PM and ended at 5:46 PM. It was the longest SONA he had given so far, earning 88 rounds of applause from Senators, Congressmen, government officials, local and international media and other dignitaries and important personalities in the country.
PNoy’s speech was very comprehensive, covering a lot of areas which include the accomplishments of his administration in political and economic aspects, praises for public servants and government departments who made outstanding services for the country, and also strongly-worded criticisms against corrupt public servants and erring government agencies.
The President mentioned the fresh mandate from the people via domination of his senatorial candidates in May 2013 election, the Bangsamoro peace framework, success of his Pantawid ng Pamilyang Pilipino Program, more TESDA scholars, housing program for informal settlers and the 7.8% GDP last year. He also hailed the passage of RH Law, Sin Tax Law, AFP Modernization Act and the K-12 Law.
PNoy specifically lauded three police enforcers for their great acts that helps lift the image of the PNP, and also department secretaries Albert del Rosario of DFA, Armin Luistro of DepEd, Rogelio Singson of DPWH and the late Jesse Robredo of DILG for a well-done job.
On the other hand, he minced no words in castigating corrupt individuals, specifically former TESDA Administrator Boboy Syjuco, and the agencies of Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Immigration and National Irrigation Administration.
The almost 2-hour speech also included a video testimonials of the exemplary public servants.
He ended his speech with words, “I am Noynoy Aquino, and I proudly say to the world: I am a Filipino. How wonderful it is to be a Filipino in these times.”
In my own humble opinion, President Aquino was successful in relaying the inclusive growth of his administration and regaining the trust of the Filipino people in the presidency, and his SONA exuded the confidence he has with his accomplishments. However, I felt that the speech was too long to miss on some important issues like the passage of Freedom of Information bill, amendment or repeal of Cybercrime Act, and especially the P10 Billion pork scam. True or not, he should’ve mentioned the scam, for anti-corruption is his main thrust in the Daang Matuwid platform.
Of course, we all know that the President cannot reform the country all by himself, and his theme of ‘beginning the change’ and enjoining the citizenry to work arm-in-arm with the government in achieving these goals is very laudable. We must support PNoy’s programs so that we can fully feel the trickling down of economic gains of his administration. And also, we must remain active in urging the him make true to his promise of curbing corruption that is consuming most of our government’s coffers.