The State of the President

In his sixth and last address to the joint session of Congress, President Aquino failed to honestly and clearly describe the State of the Nation.

Instead, he delivered a two-hour rant that gave the nation a better understanding of the State of the President.

And, just like what the true State of the Nation might be, the State of the President is, in more humane terms, dismal. A State of the Nation Address (Sona) is meant to answer three basic questions.

These are:

First, what’s happening to the country? Second, why? Third, what must we do about it?

Instead, we were led to ask these three questions: what happened to this President; why; and why can’t we do anything about it?

That dismal State of the President address showed three outstanding aspects of this president’s character.

One: he himself is unsure and unconvinced of the success of the presidency. Second: he does not possess the moral courage needed for a leader to accept failure and then prescribe solutions. Third: he is in the mold of neither Ninoy nor Cory—at the end of the day, he is Kris.

In an apparent bid to convince the nation—and also himself—the President resorted to a long and very disorganized litany of minor accomplishments hardly supported by solid proofs or statistics. Instead, the President used videos of dramatic testimonials from pre-screened, pre-selected individuals.

The late South African statesman Nelson Mandela was credited with this paraphrased quote: “If you cannot convince me with three points, what makes you think you can convince me with more?”

Along this line, was the kilometric oral presentation, backed by video testimonials, a desperation move on the part of the President?

The bigger problem with the litany of minor accomplishments is that it failed to answer the people’s questions regarding the two most glaring proofs regarding the dismal state of the nation: power and transportation.

Instead of convincing the people that there is hope for our mass-transit system, the President resorted to his hallmark blame game, assigning the guilt to the Arroyo administration. He also attempted to exonerate Transportation Secretary Abaya of any accountability for the government’s failure to sustain the efficient operation of the light rail transit system by praising the latter for supposed games in the maritime sector.

The President also conveniently skipped reference to the electric-power supply situation. This is understandable. Both Aquino presidencies cannot lay claim to any major gain in this one single biggest concern of Filipinos and of investors, local and international.

In stark contrast, two of the president’s predecessors made moves that drastically transformed the  landscape of both the power and transportation sectors. It was former President Ramos’s clear-cut policy on liberalization that brought the transportation sector under a regime of competition.

The move helped ease air, land and maritime transportation and brought in a significant number of new players. It was during that administration that the construction of the Metro Rail Transit 3 began.

Regardless of how the public feels about her, it is only fair to credit former President Arroyo with the major gains in the power sector. It was Arroyo who made the move to cut government subsidy on Napocor, which then accounted for much of the country’s debt and burden on the national budget.

It was under the Arroyo administration that the entry and expansion of renewable energy began. The growth and expansion of renewable energy suffered setbacks under the present administration following that long and bitter battle over feed-in tariff rates.

While those two presidents may not have generated the same public affection as the incumbent, they may have outdone the latter when it comes to political will-backed gains.

The Sona-turned-State of the President address was also historic in another way. This will, perhaps, be remembered as the most “showbiz” address ever delivered before a joint session of Congress.

When not ranting and dishing out excuses, the President went out of his way to credit the taxpayer- paid coterie of official yayas who attended to him.

In so doing, he turned that sacred tradition into a Boy Abunda-type talk show where celebrity guests mark the end of their presence by thanking their hairstylists and couturiers.

He thanked celebrity dressmaker Paul Cabral. He thanked celebrity haircutter Cherry Reyes.

No leader of this nation has done that while standing at the podium before the lawmakers of this land.

We credit this President with having a heart full of good intentions. He did not steal from our coffers. And by lending the power of his family name to the government, the country did attract the attention of investors.

He did attempt to stoke the embers of public affection for his deceased parents during this last Sona.

It must be said, however, that the State of the President is nowhere near his father’s and mother’s. He did not display the audacity of Ninoy. He did not exude the tenacity of Cory.

However, he did manifest the propensities of Kris. And got a lot of applause in the process.