IMHO

SONA babitz!

by icarus

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The SONA (State Of The Nation Address) of GMA yesterday was a bummer to put it gently. It’s the same package of bogus claims, tall tales, self-serving propagandas, excuses, and uncalled for swipes at her political rivals. If we have to believe the President, the country’s economic performance is on all-time high, jobs generation and employment opportunities are phenomenally great, graft and corruption are non-existent, human rights violations and involuntary disappearances are just pigments of her detractor's imagination; and therefore she is the messiah the Philippines had been waiting for.

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Now, you don’t have to have a PhD to see through all of these. In fact, it is the people in the lowest rungs of society who could tell most graphically how the economy has stagnated at rock-bottom during her watch. It is the ever-increasing number of the unemployed and the under-employed which could prove most eloquently the lack or non-existence of jobs. So how did these Doctors of Economics at the NEDA come up with the rosy employment figures? Its easy, I tell you. They simply re-classified jobs and changed the definitions. For example, if bum Juan could not find a salaried job but drives her mom to market regularly on weekends then by their definition and in their statistics, Juan is employed. Congratulations, Juan! Be grateful that you have a job. Now, why are you asking for salary, you ingrate!

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Is there still graft and corruption? Is there still sand in the Sahara? It’s the most self-evident fact and yet she refuses to see. Isn’t it obvious when they feed the millions of undernourished school children with P5.00 pack instant noodles and claim for P18.00 disbursement from the government budget? For a million school-children that’s 13M every school day! You don’t call that a charitable Feeding Program, do you? It’s a heartless stealing from the bowl of poor children and giving it to the sharks – Oh, it’s a Feeding Program, alright! How callous could we get. Are you people enraged yet? That’s just the mildest case.

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How about Human Rights? Well, have you come across the names Karen Empeno, Sherlyn Cadapan, Melissa Roxas, Jonas Burgos? Google their cases and seethe in righteous anger! Be shocked at the brazenness and impunity by which the all-powerful authorities determine who lives and who dies. Shudder at the thought that they could come and drag you or your loved one from sleep and turned into grim statistics. While everyone watch and cower in helplessness.

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Watching that speech made me really furious. Her smile appears to be a smirk of contempt and scorn, her assurances for elections sounds like guarantees for her perpetration, her boasting are a source of shame to Filipinos, and her arrogant claims to performance are insults to my feeble intelligence. Her frequent reference to the technicalities and rule of law, her conscious disregard of public opinion and dismissal of justifiable criticism – these gave me a weird, depressing feeling that we have made a grave mistake which we could not correct and we just have to live with it.

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“I did not become president to be popular”, she sneered as if her record-setting, negative approval rating is a badge of honor – equating the people's gross rejection of her to a confirmation of her heroic and outstanding presidential performance. What a shameless presumption!

Excuse me Louisians, I think I need to go to the washroom and puke!

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