His Excellency, President Benigno S. Aquino III

ASSIGNMENT 1

A.) Summary

        His Excellency, President Benigno S. Aquino III started his state of the nation address by apologizing to everyone about not being able to do the traditional practices because he was not feeling too well. He then greeted every high ranking official by name, the employees of the government and of course us whom he refers to as his “bosses” being the one who pays the taxes and all.

        His real speech started by reminding us of the wrong doings done by the previous administration and saying that those who have forgotten are bound to repeat it. According to him, he can only move on true justice has been attained and if those corrupt people apologize to the people and feel remorse for their crimes. He then went on to give a summary of the current administration accomplishments. He highlighted the achievements in the economy, poverty, education, health infrastructure, and military modernization which were made possible by the “Daang Matuwid” campaign. To quote our president, he said that "Corruption was the root of our people's suffering. Our battle cry: where there is no corruption, there will be no poverty". He supported his claims with visual representation of the statistics he mentions. The numbers were vast and implied that we have really come a long way since then. He also showed the nation the effects of the administration’s reforms by showing videos where beneficiaries of the government’s program gave their testimonies on the effectiveness and efficiency of the said programs.

        The state of the nation address was longer than the usual because, this being the president’s last one, he took the opportunity to thank everyone for doing their respective jobs and contributing to the achievements of the “daang matuwid” administration. He did not mention any names on who he favours to be his successor but he made sure to remind the people to choose the one who shares his vision and continue on the path that he has set or else everything would have been for naught and we would be back to square one. However, he did excessively praise SILG Mar Roxas for his contributions and how good he is as a person which leads us to believe that it is Roxas whom he thinks is best to succeed him.                                                                

B.) Strong Points

        This year’s SONA, for the most part, was about the current administration’s positive performance. The statistics were worthy of praise. It showed how much we have grown since President Aquino started his term. The visual figures were refreshing and exceedingly useful to reinforce his claims. It’s certainly more appealing to look at numbers and graphs while listening to the speech than just look at him all the time.  It was also really nice to see real people who were beneficiaries of the government’s programs attest to its effectiveness. It makes you relieved that the taxes you pay really do make a difference.  

His play of words and use of quotes as well Filipino slangs increased his likability to a great extent and helped him connect to a wider audience. This shows that he can in fact relate to the common people. The occasional sarcasm surprisingly helped in this matter too although there is the danger of sounding defensive. Nonetheless I think there was a need to address his critics.  On another note, the use of the pronoun “natin” or “we” instead of “I” is pretty reassuring as it shows what kind of a leader he is, a selfless servant leader. Furthermore, by thanking everyone for their contribution he acknowledged the fact that he never did it alone but it was an effort made by everyone and that every accomplishment he mentions is not his but ours, the citizens of this country’s achievement. Speaking or rather writing of us, the taxpayers, he refers to us as his “bosses”. This shows humility and another indication of good leader.

C.) Weak Points

        His Excellency’s tradition of putting down the previous administration did not skip this year’s state of the nation address. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t doubt the things he said was true but for most people who were tuned in, it was already tiring to hear it over and over again. I think he has his reasons though which I will discuss in my analysis. His failure to address some important issues did not sit well with me and surely everyone would agree. Matters like China’s expansionism in the West Philippine Sea, Mamasapano operation, and Priority Development Assistance Fund and even the Bangsamoro Basic Law among others were no shows. Although the anti-dynasty law made it to the SONA, no mention about the freedom of information bill was made which was terribly disappointing because many people were waiting for this only to find themselves scratching their heads. The SONA was so focused on the economy, poverty, education, health infrastructure, and military modernization that some sectors were neglected just like sports. If he wasn’t criticizing, he was busy throwing achievements here and there that he forgot to mention what his next moves are.