Aftershock

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For a country that had to make do of the lies an illegitimate president presented as the state of the nation, President Benigno Aquino’s speech before Congress today was a breath of fresh air.

From a State of the Nation Address devoted to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s self-righteousness, enumerating even the least significant accomplishments of her administration, Filipinos listened to a speech that exposed the anomalies of the Arroyo government and proposed an escape from the hell-bound path Arroyo’s nine years in power set for the Philippines.

Aquino opened the speech earlier projected to be “shocking” with what corruption he uncovered during his first few weeks in Malacañang, a string of exposés that would have prompted Arroyo, who now holds a Congressional seat as Pampanga 2nd district representative, to walk out of Congress had she not flown to Hong Kong to avoid that awkward moment.

But it was not the irregularities Aquino revealed that shocked the Filipinos. It was the fact that such wrongdoing could be revealed.

We were aware of how the Arroyos stole from government coffers although we doubted that they would be discovered. Nine years of struggling to remain in power taught Arroyo that subtlety is the key to a successful theft, explaining why her secrets were kept except for rare circumstances when those involved in the crime were not satisfied with their share of the pot money—as in the case of the NBN-ZTE scandal where the De Venecias turned against Arroyo.

When Aquino gave case studies that illustrated the extent of corruption the Arroyo administration nurtured, he provided evidence to the crime Filipinos instinctively accuse Arroyo of and fuelled Filipinos’ wrath. It was as if there was a bad song in our heads and he pressed play.

After the shock, however, Aquino’s audience for his first SONA had little to work with for recovery.

He pointed an accusing finger at Arroyo, saying that the latter wrung this government dry of public funds yet failed to hint at the steps his administration are taking to hold her accountable, as if acknowledging his administration’s powerlessness over the former president.

He boasted of the Truth Commission he convened to look into the allegation against Arroyo yet omitted the fact that it is to be headed by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, who played a key role in placing Arroyo in power and whose term in the Supreme Court was likewise hounded by controversy.

Instead of offering concrete solutions to problems, Aquino used motherhood statements. “We shall put an end to unwise spending of public funds; we shall rid this government of projects that fail,” he said. Encouraging as these words may be, they bounce off deaf walls without concrete initiatives that elicit cooperation.

Without action, these words are beautiful and meaningless; ideal and unreal.

And although Aquino’s speech offered a stark comparison to Arroyo’s in terms of highlighting the problems to guide the lawmakers in legislation, his first SONA may be likened to Arroyo’s in terms of evading some issues that involved him.

Farmers and progressive groups who held Aquino to his promise of subjecting Hacienda Luisita to agrarian reform were waiting for him to touch on the matter in his speech before Congress yet were surprised that he was mum on the issue of land reform, raising doubts that he would deliver on other promises he made in the campaign period.

His praise for the private sectors’ involvement in the delivery of public services also raised flak from militant groups who oppose the slightest indication of commercialization.

Particularly disappointing was how Aquino tackled his plans on education as if it were just another service that could be improved with increased public-private partnerships. As students of the country’s premier state university, we expected an agenda for action from Aquino, who succeeded a president whose term saw the greatest budget decline of budget for state colleges and universities.

In a country where education is mediocre more often than not, college education is a must and must therefore be a right instead of merely a privilege.

Thus although Aquino’s first SONA, similar to his first 100 days, makes Filipinos hopeful if not euphoric, we are inclined to be cynical.

Exposed to almost a decade of darkness, Filipinos rejoice at the promise of light at the end of the tunnel, assuming that it would lead to the end of our suffering. Until we are sure that it leads to an escape from this country’s miserable state and that it does not merely come from a lamp whose oil is bound to run dry, we shall doubt the light.

And until the Aquino administration puts an end to the problems the president revealed today, shocking the Filipinos with problems that cannot be solved is pointless.