ito ay inilalahad bawat taon at may ibat ibang tema o mga gustong ipahayag ng ating pangulo isa na dito ay ang pondoThe President's speech had three main topics:
1) Economic initiatives
2) Peace and welfare
3) Tackling corruption
The President touched on expansion on farming and fishing, which I will let pass without comment since I trust that there are improvements there. Ironically, for a rice producing country, the Philippines still imports rice. It is one of highest, if not the, highest importers of rice in the world. In 2010, it imported 2 million tons; in 2012 it was just 500,000 tons. In 2010, native rice production was 15.7 million tons and in 2012 18.5 million tons. I'm not worried about any inability to feed the people.
Noynoy at least called out examples of the government's sheer incompetence and tendencies for local governments to pocket funds. For example, the Ternate-Nasugbu Road, that's supposed to connect Cavite, Batangas, and Metro Manila, is only six kilometers long but took 20 years to complete. President Noynoy promised not to let any more problems be inherited by the next generation.
Another interesting point raised is the lack of essential government manpower. There were 250,000 police and soldiers in 1986 to serve 55 million Filipinos. In 2013, there are still only around 250,000 to help deal with the problems of 96 million. Less than 1/4th of a million instruments of public order for close to a hundred million people. Why hasn't it been increased? Surely there's more than enough ready manpower for the task. Because government workers are naturally given pensions, and Social Security is hemorrhaging funds heavily. Both the government GSIS and private SSS lack funding because of unwillingness to raise contribution rates in the face of already low per capita incomes.
Peace in Mindanao? Well, that's still a 'we'll see' from me.
Making corrupt politicians pay? As long as the Maguindanao massacre remains unresolved, I fear trust cannot be given. Among the dead were 34 journalists gunned accusedly down by the Ampatuan family in election-related violence. When the police cannot provide protection, perhaps the Magdadatu family hoped that journalists, being noted nationwide, would somehow shield them from being permanently harmed. That did not happen. The hue and cry has been raised, but how long before the wheels of justice can turn?
2013 has been a good year for breaking traditional political dynasties, however. Yes, that's also funny, coming from a nation with the second such Presidential child.)
Many government posts long predictably been traded off between members of the same influential family have been occuppied by new faces in free and electronically-authenticated elections. Tampering with vote machines is harder than messing with the counting of physical paper ballots, huh?
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