Even though President Aquino is enjoying high approval ratings (according to Pulse Asia), after his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona), the meaning of the word “approval” has become more and more ambiguous—at least for the landless peasants, the underpaid workers, the unemployed, the urban poor, or to be more precise, the broad Filipino masses.
If the survey is correct, it suggests that most Filipinos believe P-Noy has indeed made a big difference and is bound to fulfill his promise of national progress via “daang matuwid.” I say: both P-Noy’s Sona and the survey are illusory and misleading.
Aside from its turning out to be the longest so far and from some changes in style and form, the latest Sona was essentially no different from the previous ones. The age-old problem of land monopoly remains the biggest challenge to anyone who occupies the most powerful seat in the country, yet there’s no indication that P-Noy, after more than three years in office, is doing something significant about the issue. Across the nation, workers continue to struggle for better wages and working conditions, but there are no signs of help coming from Malacañang. Poverty goes unabated despite reports about significant growth in our GDP, which does not reflect the wealth gap between the vast majority and the few elite, nor does it show the massive unemployment rate. Even a crusade against corruption is bound to fail without a solid government program that will address our country’s basic problems, not just their symptoms.
And speaking of anticorruption measures, what the hell has happened to the supposed-to-be priority Freedom of Information bill?
No true economic prosperity is possible for an agricultural country unless it breaks away from the shackles of the past. But P-Noy has only recycled economic policies—promoting dependency and subserviency—from the previous administrations. The Pulse Asia survey may be correct that most Filipinos really think that P-Noy is doing well. Nevertheless, how reflective the survey results are,
reality still depends on the objectivity of the survey questions—like questions that should measure the performance of government based on its ability to confront the most fundamental issues.
No matter how P-Noy takes pride in the achievements made by his administration through patchwork programs, and no matter what the surveys tell, reality always reveals itself. Unfortunately for P-Noy, reality bites. He should do some reality check.
—DANIEL ALOC,
tierra.giya@yahoo.com