Sona 2009

SONA 2009: GMA throws no surprises in last SONA President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s 2009 State of the Nation Address was in many ways similar to her past SONAs. As expected, President Arroyo enumerated her administration’s accomplishments.In general, the President’s SONAs have always been replete with figures and percentages boasting of the country’s economic growth under her administration. It was only in 2005 when this detailed rundown of achievements was nearly absent and in 2006, was overshadowed by infrastructure plans. This year, the characteristic “human faces" of President Arroyo’s speeches were again hailed from the gallery, presented as living testimonies to the success of government programs. Arroyo started it in her 2001 SONA when she introduced three boys from Payatas. Jomar Pabalan wished for a permanent job for his father; Jayson Banogon wanted to finish college, and Erwin Dolera hoped his family would be given land. The boys were Arroyo’s representation of her government’s plans for education, job generation and housing. In later SONAs, the spotlight was trained on ordinary people who benefited from the Arroyo administration’s programs: farmers, fishermen, former rebels, call center agents, lady welders. Arroyo also feted various Filipino achievers including athletes, beauty queens and whiz kids. Boxing champ Manny Pacquiao twice reaped the President’s special mention, first in 2003 and then in 2009. Pacquiao was also spotted in the gallery in 2005 and 2008. President Arroyo also acknowledged government officials in her 2009 SONA, although there were fewer names this time around compared to her roll call of allies back in 2006 and 2007. But the most featured personality in the President’s SONAs was her father, former President Diosdado Macapagal. She made quick references to the former president in 2001, 2006, 2007 and 2009. She even waxed nostalgic in her 2002 SONA, opening her speech with the humble beginnings of the man “who first led me by the hand into the Palace as a teenager". President Arroyo claimed in the same speech that she will build a strong republic upon "the stone of social justice"that her father left behind. It was this image of a “strong republic" that President Arroyo projected in her SONAs, asserting that her government was undistracted by critics. But her call for unity in her early SONAs later became fighting words against those who oppose her. “For those who want to pick up old fights, we're game -- but what a waste of time," President Arroyo said in her 2006 SONA, several months after surviving the Hello Garci controversy and an impeachment attempt. "I will let no one – and no one’s political plans – threaten our nation’s survival," she cautioned in her 2008 SONA, reiterating a similar warningissued in 2007. “I am accused of misgovernance. Many of those who accuse me of it left me the problem of their misgovernance to solve,"

President Arroyo stated in her 2009 SONA. President Arroyo also reserved some tough talk for peace and order issues in her SONAs. In 2001, she promised to end the Abu Sayyaf. In 2002 she cited gains in anti-terror and anti-crime efforts, particularly against kidnapping, illegal drugs and smuggling. She also asked Congress for an anti-terror law – a request she would later reiterate in her 2003 and 2005 SONAs (the Human Security Act was signed into law in 2007). In 2003 she deplored the Oakwood Mutiny, declared “war on terrorism, corruption, disease and drugs", and stated that there will be no moratorium on the death penalty for drug traffickers. In 2004 she reported the break up of drug and kidnapping syndicates. Peace and order became less of an issue in President Arroyo’s later SONAs, taking a back seat to the President’s infrastructure projects. President Arroyo’s second longest SONA—1 hour and 3 minutes-- was the 2006 speech outlining her superregion infrastructure plans. President Arroyo’s first SONA in 2001 remains as her longest at one hour and six minutes. The rest of her SONAs were all delivered in under an hour, including her ninth and last SONA.Her 2005 SONA on charter change was her shortest at 25 minutes and 55 seconds. In all, Arroyo’s nine SONAs was the most number of SONAs any President had delivered after ousted President Marcos.