How do you write a SONA 2008 Reaction Paper? Part 3 – last series, with Reynz comments

To all my students who had such a difficult time writing a Reaction Paper, this is the last series about SONA 2008 that I am writing. This is it, ala na. Pagod na ang lola. SONA 2008 Reaction Papers stops here. However, I am sharing you a very, very simple technique which would help you write a SONA 2008 Reaction Paper or even answering some case studies at hindi para kopyahin. It’s really all about summarizing and understanding what you read. Now, if you’re the type who refuse to read and understand, then forget about the writing part. Interestingly mga anak, you only need to read the headlines to find out the true state of the nation – especially with what’s going on in Mindanao.

Now, I am not responding dun sa mga papers that was sent to me, sori. I think, I have already shared you and taught you how to create a Reaction Paper. As I have said, I’m not writing one dahil baka maulit ang nangyari last year where most of you copied my entry.

(For more SONA blog articles and commentaries, please check the Category “SONA”)

Instead, here’s how I read case studies. Pag ako nagbabasa, kahit libro, I make notes. A lot of notes. Kaya if you get the chance to see my books when I was in undergrad pati na sa business school, madidismaya ka sa mga libro ko na kala mo dinaanan nang mga kabayo ni Genghis Khan sa dumi. I know, there are people na after 4 years, kumikinang pa rin ang libro. Yong iba nga, indi pa nabubuksan, right?

Ok. Unang arangkada nya was the 7.3% GDP ending in 12/31/07. Read my comments here.

Just a few months ago, we ended 2007 with the strongest economic growth in a generation.

Inflation? LOW? Hallleerrr! I don’t care kung graduate sya nang Georgetown. George Washington naman at Temple ako hahaha yabangan to mga kunichiwaaa!!! But this is not true. We have a double digit inflation at pag double digit masakit sa bulsa. Read my comments here. that included comments on the strong peso at a million jobs.

Inflation was low, the peso strong and a million new jobs were created.

We were all looking to a better, brighter future.

Balanced Budget? No less than Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said that it will be increasingly difficult to balance the government budget this year because of slower growth and higher commodity prices: read: inflation.

Because tough choices were made, kumikilos na ang bayan sa wakas. Malapit na sana tayo sa pagbalanse ng budget.

According to the Central Bank, the Philippines’ foreign debt edged down 0.5 percent to $54.6 billion at the end of March from $54.9 billion at the end of 2007. Dito ako irita ha?! Saan ka nakakita nang $54.9 billion bago binayaran, at pakatapos mag-bayad ang utang natin eh $54.6 billion. Subtrak subtrak nyo nga at sabihin nyo sa Reyna kung gano ka GREAT AMOUNTS yong nabawas sa utang aber?! Read this entry.

We were retiring debts in great amounts, reducing the drag on our country’s development, habang namumuhunan sa taong bayan.

Economy, world prices especially on oil. Rumors has it was Venuzuela who started not accepting US dollars for oil payments and preferred Euro. I know medyo matindi na ang discussion na to. Sinulat ko lang hahaha!

Biglang-bigla, nabaligtad ang ekonomiya ng mundo. Ang pagtalon ng presyo ng langis at pagkain ay nagbunsod ng pandaigdigan krisis, the worst since the Great Depression and the end of World War II. Some blame speculators moving billions of dollars from subprime mortgages to commodities like fuel and food. Others point of the very real surge in demand as millions of Chinese and Indians move up to the middle class.

Economy/Inflation (discussed ko na to) I also made an entry on Inflation here.

Whatever the reasons, we are on a roller coaster ride of oil price hikes, high food prices and looming economic recession in the US and other markets. Uncertainty has moved like a terrible tsunami around the globe, wiping away gains, erasing progress.

Politicians loves to use these lines “complex time that defies easy solutions”. Anybody knows why? Hahahaha!!! It’s an escape route. Para pag pumalpak – it’s a “complex time that defies easy solutions” hahaha Getz?

This is a complex time that defies simple and easy solutions. For starters, it is hard to identify villains, unlike in the 1997 financial crisis. Everyone seems to be a victim, rich countries and poor, though certainly some can take more punishment than others.

Economy/Food/Rice/Employment. I must say, yong temporay solution nila about the NFA rice and several importations made worked. O ayan, para naman di ako madagukan nang mga Pro-Gloria. But understand, puro lang mga kuritas to!

To address these global challenges, we must go on building and buttressing bridges to allies around the world: to bring in the rice to feed our people, investments to create jobs; and to keep the peace and maintain stability in our country and the rest of the world. Yet even as we reach out to those who need, and who may need us, we strive for greater self-reliance.

Did not catched us helpless and unprepared?! Hmmm! Agree ba kayo? Well, prepared naman ang mga pinoy luminya di ba? Hahaha

Because tough choices were made, the global crisis did not catch us helpless and unprepared.

Sya si Madame Auring. Me foresight. Me grit. Me will.
Through foresight, grit and political will, we built a shield around our country that has slowed down and somewhat softened the worst effects of the global crisis.

Don’t worry. Be happy. We have money. 50/50 true sya dito. It’s true we have money dahil me extra foreing reserves nga tayo to the tune of about $36 sumtin billion dollars. Nakatulong yon mga kabisyo sa rice importation. But yong reserves na yan is RESERVE sa oil requirements naten. Ngayon, ba’t ko nasabing 50/50, marunong ba kayo mag compute nang Net Worth? Kung accountant ka, alam mo sinasabi ko. Kung nurse ka na maruong gumawa nang Personal Income Statement, wez alam mo rin ang sinasabi ko. My point is, ang reserves is $36 billion, ang foreigh debt naten is $36 billion, in epek, wa tayo anda mga kunichiwa. Pero fiscal management chorva lan yan, kaya meron tayong Central Bank. Getz?

We have the money to care for our people and pay for food when there are shortages; for fuel despite price spikes.

Were we prepared ba talaga especially with the rice crisis? Prepared ba talaga tayo when world oil prices went up drastically?

Neither we nor anyone else in the world expected this day to come so soon but we prepared for it. For the guts not to flinch in the face of tough choices, I thank God. For the wisdom to recognize how needed you are, I thank, you Congress.

You bet! Pati corruption nang gobyerno, binabayaran ni Juan!

For footing the bill, I thank the taxpayers.

She’s right. She’s the most unpopular President ever!

The result has been, on the one hand, ito ang nakasalba sa bayan; and, on the other, more unpopularity for myself in the opinion polls.

I don’t know about this! In 2006, one report i read has it that 32 percent of our population were poor. If the total population in 2006 is 84 million Filipinos, that’s about 27 million deemed poor, or one of every three Filipinos failed to meet the official poverty line. 2007? high levels of actual and self-rated poverty pa rin! So, what is this 20-year low?! 27 million poor Filipinos is a lot of million!

Yet, even unfriendly polls show self-rated poverty down to its 20-year low in 2007.

Glad someone knows their responsibility!

My responsibility as President is to take care to solve the problems we are facing now and to provide a vision and direction for how our nation should advance in the future.

You better believe me! Me mga wang-wang pa ang mga yan! Once elected, karamihan dyan are very priviliged walang inatupag sarili nila! Look what’s happening! Pati Mindanao pinabayaan na sa mga Malaysians na mag-decide para hati-hatiin! !

Many in this great hall live privileged lives and exert great influence in public affairs.

Hahaha! Someone need to tell her to stop spending too much with poor dahil mas dumarami ang mahihirap hahaha!
I am accessible to you, but I spend time every day with the underprivileged and under represented who cannot get a grip on their lives in the daily, all-consuming struggle to make ends meet.

Nag-aalala siya. Hmmm…

Nag-aalala ako para sa naka-aawang maybahay na pasan ang pananagutan para sa buong pamilya. Nag-aalala ako para sa magsasakang nasa unang hanay ng pambansang produksyon ng pagkain ngunit nagsisikap pakanin ang pamilya. I care for hardworking students soon to graduate and wanting to see hope of good job and a career prospect here at home.

Education/Farmers/OFW’s gets a thank you for all the $14 billion pumped into the economy. Thank you lang. Hahaha!

Nag-aalala ako para sa 41-year old na padre de pamilya na di araw-araw ang trabaho, at nag-aabala sa asawa at tatlong anak, at dapat bigyan ng higit pang pagkakakitaan at dangal. I care for our teachers who gave the greatest gift we ever received – a good education – still trying to pass on the same gift to succeeding generations. I care for our OFWs, famed for their skill, integrity and untiring labor, who send home their pay as the only way to touch loved ones so far away. Nagpupugay ako ngayon sa kanilang mga karaniwang Pilipino.

Fiction is worth 50 cents. Fact is andaming mahirap sa kalye.

My critics say this is fiction, along with other facts and figures I cite today. I call it heroism though they don’t need our praise. Each is already a hero to those who matter most, their families.

Pinagpipilitan talagang global crisis. There are problems na apektado ang Pinas because of factors globally. Kaso corruption which is the root of all the problems sa Pinas is not global! Ba’t rampant pa rin ang corruption? Latest news is the Court of Appeals and before that was the fertilizer scam nung brother ni Nograles. Di pa tayo tapos sa mga Pidal account at NBN/ZTE ha?

I said this is a global crisis where everyone is a victim. But only few can afford to avoid, or pay to delay, the worst effects.

Many more have nothing to protect them from the immediate blunt force trauma of the global crisis. Tulad ninyo, nag-aalala ako para sa kanila. Ito ang mga taong bayan na dapat samahan natin. Not only because of their sacrifices for our country but because they are our countrymen.

How to solve complex problems.

How do we solve these many complex challenges?

Sa kanilang kalagayan, the answer must be special care and attention in this great hour of need.

MASYADONG GENERAL ANG PRECISE TARGETING – ANO BA TALAGA?

First, we must have a targeted strategy with set of precise prescriptions to ease the price challenges we are facing.

RICE SELF-SUFFICIENCY? SHE ALREADY BLAMED THE GODS FOR NOT HAVING THE TOPOGRAPHY AND NOT HAVING MEKONG RIVER. Otsenta anyos na lang ako puro na lang programs on self-sufficiency! Grrr!

Second, food self-sufficiency; less energy dependence; greater self-reliance in our attitude as a people and in our posture as a nation.

Third, short-term relief cannot be at the expense of long term reforms. These reforms will benefit not just the next generation of Filipinos, but the next President as well.

VAT? I guess alam nyo na to!

Napakahalaga ang Value Added Tax sa pagharap sa mga hamong ito.

Itong programa ang sagot sa mga problemang namana natin.

FOREIGN DEBT – SHE MENTIONED GREAT AMOUNT RETIRED. When you have $36 billion in debt taz ang binayaran eh point point and after nabayaran $36 billion pa rin ang balance, that’s not great amount. I covered this here.

Una, mabawasan ang ating mga utang and shore up our fiscal independence.

INFRASTRUCTURE – THIS IS WHAT WE NEED MORE. Remember,for commerce to flow freely and the only way for people to do trades and lower the cost of trading is infrastructure. I don’t understand why they can’t focus on this one and create more roads and bridges and connect each and every deep and far barrios out there to better the lives of the people. Kung noon pa, regular at consistent eto at indi kinukurakot siguro mayayaman na tayo! grrr! I should know! yong aspalto sa Barrio Siete, panahon pa nang hapon! Halllerrr!!!

Pangalawa, higit na pamumuhunan para mamamayan at imprastraktura.

Pangatlo, sapat na pondo para sa mga programang pangmasa.

Thus, the infrastructure links programmed for the our poorest provinces like Northern Samar: Lao-ang-Lapinig-Arteche, right now ay maputik, San Isidro-Lope de Vega; the rehabilitation of Maharlika in Samar.

I leave the VAT discussion to you people. Pagod na ako sa VAT.

Take VAT away and you and I abdicate our responsibility as leaders and pull the rug from under our present and future progress, which may be compromised by the global crisis.

INVESTOR CONFIDENCE BECAUSE OF VAT?! Investor confidence is built on a lot of factors – who knows, maybe VAT nga is isa dun. Ewan. But essentially, it’s about political stability, economic stability, corporate trust, government trust and all those wonderful things kasama na policies and everything.

Lalong lumakas ang tiwala ng mga investor dahil sa VAT. Mula P56.50 kada dolyar, lumakas ang piso hanggang P40.20 bago bumalik sa P44 dahil sa mga pabigat ng pangdaigdigang ekonomiya. Kung alisin ang VAT, hihina ang kumpiyansa ng negosyo, lalong tataas ang interes, lalong bababa ang piso, lalong mamahal ang bilihin.

Kapag ibinasura ang VAT sa langis at kuryente, ang mas makikinabang ay ang mga may kaya na kumukonsumo ng 84% ng langis at 90% ng kuryente habang mas masasaktan ang mahihirap na mawawalan ng P80 billion para sa mga programang pinopondohan ngayon ng VAT. Take away VAT and we strip our people of the means to ride out the world food and energy crisis.

FOR ONE THING I AGREED WITH HER STATEMENT ON LEADERSHIP. Statement lang mga kunichiwa.

We have come too far and made too many sacrifices to turn back now on fiscal reforms. Leadership is not about doing the first easy thing that comes to mind; it is about doing what is necessary, however hard.

The government has persevered, without flip-flops, in its much-criticized but irreplaceable policies, including oil and power VAT and oil deregulation.

Patuloy na gagamitin ng pamahalaan ang lumalago nating yaman upang tulungan ang mga pamilyang naghihirap sa taas ng bilihin at hampas ng bagyo, habang nagpupundar upang sanggahan ang bayan sa mga krisis sa hinaharap.

SABI NGA SA STATISTICS : Si Federico Alvarez ba eh representative enough nang entire population at pwede syang sampol? Hindi kaya si Federico eh isang outlier? Meaning, if I pick one jeep na pumapasada let’s say Ever-Rosario, will I get the same results?

Para sa mga namamasada at namamasahe sa dyip, sinusugpo natin ang kotong at colorum upang mapataas ang kita ng mga tsuper. Si Federico Alvarez kumikita ng P200 a day sa kaniyang rutang Cubao-Rosario.

COMMENDABLE AND ANTI-KOTONG and ANTI-COLORUM. NOW, WHY DON’T THEY APPLY THIS ON A LARGER SCALE? Yong mas malalaki ang kini-kikbak? What happened nga pala sa Very Good Government who were working on getting back the Marcos loot? Anybody? Anybody? Getz nyu ibig kong sabihin?

Tinaas ito ng anti-kotong, anti-colorum ngayon P500 na ang kita niya. Iyan ang paraan kung paano napananatili ang dagdag-pasahe sa piso lamang. Halaga lang ng isang text.

AY NAKU – AYOKO NANG MAG-COMMENT SA BWISIT NA TEKS NA TO HA?! ASSIGNMENT NYU YAN! GRRRR!

Texting is a way of life. I asked the telecoms to cut the cost of messages between networks. They responded. It is now down to 50 centavos.

I WONDER HOW MANY FILIPINOS WERE ABLE TO AVAIL OF THIS? College scholarship o PAUTANG sa 70,000 estudyanteng maralita?! Anokamo? Do the math. 70,000 is a percentage of 80 million? Kahit na sabihin nating 20 million ang mga estudyante. Gets nyo ang point ko? Meaning, an liit naman nang 70,000 scholars na yan. Pwede bang dagdagan?

Noong Hunyo, nagpalabas tayo ng apat na bilyong piso mula sa VAT sa langis-dalawang bilyong pambayad ng koryente ng apat na milyong mahihirap, isang bilyon para college scholarship o pautang sa 70,000 na estudyanteng maralita; kalahating bilyong pautang upang palitan ng mas matipid na LPG, CNG o biofuel ang motor ng libu-libong jeepney; at kalahating bilyong pampalit sa fluorescent sa mga pampublikong lugar.

Eto nakakainis. Ba’t BOMBILYA ang pinag-iinitan? Nasaan yong mga ninakaw nang mga Marcoses sa bayan? Wala pa rin bang nakakabalik sa bayan or naibalik na kina Marcoses hahaha? Yong mga tax evaders? Evade pa rin ba? Last na nabasa ko, abswelto si Lucio Tan. Yong simbahan, kung ayaw nilang tumulong in solving poverty dahil gusto nila anak lang nang anak – wez di i-tax and simbahan! Tutal puro naman pulitika na ang simbahan ah! Now, you want more savings? Why don’t they ran after sa mga super kurakot sa gobyerno? Ba’t hindi nila tutukan yong mga kontrata? (Aray! Sori, dun pala sila kumikita sa padding! Hahaha!) Yon ang pinakamalaking savings at hindi BOMBILYA! Grrrr!

Kung mapapalitan ng fluorescent ang lahat ng bumbilya, makatitipid tayo ng lampas P2 billion.

Sa sunod na katas ng VAT, may P1 billion na pambayad ng kuryente ng mahihirap; kalahating bilyon para sa matatandang di sakop ng SSS o GSIS; kalahating bilyong kapital para sa pamilya ng mga namamasada; kalahating bilyon upang mapataas ang kakayahan at equipment ng mga munting ospital sa mga lalawigan. At para sa mga kalamidad, angkop na halaga.

That’s what they should do. Tulungan ang mga taong nagbabayad nang bwis sa pangangailangan. Now, interestingly, bat’ indi namention yong mga victims nang Suspicious Lines?

We released P1 billion for the victims of typhoon Frank. We support a supplemental Western Visayas calamity budget from VAT proceeds, as a tribute to the likes of Rodney Berdin, age 13, of Barangay Rombang, Belison, Antique, who saved his mother, brother and sister from the raging waters of Sibalom River.

Php16,667 per month no taxes. Real question is – sa taas nang standard of living sa Manila, this Php16,667 kaya ba? Dapat lang libre na sa tax pero ang issue ditto eh, kelangang taasan ang sahod. Matinong apartment lang sa DIliman is already Php12,000.00 I should know! Ganyan ang binabayad ko! Hahaha!

Mula sa buwang ito, wala nang income tax ang sumusweldo ng P200,000 o mas mababa sa isang taon – P12 billion na bawas-buwis para sa maralita at middle class. Maraming salamat, Congress.

Need I say more? Pero eto, I will have to say that yong temporary solution nila is successful. Eto yong mga kuritas strategic solutions. Mga tagpi-tagpi initiatives. Yong long-term solutions wala. Tayong mga Pinoy kasi, ang utak nang karamihan is maiksi. Ang na-aalala is yong latest na ginawa. Now, mag-iintay na naman tayo nang krisis dahil yong long-term self-sufficiensy eh panahon pa ata nang hapon yan at walang execution. What happens next? Gagawin na naman syang photo opportunity.

Ngayong may P32 na commercial rice, natugunan na natin ang problema sa pagkain sa kasalukuyan. Nagtagumpay tayo dahil sa pagtutulungan ng buong bayan sa pagsasaka, bantay-presyo at paghihigpit sa price manipulation, sa masipag na pamumuno ni Artie Yap.

Sa mga LGU at religious groups na tumutulong dalhin ang NFA rice sa mahihirap, maraming salamat sa inyo.

Dahil sa subsidy, NFA rice is among the region’s cheapest. While we can take some comfort that our situation is better than many other nations, there is no substitute for solving the problem of rice and fuel here at home. In doing so, let us be honest and clear eyed – there has been a fundamental shift in global economics. The price of food and fuel will likely remain high. Nothing will be easy; the government cannot solve these problems over night. But, we can work to ease the near-term pain while investing in long-term solutions.

One thing I noticed, mukhang nawala yong mga Opisyales, Mayor, Governor, Congressman at Senator. Last year, all of her projects were because hiniling ni Polano at ni Polana. At least this is good. Feeling na these projects were indeed for us Pinoys and not for some select politicians.

Since 2001, new irrigation systems for 146,000 hectares, including Malmar in Maguindanao and North Cotabato, Lower Agusan, Casecnan and Aulo in Nueva Ecija, Abulog-Apayao in Cagayan and Apayao, Addalam in Quirino and Isabela, among others, and the restoration of old systems on another 980,000 hectares have increased our nation’s irrigated land to a historic 1.5 million hectares.

Eto na naman tayo sa Statistics. Am sure you know that subject in college or high school. This is about sampling. Is Edwin Bandila a good representative from a group of samples? Meaning, if I travel to Barrio Siete at kausapin ko si Tatay Panoy, will Tatay Panoy have the same situation? Getz nyu ko mga kunichiwa? Why not just make Zobel de Ayala as the example para instant, first world at millionaires ang mga Pinoy? O di mas magandang pakinggan? Hahaha

Edwin Bandila, 48 years old, of Ugalingan, Carmen, North Cotabato, cultivated one hectare and harvested 35 cavans. Thirteen years na ginawa iyong Malmar. In my first State of the Nation Address, sabi ko kung hindi matapos iyon sa Setyembre ay kakanselahin ko ang kontrata, papapasukin ko ang engineering brigade, natapos nila. With Malamar, now he cultivates five hectares and produces 97 cavans per hectare. Mabuhay, Edwin! VAT will complete the San Roque-Agno River project.

Interestingly, me news the other day about Fertilizer at Baboy Scam. Hahahaha! Sa dami nang kurakot saten, who knows hahaha

The Land Bank has quadrupled loans for farmers and fisherfolk. That is fact not fiction. Check it. For more effective credit utilization, I instructed DA to revitalize farmers cooperatives.

We are providing seeds at subsidized prices to help our farmers.

Incremental Malampaya national revenues of P4 billion will go to our rice self-sufficiency program.

Refer to my entry: Blame it on the gods!

Rice production since 2000 increased an average of 4.07% a year, twice the population growth rate.

Curbed? We would be nearing 100 million pinoys already! This statement is for the consumption nang simbahan para naman sumaya ang simbahan. Read this entry on population control.

By promoting natural planning and female education, we have curbed population growth to 2.04% during our administration, down from the 2.36 in the 1990’s, when artificial birth control was pushed. Our campaign spreads awareness of responsible parenthood regarding birth spacing. Long years of pushing contraceptives made it synonymous to family planning. Therefore informed choice should mean letting more couples, who are mostly Catholics, know about natural family planning.

Refer to my entry: Blame it on the gods!

From 1978 to 1981, nag-export tayo ng bigas. Hindi tumagal. But let’s not be too hard on ourselves. Panahon pa ng Kastila bumibili na tayo ng bigas sa labas. While we may know how to grow rice well, topography doesn’t always cooperate.

Refer to my entry: Blame it on the gods!

Nature did not gift us with a mighty Mekong like Thailand and Vietnam, with their vast and naturally fertile plains. Nature instead put our islands ahead of our neighbours in the path of typhoons from the Pacific. So, we import 10% of the rice we consume.

To meet the challenge of today, we will feed our people now, not later, and help them get through these hard times. To meet the challenges of tomorrow, we must become more self-reliant, self-sufficient and independent, relying on ourselves more than on the world.

Dito nga ako natatawa! Hahaha! Habang dakdak sya nang dakdak nang Agrarian ek-ek, THERE’S AN INTERESTING NEWS ABOUT SOME FERTILIZER SCAM nga that involves the Speaker’s brother. Read it. I’m not saying it’s true, but it’s the current flavor of the day. Tapos, eto pa! HAHAHA Me pumalit kasing cheezmaks na naman about Court of Appeals. At para lalong gumanda, nag-second da motion ang Salonga na this has been happening daw pala noon pa! Hahahaha!

Now we come to the future of agrarian reform.

Sabi nga nang mga farmers sa Davao, What land reform?!

There are those who say it is a failure, that our rice importations prove it. There are those who say it is a success-if only because anything is better than nothing. Indeed, people are happier owning the land they work, no matter what the difficulties.

Sa SONA noong 2001, sinabi ko, bawat taon, mamamahagi tayo ng dalawang daang libong ektarya sa reporma sa lupa: 100,000 hectares of private farmland and 100,000 of public farmland, including ancestral domains. Di hamak mahigit sa target ang naipamahagi natin sa nakaraang pitong taon: 854,000 hectares of private farmland, 797,000 of public farmland, and Certificates of Ancestral Domain for 525,000 hectares. Including, over a 100,000 hectares for Bugkalots in Quirino, Aurora, and Nueva Vizcaya. After the release of their CADT, Rosario Camma, Bugkalot chieftain, and now mayor of Nagtipunan, helped his 15,000-member tribe develop irrigation, plant vegetables and corn and achieve food sufficiency. Mabuhay, Chief!

O ha? Yong mga reklamador dyan, tumigil na kayo nang reklamo. Mataas na ang standard of living ninyo. Yon bang tipong dati, sa kapitbahay ka lang namamalimos nang pagkain, ngayon? sa G-Liner na patungong Recto o kaya sa tapat nang McDonalds o kaya naman sa labas nang SM Mega Mall! Hahahaha!

Agrarian reform should not merely subdivide misery, it must raise living standards. Ownership raises the farmer from his but productivity will keep him on his feet.

Sinimula ng aking ama ang land reform noong 1963. Upang mabuo ito, the extension of CARP with reforms is top priority. I will continue to do all I can for the rural as well as urban poor. Ayaw natin na paglaya ng tenant sa landlord, mapapasa-ilalim naman sa usurero. Former tenants must be empowered to become agribusinessmen by allowing their land to be used as collateral.

Dapat mapalaya ng reporma sa lupa ang magsasaka sa pagiging alipin sa iba. Dapat bigyan ang magsasaka ng dangal bilang taong malaya at di hawak ninuman. We must curb the recklessness that gives land without the means to make it productive and bites off more than beneficiaries can chew.

At the same time, I want the rackets out of agrarian reform: the threats to take and therefore undervalue land, the conspiracies to overvalue it.

Be with me on this. There must be a path where justice and progress converge. Let us find it before Christmas. Dapat nating linisin ang landas para sa mga ibig magpursige sa pagsasaka, taglay ang pananalig na ang lupa ay sasagip sa atin sa huli kung gamitin natin ito nang maayos.

Grabe ang word na ginamet! MASSIVE! MASSIVE RICE PRODUCTION! Baka importation? Di kaya? Hehehe! Refer to my entry: Blame it on the gods!

Along with massive rice production, we are cutting costs through more efficient transport. For our farm-to-market roads, we released P6 billion in 2007.

FINALLY A BREATH OF FRESH AIR, MORE OF THIS PLEASE? BICOL! BICOL?! ANYTHING FOR MY DEAR URAGONLAND?! You know, kung ako ang bida sa Pinas, I would really focus and prioritize infrastructure – like this and more road and bridges. Commerce is free flow of goods and services and when you provide a good infrastructure para mabilis na makapag-trade ang mga tao, the more people will get the chance to earn money, the more na bibilis ang kita at asenso nila. If you look at most developed countries ganun ang ginawa nila diba?!

On our nautical highways. RORO boats carried 33 million metric tons of cargo and 31 million passengers in 2007. We have built 39 RORO ports during our administration, 12 more are slated to start within the next two years. In 2003, we inaugurated the Western Nautical Highway from Batangas through Mindoro, Panay and Negros to Mindanao. This year we launched the Central Nautical Highway from Bicol mainland, through Masbate, Cebu, Bohol and Camiguin to Mindanao mainland. These developments strengthen our competitiveness.

Leading multinational company Nestle cut transport costs and offset higher milk prices abroad. Salamat, RORO. Transport costs have become so reasonable for bakeries like Gardenia, a loaf of its bread in Iloilo is priced the same as in Laguna and Manila. Salamat muli sa RORO.

To the many LGUs who have stopped collecting fees from cargo vehicles, maraming, maraming salamat.

I WONDER WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE BICOL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT nga pala?! Ba’t ang Uragonland ko wala man lang biyaya?!!

We are repaving airports that are useful for agriculture, like Zamboanga City Airport.

BOOSTING PEOPLE’S BUYING POWER. Anybody get that? That means, your salary. Your PER DAY kada OTRO DIA. Now, during inflation, lalo na double digit, dapat taasan nila ang sahod nang mga tao to cope with the rising prices. Double edge to mga kunichiwa dahil if you raise the minimum wage, yong ibang company malulugi dahil they are also suffering during inflation. Getz nyo? Sa totoo lang, ang karamihan sa Pinas with the buying power are the OFW families. Kaso, they are hurting too sa lakas nang Peso. Konti ang nabibili nila sa padala nang mga OFW. Getz? Ngayon, itataas ba talaga ni Gloria ang Per Day Kada Otro Dia na Php300 pesos??? Abangan!!!

Producing rice and moving it cheaper addresses the supply side of our rice needs. On the demand side, we are boosting the people’s buying power.

Ginagawa nating labor-intensive ang paggawa at pag-ayos ng kalsada at patubig. Noong SONA ng 2001, naglunsad tayo sa NCR ng patrabaho para sa 20,000 na out of school youth, na tinawag OYSTER. Ngayon, mahigit 20,000 ang ineempleyo ng OYSTER sa buong bansa. In disaster-stricken areas, we have a cash-for-work program.

I LIKE TESDA! I DO! I believe TESDA has been doing a great job. Sana they could really mandatorili push a lot of tambays out there na mag-TESDA. Andito na naman tayo sa mga stats na to ano? I just hope na SONA, yong 1.7 million grads na yan eh me mga trabaho.

In training, 7.74 million took technical and vocational courses over the last seven years, double the number in the previous 14 years. In 2007 alone, 1.7 million graduated. Among them are Jessica Barlomento now in Hanjin as supply officer, Shenve Catana, Marie Grace Comendador, and Marlyn Tusi, lady welders, congratulations.

Ay naku ano? Tigilan ako nang lintek na microfinance na to! In 2005, I applied for a microfinance in a local bank in Manila. I was borrowing X amount of pesos. Ayaw. Php50k lang daw. Sabi ko, ha?! Yon daw ang microfinance. Eto ngayon, the bank wanted me to deposit THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY! Napa-putang-ina ako sa sarili ko! HALLLERRR!!!! I don’t know about NOW kung ano na. SONA nga nag-bago na!

In microfinance, loans have reached P102 billion or 30 times more than the P3 billion we started with in 2001, with a 98% repayment record, congratulations! Major lenders include the Land Bank with P69 billion, the Peoples’ Credit and Finance Corporation P8 billion, the National Livelihood Support Fund P3 billion, DBP P1 billion and the DSWD’s SEA-K P800 million. For partnering with us to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit, thank you, Go Negosyo and Joey Concepcion.

DIDN’T YOU NOTICE THE PATTERN?! Last year, all of the projects were for her allies. Lahat nang projects were done because it was requested by this and that politico. This year, the speech is bombarded by all these people and I’m sure siguro totoo to. Maswerte sila. Maswerte rin ba ang karamihan? My point is, if these pinoy samples are doing good, sana majority also! Getz nyu ko?

Upland development benefits farmers through agro-forestry initiatives. Rubber is especially strong in Zamboanga Sibugay and North Cotabato. Victoria Mindoro, 56 years old, used to earn P5,000 a month as farmer and factory worker. Now she owns 10 hectares in the Goodyear Agrarian Reform Community in Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay, she earns P10,000 a week. With one hectare, Pedro and Concordia Faviolas of Makilala, North Cotabato, they sent their six children to college, bought two more hectares, and earn P15,000 a month. Congratulations!

Jatropha estates are starting in 900 hectares in and around Tamlang Valley in Negros Oriental; 200 in CamSur; 300 in GenSan, 500 in Fort Magsaysay near the Cordero Dam and 700 in Samar, among others.

In our 2006 SONA, our food baskets were identified as North Luzon and Mindanao.

Kung inalagaan kasi nila ang Mindanao noon pa, sana walang ganito.

The sad irony of Mindanao as food basket is that it has some of the highest hunger in our nation. It has large fields of high productivity, yet also six of our ten poorest provinces.

Current headlines mga kabisyo. GOODBYE MINDANAO?

The prime reason is the endless Mindanao conflict. A comprehensive peace has eluded us for half a century. But last night, differences on the tough issue of ancestral domain were resolved. Yes, there are political dynamics among the people of Mindanao. Let us sort them out with the utmost sobriety, patience and restraint. I ask Congress to act on the legislative and political reforms that will lead to a just and lasting peace during our term of office.

The demands of decency and compassion urge dialogue. Better talk than fight, if nothing of sovereign value is anyway lost. Dialogue has achieved more than confrontation in many parts of the world. This was the message of the recent World Conference in Madrid organized by the King of Saudi Arabia, and the universal message of the Pope in Sydney.

Pope Benedict’s encyclical Deus Caritas Est reminds us: “There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love for neighbour is indispensable.”

Pinagsasama-sama natin ang mga programa ng DSWD, DOH, GSIS, SSS at iba pang lumalaban sa kahirapan sa isang National Social Welfare Program para proteksyonan ang pinaka-mahihirap mula sa pandaigdigang krisis, and to help those whose earnings are limited by illness, disability, loss of job, age and so on-through livelihood projects, microfinance, skills and technology transfer, emergency and temporary employment, pension funds, food aid and cash subsidies, child nutrition and adult health care, medical missions, salary loans, insurance, housing programs, educational and other savings schemes, and now cheaper medicine-Thanks to Congress.

The World Bank says that in Brazil, the income of the poorest 10% has grown 9% per year versus the 3% for the higher income levels due in large part to their family stipend program linking welfare checks to school attendance. We have introduced a similar program, Pantawid Pamilya.

Employers have funded the two increases in SSS benefits since 2005. Thank you, employers for paying the premiums.

GSIS pensions have been indexed to inflation and have increased every year since 2001. Its salary loan availments have increased from two months equivalent to 10 months, the highest of any system public or private-while repayments have been stretched out.

WHAT?! DIP INTO SSS FOR HOUSING FUNDS?! DI BA MERON NANG PAG-IBIG? NATIONAL HOUSING? Do you think it’s a good idea for SSS to invest it’s funds in local housing? Pano pag nadale tayo nang similar sub-prime na dumaan sa US? Pano ang SSS investments? You decide.

Pag-Ibig housing loans increased from P3.82 billion in 2001 to P22.6 billion in 2007. This year it experienced an 84% increase in the first four months alone. Super heating na. Dapat dagdagan ng GSIS at buksan muli ng SSS ang pautang sa pabahay. I ask Congress to pass a bill allowing SSS to do housing loans beyond the present 10% limitation.

I HAVE TO STOP HERE. NAWALAN AKO NANG GANA. JUDICIARY IS CORRUPT DAW SABI NI MIRIAM. MGA BAYARAN PALA ANG MGA AYUFFF! AT MUKHANG MINDANAO IS BEING GIVEN UP FREELY BY ARROYO. I CAN’T CONTINUE. NANG-GAGALAITI ANG LOLA NYO!!! GRRRRR! YAN ANG TRULALANG STATE OF THE NATION!

Bago ako naging Pangulo, isa’t kalahating milyong maralita lamang ang may health insurance. Noong 2001, sabi natin, dadagdagan pa ng kalahating milyon. Sa taong iyon, mahigit isang milyon ang nabigyan natin. Ngayon, 65 milyong Pilipino na ang may health insurance, mahigit doble ng 2000, kasama ang labinlimang milyong maralita. Philhealth has paid P100 billion for hospitalization. The indigent beneficiaries largely come from West and Central Visayas, Central Luzon, and Ilocos. Patuloy nating palalawakin itong napaka-importanted programa, lalo na sa Tawi-Tawi, Zambo Norte, Maguindanao, Apayao, Dinagat, Lanao Sur, Northern Samar, Masbate, Abra and Misamis Occidental. Lalo na sa kanilang mga magsasaka at mangingisda.

In these provinces and in Agusan Sur, Kalinga, Surigao Sur and calamity-stricken areas, we will launch a massive school feeding program at P10 per child every school day.

Bukod sa libreng edukasyon sa elementarya at high school, nadoble ang pondo para sa mga college scholarships, while private high school scholarship funds from the government have quadrupled.

I have started reforming and clustering the programs of the DepEd, CHED and TESDA.

As with fiscal and food challenges, the global energy crunch demands better and more focused resource mobilization, conservation and management.

Government agencies are reducing their energy and fuel bills by 10%, emulating Texas Instruments and Philippine Stock Exchange who did it last year. Congratulations, Justice Vitug and Francis Lim.

To reduce power system losses, we count on government regulators and also on EPIRA amendments.

We are successful in increasing energy self-sufficiency-56%, the highest in our history. We promote natural gas and biofuel; geothermal fields, among the world’s largest; windmills like those in Ilocos and Batanes; and the solar cells lighting many communities in Mindanao. The new Galoc oil field can produce 17,000-22,000 barrels per day, 1/12 of our crude consumption.

The Renewable Energy Bill has passed the House. Thank you, Congressmen.

Our costly commodity imports like oil and rice should be offset by hard commodities exports like primary products, and soft ones like tourism and cyberservices, at which only India beats us.

Our P 350 million training partnership with the private sector should qualify 60,000 for call centers, medical transcription, animation and software development, which have a projected demand of one million workers generating $13 billion by 2010.

International finance agrees with our progress. Credit rating agencies have kept their positive or stable outlook on the country. Our world competitiveness ranking rose five notches. Congratulations to us.

We are sticking to, and widening, the fiscal reforms that have earned us their respect.

To our investors, thank you for your valuable role in our development. I invite you to invest not only in factories and services, but in profitable infrastructure, following the formula for the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.

I ask business and civil society to continue to work for a socially equitable, economically viable balance of interests. Mining companies should ensure that host communities benefit substantively from their investments, and with no environmental damage from operations.

Our administration enacted the Solid Waste Management Act, Wildlife Act, Protection of Plant Varieties, Clean Water Act, Biofuels Act and various laws declaring protected areas.

For reforestation, for next year we have budgeted P2 billion. Not only do forests enhance the beauty of the land, they mitigate climate change, a key factor in increasing the frequency and intensity of typhoons and costing the country 0.5% of the GDP.

We have set up over 100 marine and fish sanctuaries since 2001. In the whaleshark sanctuary of Donsol, Sorsogon, Alan Amanse, 40-year-old college undergraduate and father of two, was earning P100 a day from fishing and driving a tricycle. Now as whaleshark-watching officer, he is earns P1,000 a day, ten times his former income.

For clean water, so important to health, there is P500 million this year and P1.5 billion for next year.

From just one sanitary landfill in 2001, we now have 21, with another 18 in the works.

We launched the Zero Basura Olympics to clear our communities of trash. Rather than more money, all that is needed is for each citizen to keep home and workplace clean, and for garbage officials to stop squabbling.

Our investments also include essential ways to strengthen our institutions of governance in order to fight the decades-old scourge of corruption. I will continue to fight this battle every single day. While others are happy with headlines through accusation without evidence and privilege speeches without accountability, we have allocated more than P3 billion – the largest anti-graft fund in our history – for real evidence gathering and vigorous prosecution.

From its dismal past record, the Ombudsman’s conviction rate has increased 500%. Lifestyle checks, never seriously implemented before our time, have led to the dismissal and/or criminal prosecution of dozens of corrupt officials.

I recently met with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US agency that provides grants to countries based on governance. They have commended our gains, contributed P1 billion to our fight against graft, and declared us eligible for more grants. Thank you!

Last September, we created the Procurement Transparency Group in the DBM and linked it with business, academe, and the Church, to deter or catch anomalies in government contracts.

On my instruction, the BIR and Customs established similar government-civil society tie-ups for information gathering and tax evasion and smuggling monitoring.

More advanced corruption practices require a commensurate advances in legislative responses. Colleagues in Congress, we need a more stringent Anti-Graft Act.

Sa pagmahal ng bilihin, hirap na ang mamimili – tapos, dadayain pa. Dapat itong mahinto. Hinihiling ko sa Kongreso na magpasa ng Consumer Bill of Rights laban sa price gouging, false advertising at iba pang gawain kontra sa mamimili.

I call on all our government workers at the national and local levels to be more responsive and accountable to the people. Panahon ito ng pagsubok. Kung saan kayang tumulong at dapat tumulong ang pamahalaan, we must be there with a helping hand. Where government can contribute nothing useful, stay away. Let’s be more helpful, more courteous, more quick.

Kaakibat ng ating mga adhikain ang tuloy na pagkalinga sa kapakanan ng bawat Pilipino. Iisa ang ating pangarap – maunlad at mapayapang lipunan, kung saan ang magandang kinabukasan ay hindi pangarap lamang, bagkus natutupad.

Sama-sama tayo sa tungkuling ito. May papel na gagampanan ang bawat mamamayan, negosyante, pinunong bayan at simbahan, sampu ng mga nasa lalawigan.

We are three branches but one government. We have our disagreements; we each have hopes, and ambitions that drive and divide us, be they personal, ethnic, religious and cultural. But we are one nation with one fate.

As your President, I care too much about this nation to let anyone stand in the way of our people’s wellbeing. Hindi ko papayagang humadlang ang sinuman sa pag-unlad at pagsagana ng taong bayan. I will let no one – and no one’s political plans – threaten our nation’s survival.

Our country and our people have never failed to be there for us. We must be there for them now.

Maraming salamat. Magandang hapon sa inyong lahat.

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Tagged as: Macapagal-Arroyo, PGMA, Politics & Government, SONA 2008, SONA Reaction Paper, SONA summary