Panesa, Bryan Jay B.

August 3, 2015

Philippine Constitution

REACTION PAPER
In
State of the Nation Address (SONA)

On Monday, July 29, 2015 at the Batasang Pambansa in front of joint session
of the Upper and Lower House of the countrys Legislative Branch of Government,
Philippine President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino delivered his sixth State of the
Nation Address (SONA).
Several topics mentioned by the president received numerous comments and
reactions from political analysts and of course, the boss.
One of the said topics is Pres. Aquinos blaming of the previous
administration. He once again mentioned the problems he inherited right after he
took the presidency like NBN ZTE Deal, Hello Garci controversy, questionable Bank
accounts of Jose Pidal, Maguindanao Massacre, MWSS Bonuses and the NFA
anomalies. Theres no reason for the President be mentioning this again because
this was one of his main concerns on his previous sona(s).
Pres. Aquino highlighted the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps
which now have 4.4 million beneficiaries from 786,523 in 2010. In 2008, there were
2.9 million out of school youth in the country. In 2013, only 1.2 million out of school
youth remained. PNoy said that the Alternative Learning System (ALS) made a big
change on indigenous people and street children. He also mentioned that the
TESDA graduates employment rate raised from 28.5% to 71.9%.
Even though the president said that the 4Ps made a huge success, many
people still have complaints like having only one member of their family given with
4Ps benefits.
President Aquino missed so many important topics during his last SONA, the
entire SONA centered on his administrations accomplishment and giving credits to
his partners on his Daang Matuwid.
Some of the important issues that the President failed to mention during his
sixth SONA are the following, the controversial PDAF issue, the Mamasapano
Massacre and the expansion of Chinese territories in the West Philippine Sea.