Puna sa SONA ni PNoy, inilahad ng lider ng minorya sa Kamara

Kahit pinuri ang mga plano ni Pangulong Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III para sa bansa, pinuna pa rin ng lider ng minorya sa Kamara de Representantes ang ilang detalye sa naging talumpati ng una sa State of the Nation Address (SONA) nitong Lunes. Sa tradisyunal na “Contra-SONA" ng oposisyon, inihayag nitong Miyerkules ni House Minority Leader Rep. Danilo Suarez, na malaking kabiguan ang dole-out program ni Aquino sa mga mahihirap na kung tawagin ay Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT). Kung pagbabatayan umano ang naging survey ng Social Weather Stations (SWS), lumilitaw na marami pa rin ang nagugutom at naghihirap na Pilipino. “All of these occurred despite the five-fold increase in conditional cash transfers from PhP10 Billion at the start of this administration's term to over PhP50 Billion budgeted for next year. Perhaps a few inputs from outside the President's circle should provide the necessary paradigm shift to make this program more effective," payo ng kongresista. Pinuna rin niya ang umano’y “mismanagement" sa industriya ng langis bunga ng patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng mga produktong petrolyo na nakakaapekto sa iba pang bilihin. “Let us remember that every slight increase in fuel also affects the price of most commodities. We in the minority would like to know what legislation we need to craft to be able to help the administration soften these frequent fuel price increases," pahayag niya. Hindi rin kumbinsido si Suarez sa ibinalita ni Aquino na bumubuti ang peace and order sa Pilipinas kumpara sa panahon noong nakaraang administrasyon. Ayon kay Suarez, taliwas ito sa ulat ng ipinalabas kamakailan ng Philippine National Police na tumaas ang krimen sa Metro Manila sa unang anim na buwan ng 2012. Nakakaalarma umano ang dami ng krimen na kinasasangkutan ng tinatawag na “riding in tandem," at mga krimen na may kaugnay sa iligal na droga. “As for cases involving motorcycle-riding criminals, infamously known as riding in tandem crimes, there have been 325 recorded incidents with 355 victims; 19 suspects were arrested and 12 others killed in encounters with police. It is also no secret that most of our municipal, city, and provincial jails are filled because of drug-related cases," ayon kay Suarez. Dagdag pa niya: “This is very alarming because unlike other cases, drug-related cases tend to involve violence. We need policy direction from our leader so that we can pass the proper legislation to address the rising criminality." Bukod dito, pinuna rin ni Suarez ang patuloy na smuggling umano sa bansa; kawalan ng malinaw na programa para malutas ang power crisis sa Mindanao; at ang plano ng Department of Health (DoH) na alisin ang charity wards sa mga ospital. At kahit maganda ang resulta ng ani sa bigas, nanawagan naman ang mambabatas sa Department of Agriculture na huwag pabayaan ang iba pang usapin sa food security ng bansa. “Our only request is that focus on rice must not mean that other areas are neglected. Already, we are importing staple food items such as galunggong from, of all places, Taiwan. Now we must realize that Taiwan does not have much fishing grounds, so this raises the spectacle that we are importing from a country which catches its produce from our own backyard," paliwanag niya. -- RP/FRJ, GMA News