SONA promise of RP growth mere fantasy, senators say

The sixth state of the nation address (SONA) of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is void of political come-ons that would lure foreign investors to come in and pour their dollars into local businesses, opposition senators said Monday. Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel and Senator Ma. Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal branded as "lies" the President's SONA, adding that Filipinos "cannot expect truth from someone who stole the presidency." Pimentel said Mrs. Arroyo has been deceiving the public with her pronouncements of economic success, pretensions of political stability and promises of better governance and public service. He warned that the government's alleged lack of solidity would continue to drag down President Arroyo's approval rating, a phenomena which he said could only be stopped if Mrs. Arroyo resigns and "truly" apologizes to the public about her political errors. "Even if she delivers her SONA every month, it would not make a difference. She will still be telling lies because she is a sham president," he stressed. Survey firm Pulse Asia Inc. reported last Sunday that Mrs. Arroyo's most recent net approval and trust ratings improved but was quick to add that the figures were still dismal. "No president before her (Mrs. Arroyo) has experienced as extended a period of low public esteem," said Pulse Asia, which surveyed 1,200 respondents. The results of the survey conducted from June 24 to July 8 showed Mrs. Arroyo’s disapproval rating going down from 50 percent in March to 44 percent (an estimated 21 million Filipinos) this month. For her part, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago complained that the President's address is too focused on her government's acclaimed economic achievements, conveniently forgetting that "the level of direct foreign investment is directly proportional to the quality of governance." "To concentrate on the economy without mentioning governance is a skewed order of priority," Santiago said, adding that, "the speech is like a first-time SONA instead of a mid-term SONA." "I respectfully submit that the speech is lopsided. First, it is all economy and virtually no governance. Second, its focus is on urban, and hardly on rural areas," she also said. She said the speech would have made more sense and attracted public sympathy if it concentrated on political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption instead of dishing out economic figures and promises of large-scale infrastructure projects and job opportunities. Madrigal said that, "The Filipino people deserve honesty and sincerity. They do not need to listen to the same pack of lies prepared by Malacañang." She dared Mrs. Arroyo to admit to the public that "there are already more than 700 Filipinos who have died because of this administration's all out war policy and seeming tolerance for extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances, and there are 2.4 million households experiencing hunger." She added that "a policy and program based on lies, deceit, propaganda, harassment and war against fellow Filipinos are Mrs. Arroyo's plans for us. Will anybody care to listen?"-GMANews.TV