The final State of the Nation Address

To be fair to the Aquino administration, they have done a number of praiseworthy accomplishments during his tenure and it is but proper and fitting that he display and emphasize it on his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) speech. 

However, there are also damages inflicted and unresolved problems that will most probably be left by this administration come his term’s final day. One of the most deplorable issues that the administration was unable to resolve up until now was the setback in the transportation sector. 

The administration remains pretty much optimistic that the reforms implemented during his term will soon bear its fruit which will soon be proved to be valuable to the public the the years to come.

As imperfect as our President may be, as shown by the unsettled mishaps in the transportation sector, President Aquino calmly claimed that they have done their part and the rest of the problems were created by the previous administration.

There were unclear answers and topics which were spoken by the president such as, deteriorating mass railways. There are also some issue regarding congested airways which was already rehabilitated which enabled the Philippine carriers to lift the ban enforced by the United States and European safety watchdogs.

Another magnificent thing initiated by President Aquino and his men was the Public-Private Partnership Program (PPP), though it was also bombarded with a lot of criticisms. 

Despite of that, 10 projects were awarded thus far including big-ticket railways, toll roads and the most recently constructed world-class airport in Visayas.

President Aquino may have been well decorated by a number of remarkable feats and accomplishments during his reign, but all of these were overshadowed by his failure to find concrete solutions to most of the existing and most troublesome national setbacks today. 

To cite a great example of such, the Aquino administration have miserably failed to ease the restricted transportation access in Metro Manila, which is considered as the central hub for the country’s economic progress. It is also the place where most of the Filipino population is densely located.

The Aquino administration only have a few more months left in its term but they still have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to the development of our transportation infrastructures. LRT (Light Rail Transit) Line 1 have been pestered by a series of machine breakdowns. 

Subsequent to that, the PNR (Philippine National Railways) also had it fair share of problems when its operations were suspended last May 2015 after the coaches got derailed allegedly due to stolen railway materials.

But the most prominent dilemma being faced by the Philippine transportation today is the MRT (Metro Rail Transit ) Line 3, almost 16 year of age, which crosses EDSA from time to time, serving close to 500,000 million passengers everyday. Its designed load capacity is only 350, 000 which often tends to be neglected, resulting to continuous malfunctioning of the train system, shutdowns and long line of commuters.

The news about the suspension of former MRT 3 General Manager Al Vitangcol III and him getting charged with graft isn’t going to help either. 

We need more positive actions coming from the Aquino administration for us to finally conclude that term work, was a “job well done”.

PNoy, Purisima: How Involve Were They in the Mamasapano Operation?

Two weeks have passed since the tragic and heart-breaking incident that took away the lives of 44 brave young PNP-SAF men who were sent to Mamasapano in Maguindanao, which is believed to be a Moro Islamic Liberation Front territory, to serve a warrant of arrest to two known terrorists. But the public is still clamoring to bring justice to their sudden deaths.

So who is really to blame for the early demise of the #Fallen44?

Senate probes the Mamasapano tragedy

Last Monday, February 9, 2015, the Senate started to probe into the Mamasapano debacle and are looking into the involvement of top rank officials, including President Benigno Aquino III and suspended PNP Director General Alan Purisima.

Senator Grace Poe, who is leading the Senate Committee on Public Order, said she wanted to know who are exactly involved in the covert operation and how high the order came from. The lawmaker said, “Usually ang SAF, sila ang nagpo-provide ng expertise, warm bodies, yung sa kanila kasi tactical na sila pero yung strategic hindi naman sila.”

Sen. Poe added, “Sinasaba [ni Napenas] na yung window nila from th Jan. 23 until the 26^th na siya na mismo ang kumilos para doon pero sa tingin ko hindi yan maglalakas loob na walang clearance sa mas mataas pa so pilit pa natin yang tatanungin bukas.”

The lady senator also wanted to find out when the President knew about the operation as he was in Zamboanga one day before the mission was carried out. She said, “Magandang tanungin kung kelan nakarating sa kanya ang impormasyon at kung may natanggap na direktiba ang military sa Pangulo.”

More questions about the Philippine National Police Special Action Force operation were raised on Monday, including the involvement of the United States.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government, said that based on the testimony of the police officials, Purisima remained involved in the operation to arrest the two hunted terrorists despite the fact that he was suspended since December of last year.

Pointing fingers

Sen. Marcos wanted to know what exactly was the role of the suspended PNP chief and why Napenas seemed to have followed his “advice.”

Sen. Marcos said, “Bakit niya sinundan? Dahil ibig sabihin syempre commander niya yun e kahit suspendido, di ba? Pero sino ang nagpasok ngayon kay General Purisima? Who brought him into the loop na suspendido siya?”

“Despite the protestation of Gen. Purisima, sa dami ng pagtatanggi nya, ay maliwanag na talagang in the loop sya, talagang nasa chain of command sya. Pa'no ngayon nangyari yun? Pa'no nangyari yun na ang isang suspendidong opisyal ay napasok sa chain of command?” he asked.

However, Purisima denied playing a role in the operation saying, “I did not know that the PNP-SAF jumped of already.”

“During my preventive suspension, I did not give any order. I just [gave] advice, not as a directive or order. I have no role in that operation.”

Purisima’s statement contradicts what Napenas told the Senate Committee. He said that he asked Purisima on Jan. 19 whether the operation to arrest Marwan should proceed. Napenas said Purisima responded, saying “Plan is a go on the timeline, Jan. 23 to 26.”

When asked by Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III on where the orders to proceed with the operation came from, Napenas said, “It’s a continuing operation approved by the PNP chief Purisima in Nov. 29, 2014.”

However, when asked to provide more information, Napenas denied any direct order from higher ranking PNP officials to proceed.

Guingona grilled the suspended PNP director general on his supposed motivation in his alleged involvement in the Mamasapano incident. Purisima insisted that he merely advised Napenas, which visibly irked the senator. He said, “Obviously, the response is not adequate. I am just asking your motivation for saying that… your answer was not acceptable.”

After Guingona’s inquiry with Purisima, Senate President Franklin Drilon revealed information of pre-operation meetings done in what they call the “White House” inside Camp Crame, referring to the official residence of the PNP chief inside the police organization’s camp. Purisima admitted he participated in two meeting while on suspension, but again denied giving orders regarding the operation.

Resigned PNP chief Purisima is now being accused with graft charges for his alleged involvement in the brutal killing of the 44 SAF members.

What does the President know of the operation?

Marcos also mentioned in his Twitter post on Feb. 6 that while his father was the President of the country, he knew of every military operation, especially if it is as major as the operation that was carried out in Mindanao last January. He said, “I remember as President, my father was knowledgeable about every military operation. The President would know about an operation this big.”

The public share the same sentiment with Sen. Marcos. Some are even calling for the President’s resignation or worse, impeachment.

The first few days since that fateful Sunday, I was enraged and took to social media to voice my anger, frustration and disbelief. I couldn’t begin to fathom how and why the President and those high ranking officials could not have known of such an important mission. I too wanted for the President to get down from his position because of the lack of empathy he has shown to the bereaved family and how he responded to the whole incident.

However, Sen. Pimentel called for calm amidst the chaos. He said the president’s resignation would only create more problems. He said, “If any, the resignation of the President will only be counterproductive since this will lead to a shake-up in the government. In this highly volatile situation, we need a leader. We need the President to lead us out of these dark days.”

Reading what Sen. Pimentel said knocked some sense to me. Whether the President gave a go signal to the mission or not does not matter right at this very moment. What we should all hope for is to bring justice to those poor men who lost their lives in Mindanao. 

Tacloban after a year

A slow rehabilitation for the Yolanda Victims is what many people feel after a year when super typhoon Yolanda hit the Eastern Visayas including Palawan.

The people are still suffering from their lost, they are not yet recovered from that tragedy. And the government leaders are slow in giving help.

More than anything, the people are suffering from lost and loneliness.

Last September, I was in Tacloban and I saw the hardships they encounter every day lives.

Many  are still homeless. Still struggling to survive and to earn money.

People needs work to support their daily needs.

According to reports, President Aquino said that they have been giving a lot of help in Tacloban.

There's no concrete rehabilitation plan.

But the people doesn't feel their help and rehabilitation efforts.

So what is the plan?

Rehablitation Czar Panfilo Lacson said that they can implement their rehabilitation program because President Aquino gave his approval to his proposals.

With that, state auditors have pointed out several deficiencies in the way National Government agencies and local government units responded to help typhoon Yolanda survivors.

The recorder donations continues to be delayed while almost P800 million in relief funds sit unused in the bank accounts of the Department of Social Welfare and Development

No one has prepared and nobody knows how to handle a recovery plan for the huge disaster.

The government must know how to deal with it instead of putting political colours on the situation.

Recently, the people from Leyte offered prayers in the memory of their loss. Survivors of Typhoon Yolanda in this devastated city marks the first anniversary of the killer storm.

Known to be the deadliest Philippine typhoon on record killing about 6,300 people alone. About 4 million went homeless.

Places like Guiuan, Samar, Tanauan, Palo and Tacloban were the most devastated.

But Tacloban is the hardest hit city. After a year they still struggle rebuilding their homes.

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reportedly released a total of P52 billion to support government relief and rehabilitation efforts in affected provinces.

There's a strong political conflict which rooted from the issue - President Pnoy is an Aquino and the Tacloban Mayor is a Romualdez.

And that help supposedly to rebuild Tacloban was not provided.

I saw the real situation in Tacloban and that support given as seen on TV was not 100% true.

During my stay last September I directly heard personal stories from the people from Tacloban.

According to them, there's really big help but it is not coming from the local government.

The people I talked to were disappointed to the death count declared by the NDRMC.

The survivors says they don’t agree with this declaration. According to them, the DOH sent 20,000 body bags and they used it all.

The possibility of the people died from Yolanda is almost more than 6,300.

Many are disappointed because of the slow response. Plus there are people saying that the true death count is much more than what is recorded.

...that President Aquino choose to bring donations to Palo instead in Tacloban.

When President Aquino went to Tacloban they said he didn't stay that long.

Aquino was not sincere at all about the real situation. More than 7,000 died and went missing, and anger at him arise for failing to respond to their needs even after a year.

Non-government organization coming from other countries  are the one that gives true help.

Local government has provided transitional homes as temporary comfort.

The national government showed a lot of deficiencies. It only shows that they have not yet acted on providing permanent houses.

After one year the people needs real help and this is a call to the government to give assistance and forget about the political issues.

Are they hiding the truth?

There are claims that government doesn’t want to release the true numbers of the death toll of the tragedy. He skipped helping Tacloban city.