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”.

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.

Will PNoy run for another term?

If PNoy runs for another term...

...then we deserve an explanation.

In a statement on a response of the Presidential Spokesperson, Secretary Edwin Lacierda, during a briefing on August, 22 2014 released on the following day in the official gazette.

The Palace clarifies the response of the Presidential Spokesperson in a briefing yesterday which he was asked if Aquino has plans of running for President for the second time.

The Palace clears the issue that this is not the case. The President has neither decided on term extension nor on endorsing a candidate, owing to the fact that his efforts are focused on more pressing matters of state.

Palace adds that it should be noted that the 2016 elections will push through, and that the administration will always follow the processes set by the Constitution.

...that the statement may have caused.

But just in case President Aquino has plans of running again, will the people give him another chance?

Another six years of term. We must think about it...Think a few reasons why not.

1. The Aquino administration's satisfaction rating fell on several key issues - including corruption and hunger - in the last quarter of 2013. It was a roller-coaster ride on the issue involving DAP, eradicating graft and corruption.

His plan of fighting against corruption was only good at first. While many people are struggling in life, the corruption cases among the government is still increasing. The tuwid na daan is not tuwid anymore.

Is it time to give chance to others who are more deserving to lead the Philippines.

2. The oil price spiked during his term. During his term theres always a price hike but seldom price rollback. The jeepney fare increased, commuters has no choice. Even protesters failed to stop the increase. No one does.

Economy were unchanged. Last June 2013 Ulat ng Bayan conducted a survey, from June 20 to July 4, Forty-three percent said the economy is unchanged. On the other hand, 29 percent said it worsened, while 28 percent believed it had improved Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/456301/survey-shows-4-in-10-filipinos-dont-think-the-economy-moved-at-all#ixzz3BVFp6TAN

3. Personalan. Revengeful. PNoy didn't sign the petition for Nora Aunor to become a National Artist. Rumor has it that during the campaign period, Ms. Aunor campaigned for Aquino's opponent and that made him mad during those days.

4. PNoy's intention of extending his term for another six years is ridiculous. And since the constitution allows only one term for the President, hopefully it will not be her sister Kris Aquino who will run for him.

Aquino loves saying motherhood statements. He recently suffered a big drop in Pulse Asia Survey. He’s trying to divert the attention away from his own shortfalls. The Philippines may have advanced in his regime but the improvements are not based on his accomplishments but the previous administration's.

5. Failure to appoint an effective DOTC Secretary. MRT3 has been poorly maintained which is managed DOTC/Abaya/government.  The Dept. of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and MRT-3 forced their way into actual operations precisely to award the contract to Global-APT’s dela Cruz. Dela Cruz not only is a compadre of Abaya, but also a campaigner for DOTC predecessor Mar Roxas in 2010.

On a note, the SWS noted the Aquino administration scored a "very bad" -51 rating for "resolving the Maguindanao massacre case with justice," below the "poor" -26 in March 2013.

Source: http://www.gov.ph/

Liz Uy on Rumored Romance with President Aquino

In an interview with Liz Uy on “Tapatan ni Tunying,”  she belies that she has had a short-lived romance with President Aquino.

Uy met the President through Kris Aquino, who is also one of her clients.

In 2010, the president has admitted that Liz Uy was his personal stylist, and they have been dating.

He said both he and Uy have been spending time together but there was no special relationship between them.

Source: Kicker Daily

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The Supreme Court declared DAP unconstitutional

President Aquino filed a motion of reconsideration but got rejected.

Despite much criticism about his latest statement on the issue, President Aquino is still defending the legality of Disbursement Acceleration Program; he says even our country’s highest court committed the same act to those under the controversial fund system.

It seems that he used his speech in swaying the people to believe on him.

Voting 13-0, the Supreme Court ruled that Malacañang violated the Constitution

He then continued to defend DAP in spite of the court ruling.

In Rappler’sinterview with him he says the verdict is unreasonable.

"My message to the Supreme Court: We do not want two equal branches of government to go head to head, needing a third branch to step in to intervene. We find it difficult to understand your decision," 

"I am after all being arrested for parking in an area that up to now hasn’t yet been declared a no-parking zone. Is this reasonable?" he adds

It seems like he's trashing the constitution and wants presidential autocracy. There are different groups filing a petition for his impeachment.

President Aquino claims that DAP is legal and there is nothing wrong with it. But many would say that it is unconstitutional.

On July 14 President Aquino speak about his government’s controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program in a national broadcast. He says 'DAP is not a project—it is an efficient way of spending the budget; it follows the law and adheres to the mandate granted to the Executive Branch. We did this to properly allocate funds, and by so doing maximize the benefits that the people may receive.'

Do you think PDAF is a scam while DAP is not? Leave comment below.