Palace: Arroyo’s SONA has nothing about politics

Expect no talk about politics when President Arroyo delivers her State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) in Congress tomorrow.

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that those who expect a dramatic announcement from Mrs. Arroyo are in for a letdown. "From my point of view, this will be a straight-forward state of the nation address and no politics involved," Bunye said.

Without going into details, Bunye said the President will definitely talk about her administration’s accomplishments compared to the targets she set last year. "And the theme is a message of hope for our countrymen," he added. Mrs. Arroyo’s SONA last year carried the theme "Strong Republic."

Bunye brushed off speculations made by pro-administration Sen. Robert Barbers that in her SONA, Mrs. Arroyo would give the public an idea whether she would stick to her Dec. 30, 2002 declaration that she is not running in the 2004 polls. "That is the view of Senator Barbers and we respect his opinion," he said.

Even Senator Aquilino Pimentel is convinced that the President is not running anymore in next year’s election. He said that for this reason, he believes that Mrs. Arroyo’s SONA will be the first "truthful" country report that she would deliver because there is no more political agenda.

Nevertheless, he urged the Chief Executive to present an honest picture of the country’s economy, peace and order situation, drive against corruption and the peace efforts in Mindanao in her SONA.

In a statement, Pimentel said Mrs. Arroyo’s credibility will be at stake if she will hide the sad facets of Philippine society in her speech.

"It will not do good for the President to rely on the glowing reports of her economic managers that are obviously concocted to please her — contrary to the real situation on the ground where business is in the doldrums and people by the thousands go out of the country to look for work because there is no work here," he said.

For her part, Senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta urged Mrs. Arroyo to make educational reform as the centerpiece agenda of her administration during her last year in office.

Oreta said the President should unveil in her third SONA a package of measures to reverse the government’s "anemic public spending on education, health and other forms of human capital development, which would spur rapid growth and create more jobs."

"Investing heavily in basic education and primary and preventive health care would lead to increased labor productivity, the main asset and income source of underprivileged Filipinos, which, in turn, would induce rapid growth and create more jobs," Oreta said.

Meanwhile, environmentalists and militant groups yesterday gave the Arroyo administration a negative evaluation in running the government.

Left-wing Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said that even as there were victories like the recovery of the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth and the coco levy fund, these were dampened by the 12.2 percent unemployment rate, increasing power rates, unbridled corruption, among others. — With Jose Rodel Clapano, Pamela Samia, Katherine Adraneda