It’s SONA-magan time again!

Will President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo defend her record and give more promises this time?

“A speech is just a speech. As the incorrigible punsters say of today’s follies at the opening of Congress, it’s SONA-magan time again.” This is a usual remark my dad would tell us before any State of the Nation Address.

There has been so much speculation about what the President will say today. Surely she will cover issues on the economy, poverty, education, tourism and corruption. She may also use the state of the strengthening peso and the timely capture of Father Giancarlo Bossi as evidence that her Administration is going toward the right path. Even if many are against her ways of running the government, I still think she deserve a path in the back. It is just the issue on graft and corruption that creeps us – here she should continue to prove her fight. This is quite a challenge to her Administration but with political will, there is a possible chance that she can cleanse the government’s allegedly malpractices in the different departments and bureaus. Fighting it will prove her worth and legacy to the nation.

Whatever her SONA contains, it would be better to hear a vision of the future and a declaration of intent (including proposed propagandas of legislation), than a self-serving weeping and wailing over what can be remedied only by resolute action. What we need is the almighty “political will” and implementation.

Let’s face it. The state of this nation will depend, when all is said and done, on the state of the GMA government. If she keeps on asking her Cabinet members, special assistants, bureau and subsidiary agency chairmen and directors to resign with assorted misfits, then, the state of our nation will be very bad indeed. For here we are, embarked on another three-year course, and if too many pivotal positions are distributed like candy to the unworthy, the greedy and the stupid, that will drive our Asian crisis-buffeted ship of state, rudderless or, worse, steered in the wrong direction.

The President and her men have been burning the midnight oil to come up with best if not her greatest SONA ever. Will she be able to convince the people this time? Let us wait and see.

I hope nothing goes wrong before or during the President gives her SONA today in the great hall of Congress. The spotlight will be on her. The whole country and the foreign community will be watching and listening to every word the President will say and do. The scriptwriters and directors better do a good job lest they embarrass the President.

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There are thousands of cops around the metropolis ready to hold off the angry demonstrators from both the left and the right wing groups. A “mass action” is not a joke. When furious mobs attempt to barrel their way through a police “wall” don’t expect cops to politely “request” them to stop.

Talk about police brutality. The usual explanation will be that some cops “over-react”. In truth, when a mob is throwing stones and trying to push its way past a cordon of policemen, the resentful and often “frightened” policemen start hitting with their night-sticks or hose down advancing phalanxes with water cannon. This act has been happening since the Marcos martial law days… so what’s new? Those are the rules of engagement. Those who don’t have the stomach for such violent confrontations would do well to stay home and simply sneer at the television set.

Even if many promises have been said and done, the bottom line is that — many Filipinos are still waiting for a better life! This is the challenge we put forward to GMA’s remaining years on Office.

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On a lighter side, I am sure many kids and adults have seen Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Who wouldn’t miss the exciting installments of J.K. Rowling’s novels? In the Philippines alone it has already made P130 million in the first week, the biggest Harry Potter movie thus far.

Since the release of the first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 1997, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide through films, video games and merchandise. The books published to date have collectively sold more than 350 million copies and have been translated into more than 63 languages including books available in brail for the blind. The success of the novels has made J.K. Rowling the highest-earning novelist in literary history.

Warner Bros. Pictures must be thrilled to have gotten the exclusive rights to the Harry Potter series for motion picture release. Do not forget that it is one of the world’s largest producers of film and television entertainment.

It is funny to note, however, that out of the three top movie hits of the season: Harry Potter, Transformers, and Live Free or Die Hard – Ratatouille – that little rat seemed to have made the most. In fact, Ratatouille rated A+ in America while the three should-be-hit movies rated a B average.

Anyway, if you noticed during the Harry Potter movie, Warner Bros. Pictures security group were very strict in implementing their “no cell / no camera” policy inside the movie theaters. This is their first step to fighting piracy. This is a strong message to the public. It shows us how serious the film industry is in working hard to conquer the Asian DVD pirates who dare thrive on the property rights of others, thus, slowly killing the entertainment industry.