Hard Truths Please, not Politician's Speech: My hopes for 2013 State of the Nation (SONA) speech of Philippine President Noynoy C. Aquino:
Image below of President Noynoy Aquino---nicknamed "P-Noy"---sourced from thephilippineisland.com
1. A shorter speech is the best, straight to the point, less political theater please.
Image below of President Aquino delivering a speech, sourced from philstar.com
2. Less combative or adversarial against political enemies past or present, but be more inclusive and statesman-like in his politics now.
I hope his speech will show that he is leader of all Filipinos, not only of the Yellows or his ideological or political allies. I hope he isn't manipulated by his political allies who might just be obssessed with the next elections, his concern should be over-all national progress and not just parochial political interests.
Image below of President Aquino surrounded by his political color yellow and with the "L" or "laban" (fight) sign, sourced from planetphilippines.com
3. In foreign policy, I hope P-Noy can uphold an independent foreign policy which shall make the Philippines the friend and ally of all nations and not be unnecessarily entangled into bitter and complex superpower rivalries inimical to our economic self-interests, becoming more like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore or other Asean neighbors who are friends to all and courted by all powers.
A truly independent foreign policy shall make our traditional ally the United States give us the Philippines more importance and not take us for granted in terms of more aid and investments, while making other powers to woo us too with economic and other concessions advantageous to our own national self-interests.
Image below of President Aquino with USA President Barack Obama, sourced from asianweek.com
4. A call to action, because good governance or anti-corruption stance doesn't mean inertia or fear of making decisions. Prove to the world that honest government doesn't mean indecisive or slow leadership. Why not so much infrastructure projects or Public-Private Partnership projects in the past three years?
The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) named in memory of President Aquino's late father Senator Ninoy Aquino, had in recent years been listed as the world's No. 1 worst airport, and no dramatic changes in the past three years. Image below of NAIA sourced from getrealphiippines.com
5. I hope he unveils plans and reaffirms his promise to promote more inclusive economic growth, not just let the big businesses, the rich and politically well-connected thrive while the middle-class, the small & medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) and the masses feel so left behind or harassed.
The super-high prices of the Philippine Stock Exchange index or the rise of many luxury condominiums do not accurately reflect the true state of the Philippine economy, especially the impact of high economic growth
This shocking disparity between the rich and the poor in the Philippines, this image below of the rich-poor gap sourced from bbc.co.uk of the British Broadcasting Corporation
6. I hope P-Noy becomes more open-minded to charter change or constitutional reforms to change economic provisions which are so restrictive against foreign investments. I hope his government shall not allow politicians and bureaucrats to seem so anti-business, but to encourage and support businesses and entrepreneurs beyond just the big business groups.
We need more long-term foreign direct investments for new factories and farms, not just rely on overseas Filiino workers (OFWs), call centers and business process outsource (BPOs) to shore up our Philippine economic growth.
7. I hope President Noynoy Aquino shall be honest enough to admit the failures and even errors of his government officials, while trumpheting his government's many well-deserved accomplishments too. Will his government ever fire and scold close political allies for anomalies, mediocrity and sheer incompetence?
I hope to hear President Noynoy Aquino give us a stark, unimbellished and objective assessment of the true state of the nation to move us all towards action and reforms, not a politician's campaign speech. He has nothing more to prove, he is not running for future re-election, be more than just a successful politician or boss of the Liberal Party, rise to the occasion as outstanding statesman and leader!
Stark black-and-white image of President Aquino below, sourced from time.com
Image below of President Noynoy Aquino---nicknamed "P-Noy"---sourced from thephilippineisland.com
1. A shorter speech is the best, straight to the point, less political theater please.
Image below of President Aquino delivering a speech, sourced from philstar.com
2. Less combative or adversarial against political enemies past or present, but be more inclusive and statesman-like in his politics now.
I hope his speech will show that he is leader of all Filipinos, not only of the Yellows or his ideological or political allies. I hope he isn't manipulated by his political allies who might just be obssessed with the next elections, his concern should be over-all national progress and not just parochial political interests.
Image below of President Aquino surrounded by his political color yellow and with the "L" or "laban" (fight) sign, sourced from planetphilippines.com
3. In foreign policy, I hope P-Noy can uphold an independent foreign policy which shall make the Philippines the friend and ally of all nations and not be unnecessarily entangled into bitter and complex superpower rivalries inimical to our economic self-interests, becoming more like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore or other Asean neighbors who are friends to all and courted by all powers.
A truly independent foreign policy shall make our traditional ally the United States give us the Philippines more importance and not take us for granted in terms of more aid and investments, while making other powers to woo us too with economic and other concessions advantageous to our own national self-interests.
Image below of President Aquino with USA President Barack Obama, sourced from asianweek.com
4. A call to action, because good governance or anti-corruption stance doesn't mean inertia or fear of making decisions. Prove to the world that honest government doesn't mean indecisive or slow leadership. Why not so much infrastructure projects or Public-Private Partnership projects in the past three years?
The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) named in memory of President Aquino's late father Senator Ninoy Aquino, had in recent years been listed as the world's No. 1 worst airport, and no dramatic changes in the past three years. Image below of NAIA sourced from getrealphiippines.com
5. I hope he unveils plans and reaffirms his promise to promote more inclusive economic growth, not just let the big businesses, the rich and politically well-connected thrive while the middle-class, the small & medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) and the masses feel so left behind or harassed.
The super-high prices of the Philippine Stock Exchange index or the rise of many luxury condominiums do not accurately reflect the true state of the Philippine economy, especially the impact of high economic growth
This shocking disparity between the rich and the poor in the Philippines, this image below of the rich-poor gap sourced from bbc.co.uk of the British Broadcasting Corporation
6. I hope P-Noy becomes more open-minded to charter change or constitutional reforms to change economic provisions which are so restrictive against foreign investments. I hope his government shall not allow politicians and bureaucrats to seem so anti-business, but to encourage and support businesses and entrepreneurs beyond just the big business groups.
We need more long-term foreign direct investments for new factories and farms, not just rely on overseas Filiino workers (OFWs), call centers and business process outsource (BPOs) to shore up our Philippine economic growth.
7. I hope President Noynoy Aquino shall be honest enough to admit the failures and even errors of his government officials, while trumpheting his government's many well-deserved accomplishments too. Will his government ever fire and scold close political allies for anomalies, mediocrity and sheer incompetence?
I hope to hear President Noynoy Aquino give us a stark, unimbellished and objective assessment of the true state of the nation to move us all towards action and reforms, not a politician's campaign speech. He has nothing more to prove, he is not running for future re-election, be more than just a successful politician or boss of the Liberal Party, rise to the occasion as outstanding statesman and leader!
Stark black-and-white image of President Aquino below, sourced from time.com
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