Mussomeli: Pinoys have high expectations on SONA

With the prevailing political uncertainty, the top United States official in Manila believes the expectations of Filipinos for President Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) are high.

US Embassy charge d’affaires Joseph Mussomeli said this year’s address will not simply list the government’s accomplishments and priority bills Congress needs to pass — the Filipino people are expecting a "substantial" message from the President and urgent reforms to resolve the political turmoil.

"We all have expectations when any President gives (a) State of the Nation Address. I guess this one will be more important and I think President Arroyo knows that it is no ordinary SONA," he said in an interview last Friday at the completion ceremony of the Congressional Internship for Young Muslim Leaders held at the Dusit Hotel in Makati City. The internship program was funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

The President’s SONA marks the opening of Congress, which is expected to attend to an amended impeachment complaint that will be filed today by opposition congressmen.

Mussomeli said he will represent the US government in the formal opening of the Second Regular Session of the 13th Congress. The attendance of a representative from Washington and members of the diplomatic corps is a strong indication of the international community’s continuing support of the government.

British Ambassador Peter Beckingham said he will attend the opening of Congress and sources from the Chinese embassy said Ambassador Wu Hongbo will also attend.

But Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, one of the President’s loyal Cabinet members, will not be able to witness her deliver the SONA because he has to leave for Vientane, Laos to represent the country in the 38th Association of Southeast Asian Nations ministerial meeting.

With Mrs. Arroyo’s fate hanging in the balance, Mussomeli stressed that Washington’s role is to be "a supportive ally of this country and to the Filipino people and that means we support the constitutional process and we oppose any process that would be against the Constitution or the rule of law."

"The Filipino people are looking for her to give them direction on what she is planning to do in the next year. And I am sure she has some very interesting things to say (in her SONA)," he added.

Asked what could be the secret to Mrs. Arroyo’s staying in power, Mussomeli said the public should not "underestimate" her and the effort and dedication she has put into implementing reforms.

"I think the President is dedicated, (and a) very hardworking, very intelligent and very determined woman. She has the ideas of what she wants to get done and people should not underestimate her determination and her tenacity. And the dedication, she is very dedicated to what she is doing," he said.

Mussomeli, whose nomination as the new US envoy to Cambodia has been approved by the US Senate, said Washington recognizes that the Philippine government and the Filipino people handled the political turmoil and controversies hounding the President "very strongly."

He said the strong handling of the political turmoil — which was supposed to be a messy affair — is an indication that relations between the US and the Philippines should remain strong and that Washington should continue giving assistance because democracy is working very well in the Philippines.

Mussomeli believes that the current political turmoil, which he refuses to describe as a "political crisis," will not affect Washington’s development assistance to the Philippines and the efforts of the two countries to fight global terrorism.