Rocket or racket?

“Yes, we are going to launch a rocket into space,” President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said during his 5th State of the Nation Address.

It was met with applause, but one that was hesitant and not resounding. Even politicians who are used to deluding themselves that the report of the person in front of them is true seemed to have fallen from their chairs upon hearing the absurdity of the president’s statement.

Whatever grain of truth that any of his statements may have contained was overshadowed by this rocket insanity. In a country where a great number of people face hunger, where graft and corruption have become as natural as the air we breathe, where the only known projects of politicians are gymnasiums and waiting sheds, where the problem of drug addiction looks like a national emergency, it is nauseating for a president to say we have to spend millions, if not billions, of pesos to launch rocket into space. It was not only out of step with reality, but also a vain attempt to win back a disappointed citizenry who has given him a negative trust rating.

Whoever wrote the president’s speech must have regretted it now, for he or she has turned the highest official of the land into a clown. A SONA is supposed to center on the current state, not wild imaginings. The people want to know what the government has done.

Another part of the speech that was apparently intended to appease a segment of the population that seethes with anger over the government’s lukewarm approach towards the flood control scam was BBM’s report of former house speaker Martin Romualdez. “At dumating na tayo sa punto na ayon sa Ombudsman ay malapit na ang paghain ng patong-patong na kaso laban sa dating Speaker. Masakit man sa akin ito ngunit kailangan nating gawin ang tama. Hindi ako Pangulo ng aking pamilya. Hindi ako Pangulo ng aking kaibigan. (Applause)”

First, let me stress a painful irony, which is also an irony of life: Before the entire country, the same representatives who benefited from the “generosity” of Martin Romualdez, who were spoiled by him through budgets that were hair raising as to their shamelessness, cheered at the prospect that their once-upon-a-time boss will sooner or later be brought to justice for a crime they committed collectively. Did Rep. Gerville Luistro, who once praised Martin to high heavens, also clapped? Lesson: Opportunists turn their backs on you if they do not anymore benefit from you or when associating with you becomes a burden on their part.

Second, this claim of the president about the former speaker does not carry any weight, and in the eyes of the Filipino people is complete nonsense. They see the ruse. Why? Because the Filipinos know that those in jail are either small fishes or senators who are known critics of the administration. It boggles the mind why the speaker remains scot-free.

Quo vadis, Philippines?