Sonas

First there was the State of the Nation Address (Sona). Then there was the True State of the Nation Address (Tsona). The opposition at the House of Representatives threatens to deliver a “counter-Sona.”

This could go on and on. Perhaps, at some point, a proper debate might be joined. That will surely be edifying.

The official Sona, delivered July 27, was a provocation.

It was skewed. It was superficial. It avoided all the glaring areas of failure.

In that Sona, Aquino neglected thanking the martyred SAF troopers for their heroism even as he thanked his hair stylist. He did not touch on the plight of the Yolanda victims even as he enumerated in undue detail the weapons he procured for the security forces. He so blatantly assigned blame for the MRT mess on the private sector owner of the facility even if the DOTC controlled management, operations and maintenance of the rail service.

Then he produced a “graduate” of the K to 12 program even if that program has not yet been fully implemented.

He did not tell us why unemployment rose and poverty deepened during his watch. He faked the inauguration of the first (and miniscule) PPP project at Daanghari and gave no explanation why this “centerpiece” program is miserably behind schedule.

Most important, he did not tell us what he was going to do with his last year in office. That seemed less urgent than thanking his housekeeper.

Vice President Jejomar Binay replied with a strong speech. It detailed the dimensions of our people’s misery. It called up the ghosts of the unconstitutional DAP and other scandals. He outlined the deepening inequality in the economy and the failure to rebuild Tacloban and Zamboanga. He thanked the martyred troopers of the SAF.

Characteristically, pro-Aquino lackeys attacked the messenger while sidestepping the message.

None of them engaged the issues raised by Binay. They uniformly harped on the allegations heaped upon the man, as if by doing so they invalidate the issues raised. They all indulged in character assassination and, by doing so, avoided the substantial concerns aired.

Binay is duly-elected vice-president. He has every right to speak his truth at the forum of his choice. By the way they acted, the Liberals appear to have lost touch with liberalism.

DOTC Secretary Abaya is a class on his own. Reacting to Binay’s criticism of the way the MRT was mismanaged, he bluntly asked if the Vice President has a solution to the problem that is a scourge to all commuters.

That is an unfair thing to ask. After Mar Roxas arbitrarily terminated Sumitomo’s maintenance contract and Abaya signed (and then renewed) without bidding the contracts for unqualified service providers, there can be no solution to the MRT problem other than rebuild it from the ground up. The rail line has been run to the ground by sheer incompetence. 

And what about the infernal traffic jams that get worse each day, stealing our time and inflating our fuel costs? Aquino’s Sona ought to have shown us there is an end to this hell.

Will the hyperventilating LPs now demand the vice president offer a solution to this nightmare?  This nightmare is the outcome of five years of incompetent management. The only way out is by reintroducing competent governance.

Unfortunately, Aquino’s flunkies do not seem willing to see a policy debate engaged.

A rich and vital policy debate will draw the public into a virtual public square. Such a debate might redeem the forthcoming electoral contest. It will at least bring back decent conversation to our politics.

The last five years saw an appalling decline in the quality of our public conversation. The ruling clique tried to get by with hollow slogans, narcissistic speeches and intermittent sniping.

There could be no policy debate under a president who never understood what that means and how important that is to keep the public engaged. In place of a public policy debate, we were treated to self-righteous speeches infected with intellectual dishonesty. The policy tracks and whatever alternatives there are were never submitted for public deliberation.

Democracies are enlivened by open discussion of policies and alternatives to them. Since Aquino assumed the highest post, however, the public square was closed. Cyber thugs bullied every dissenting voice. Campaigns of vilification were launched. Lies were peddled as the official version and entire institutions were bribed. A virtual Inquisition was set in motion.

Our democracy was impoverished.

In Binay’s version of the state of the nation, there was one policy alternative proposed very clearly: that the Constitution be amended to lift restrictions on investments. The business community had been demanding that for years. Today, it is at least one plank on a presidential platform.

Yet none of Aquino’s flunkies even bothered to take on that policy proposal. They are incapable of engaging political opponents at the higher level of policy discourse.

In his own speech, Aquino said the next elections will be a referendum on “tuwid na daan.”  We hope not.

“Tuwid na daan” is a meaningless mantra. It is not a package of policies that will bring us to an improved future. It is sloganeering by self-righteous incompetents.

The next campaign should end the long drought that descended on our politics. It should be about restoring excellence and effectiveness to our government. It should be about bringing clear-sighted policies to solve our nation’s many problems.

Our political discourse was brought down to the level of the idiotic these past years. Those who brought our political discourse to this obscene level will not be the same ones to liberate us from it.