SENATE minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III yesterday said President Marcos Jr’s third State of the Nation Address last Monday had some good points but failed to mention the true state of some pressing concerns of Filipinos.
In his contra speech delivered during Monday’s session, Pimentel said he congratulated the President for surprising the people on his announcement to immediately ban operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), now called Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs).
“He obviously gave it his best and it has been his best so far,” Pimentel said.
“Let me commend the President for brilliantly structuring his speech, saving the best for last. I was disarmed by the President’s very clear and categorical decision to ban POGO. He has listened to the overwhelming sentiment of the Filipino people. At least one concrete problem was addressed in the SONA. With our myriad of problems, we could now say after that memorable SONA, one down, 99 to go,” he added.
He said the President did not talk about a few pressing matters concerning the Filipino people, including the state of the government housing projects, traffic congestion, public utility vehicle modernization program, and national debt.
“Housing was barely mentioned in the SONA. This is one area where the President over-promised in his past SONAs. The initial goal was to build 1 million houses per year until 2028,” he said.
“We hope to be apprised of the housing sector’s more realistic goals as well as their achievements so far, during the upcoming budget deliberations,” Pimentel added.
He said President Marcos did not mention anything about the true state of the traffic in the country, and the controversial Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.
“Traffic cannot be solved by national law. The laws can only provide the framework, The MMDA is already there as well as the Local Government Code. This is a job for the Executive branch, Mr. President,” he said.
He said local government executives should help in solving traffic congestion in their respective areas of concern.
“The PIV Modernization Program is controversial, just like POGO. That is why it is a wonder to me why it was not mentioned in the SONA.
He said the President also failed to discuss the national debt.
“I believe that given the gargantuan amount of our national debt, its effects on our national life must at least be mentioned in every SONA,” he said.
Pimentel said the President touched on other matters but did not say how to further improve them, like the national budget, health sector, education, agriculture, and inflation, employment rate, poverty, wage increase, and the banking sector.
He said, however, that the country’s problems should be solved by everyone and not left to the government alone.
“Once again, let me say this: Given our country’s numerous problems which include our astronomical national debt, we cannot afford to lose time and waste resources. Let us focus on what is truly important to the life of the Filipino. We need to get our acts together as problem-solvers,” he added.
