Na na naa marching into war…

For everybody out there, a slight critique slash article on the State of the Nation Address. 

That was probably one of the longest, if not the longest, speeches I’ve ever watched. In fact, Ted Failon pointed out that the just concluded SONA was the longest by any president yet, clocking in at almost an hour. That, thanks to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo meticulously pointing out slated projects that are part of her “superregions” plan, which simple said, is to take advantage of what each area has to offer. As my mom put it, it’s something like a geography class.

Another thing that stood out, for me personally, was the number of names dropped - it seemed that a lot of people serving as audience at the Batasang Pambansa were ready to stand on cue (which was true in the case of the Everest mountaineers, the national team and Manny Pacquiao, among others). On one perspective it could be her sharing the credit with others, if not giving it away - she was saying “congratulations” a lot during her speech. On another perspective, anyone could go, why the many names dropped?

But the superregions plan - unarguably the centerpiece of her speech - sounds good, with a lot of infrastructure plans lined up to improve the economy and provide better services for all. There was this dizzying mention of airports, roads and trains at one part of the speech, and then there was also talk of funds finally being collected, thanks to an improvement in fiscal collection. We could link the two, but would it happen? There was no definite time frame given yet.

Another standout are two short but important mentions: one, of her “[condeming] political killings” and going on to cite the removal of extra-judicial killings through the abolition of the death penalty. Another is the slight mention of federalism, and charter change in general, to push through with progress - which seems, personally, to be a prerequisite to the success of the superregions Arroyo cited.

But the underlying theme to the entire speech was, of course, the need for national unity. “For those who want to pick up old fights, we are game - but what a waste of time. Why not join hands instead?” she said. Then she goes to imply that she doesn’t intend to hang on to power despite the charter change debate. The theme’s pretty ironic, considering that she mentioned federalism more than charter change - a way to distract from the parliamentary shift? - and if it would promote more independent decision-making for the local governments, then…

…oh, and there was the president climbing up the podium too early, until Speaker Jose de Venecia told her everyone still has to sing the national anthem.

If it does wonders for the country’s health, then good.