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FORMER
senior government officials who have parted ways with
President Arroyo expect her to pin the blame for
increasing difficulty mostly on global factors when she
delivers her State of the Nation Address (Sona) on
Monday. Still, they said, she cannot escape
accountability for the things that have made life worse
in the past seven years since she became president by
people power, promising reforms.
They
said she should take responsibility for the seven
“curses” afflicting Filipinos under her regime, topped
by poverty and inequity, declining education, food
insecurity, corruption, dwindling social services and
abuse of presidential prerogatives.
In a
forum on an “alternative” Sona on Friday, the Former
Senior Government Officials (FSGO), a group of Cabinet
officials and sub-Cabinet levels under six presidential
administrations over the past 40 years, said President
Arroyo has used her powers of presidency to “inflict or
worsen” the situations of the country.
With
President Arroyo set to deliver her eighth address to
Congress, FSGO said Mrs. Arroyo will blame global causes
for higher food and fuel prices and cite how the
people’s money will be used to “alleviate the hardships
of suffering people.”
At least
27 members of the FSGO, led by former senator Vicente
Paterno, gathered at De la Salle University in Taft,
Manila, to deliver the “real” Sona.
“Sona is
an important ritual of the state. It is a unique
opportunity to assess the nation and lay out programs of
actions to be pursued,” Paterno said. “But our nation’s
true state cannot be found in studying the speeches of
the President. We must discern it from the evidence
around us about the state of development of our dearly
beloved nation.”
Paterno
added: “Our founding fathers have shown that so much can
be achieved in seven years. What has the Arroyo
administration achieved in seven years?”
With
less than two years left before the 2010 presidential
elections, FSGO said that they are not calling on
President Arroyo to resign from position although they
said they are “hopeful.”
“We are
not calling for a step down; instead we are asking her
to listen. It would be good if she voluntarily quits,
although we know that’s far from happening,” said former
Civil Service Commission chief Karina David. “We are in
support of strengthening our institutions. But if she
tries to prolong her stay, then that’ll be the time to
act.” |
