Friday, August 1, 2008

Assignment 7: State of the Nation Address 2008

Last July 28, 2008 Monday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo addressed her State of the Nation Address (SONA) that was aired on all stations. unfortunately I was missed it because I was at school or maybe I just didn't want to watch and hear her SONA. When I got home I was able to take a glimpse of her SONA because my father and I was watching the news. The things that I remembered in her SONA was about the VAT, Jobs for the Filipino people and that the text messages were brought down to 50 centavos per SMS. Then our instructor asked us about the SONA of the president and none of us were not able to answer. So I ended up reading an article in the internet about the SONA of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"To address these global challenges, we must go on building and buttressing bridges to allies around the world: to bring in the rice to feed our people, investments to create jobs; and to keep the peace and maintain stability in our country and the rest of the world. Yet even as we reach out to those who need, and who may need us, we strive for greater self-reliance. " - Philippine Inquirer

This is one thing that I found interesting and I think that if the Filipino people will realize this it will or it can somehow improve our way of life. President Arroyo said that everyone seems to be a victim, rich countries and poor, though certainly some can take more punishment than others. We are not just the ones suffering from the price hikes of oil, high food prices and looming economic repression. She also said that "food self-sufficiency; less energy dependence; greater self-reliance in our attitude as a people and in our posture as a nation." We should not blame the government for our suffering but instead we turn to ourselves and become self-reliant. If the government succeeds in bringing in the needs to feed our people and investments to create jobs then many people will have the opportunity to have jobs, then they will be able to sustain themselves. Thus, improving their way of life, rather than blaming it all to the government.

Another thing is about the VAT. She said "Take VAT away and you and I abdicate our responsibility as leaders and pull the rug from under our present and future progress, which may be compromised by the global crisis." Because of the VAT, Investors have learned to trust us even more. She also implied that if the VAT will be taken off, it will lessen the trust of the investors and the prices will eventually rise again thus giving advantage those people who are in the upper class. If that is the positive effect of VAT, that it will lure investors in our country, it also means one thing. More jobs for the Filipino people.

One more thing that I found interesting in the presidents SONA is when she said "We have come too far and made too many sacrifices to turn back now on fiscal reforms. Leadership is not about doing the first easy thing that comes to mind; it is about doing what is necessary, however hard." I think this is one of thing that Filipinos must understand. I also think that it is related to Human Resource Management because in this field tough decisions are needed to be made. We should realize that the easy way out is not always the necessary thing to. We may find that there are things that are hard to do because it might affect the lives of the people who are around you but are necessary things to do for the benefit of all. And I think that if people will think this way it may also help them improve their way of life.


Reference:
http://www.inquirer.net/specialreports/sona/2008.php
http://www.inquirer.net/specialreports/sona/archive.php

2 comments:

Kate said...

hello...

for the past 7 SONAs, PGMA has always brought us some good news. in her latest SONA, there is news about millions of job openings. i think of all her good news, this is the best because it opens up opportunities for countless unemployed filipinos.

i hope that by the time we graduate, there will still be opportunities like this so that we can take pride in being part of an organization as one of their human resources.

remember, WE can make or break an organization!!!

*i'd appreciate your comments, too...*

John Cesar E. Manlangit said...

You are right. We must also rely on ourselves for the improvement of quality of our life.

Nice Entry!!

God Bless You!!!