A post-SONA thought: How do we get to our desired destination as one? We cannot move forward if we let the ghosts of administrations past haunt us. The blame game must stop somewhere.
P-Noy’s SONA last week elicited mixed reactions even among celebrities. But over and above the state of the nation, every Filipino must know exactly what state his heart is in, as far as being patriotic is concerned. Change is good. Who goes first?
Sam Pinto: “The SONA articulated my deepest dreams for us—a nation that knows how to say thank you, a nation one in rejoicing at the success of another, a beautiful Philippines—and it can be done!”
Mariel Rodriguez: “We can’t really expect a lot from our President because he is just one year in office. Let’s give him four years to tell if his projects are effective. For now, all we can do is pray for the best and hope that all his plans for our country will succeed.”
Luke Mejares: “The President should have tackled the RH bill in his SONA.”
Dingdong Avanzado: “I wasn’t able to listen to the entire speech. But dun sa narinig ko mukhang OK naman, especially the part about taking it personally when it comes to going after people who did the nation wrong and making them accountable.”
Say Alonzo: “I think we should give our President a fair chance to do his job because he’s the only one we’ve got, so we might as well support him.”
Bayani Agbayani: “The SONA of P-Noy is as good as every SONA given by every president of the Philippines. The most important part of it is how he can make those statements come true.”
Jim Paredes: “Nagustuhan ko, kasi nag-sariling wika siya at mas naabot niya ang nakararami. He set the theme and style of governance, which is anticorruption and service. Na-inspire ako. I actually was surprised he did good. Gusto ko yung ending niya: Show appreciation pag may tamang ginagawa. A good speech sets the tone of leadership and inspires. I wish there were more of the vision thing of where we should be going, but I think he had a good SONA.”
Kim Atienza: “P-Noy’s use of the wang-wang metaphor was very effective. He has become a very effective communicator. Mana kay Ninoy, who is my idol. I just wish he would stop smoking so he would cough less.”
Dennis Garcia (Hotdog): “The SONA was good, but not great—it didn’t inspire a lot of people. What P-Noy should have done was something dramatic, arresting and earthshaking: He should have removed the yellow ribbon on his barong and declared, ‘From this day on, I will be the President of the whole nation, not just of a few…’ That would have been sheer genius!”
Personal: Congrats to Ace Saatchi & Saatchi for securing the most coveted Agency of the Year title—Campaign Brief Asia 2010 Philippine Agency of the Year. It has also been included in Campaign Brief’s Top 20 Agencies in Asia, ranking number 18, the highest any Philippine agency has ever come in the CBA rankings.
E-mail wateringholeshangrila@yahoo.com.