Last July 27, 2015, President Benigno S. Aquino III delivered his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) before he ends his six-year term next year.
The President’s longest SONA drew mixed reactions from the different sectors of society – business, government officials, fellow politicians, political analysts, netizens, and ordinary people, among others. Some praised the Aquino Administration’s supposed achievements, especially on the national economy, while others slammed the address for, at least the customary, missing out on so many significant issues and failing to portray the true state of the nation.
President Aquino cannot be faulted for highlighting the economic growth achieved during his administration for the indicators are undeniable; but, his attention must be called in leaving out the environment in the SONA. Like our economy, manifestations that are our environment is threatened is undeniable. Just almost two years on, who can forget the devastating effects of typhoon Yolanda? How can the President miss out the air pollution in the metropolis? What about the piles of garbage lying around the streets?
We cannot overemphasize how important the Philippine environment is to its people and to the world.
Majority of our population is vulnerable to disasters due to poverty, and a large portion remains dependent on natural resources. Significantly, the country is rich in biodiversity like no one else in the world, that we owe it to future generations of this planet, not just of the Philippines to guard against extinction and be responsible stewards of the environment.
It is really quite disappointing that for past administrations up to now, the environment remains to be in the back seat. It is unfortunate that with all that happened to our environment during the last 5 years of this administration, and with all the campaigns locally and from abroad, there is still no clear environmental agenda for the government. That only goes to show that what we breathe, what we drink, those that shelter us from calamities, and the nature we continuously awe at, are not included in the priorities of our decision-makers.
But then again, WILL YOU GET ELECTED ON A PLATFORM FOR THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES?
