Manila: Expensive snacks and showy gowns during the last State of the Nation Address (Sona) by Philippine President Benigno Aquino at the House of Representatives, are signs of insensitivity and lack of sympathy for poor people who represent majority of the country’s 100 million population, critics have said.
The reported P2.7 million (Dh225,000) worth of snacks for guests, including more than 200 lawmakers and envoys, before Aquino’s speech was “too expensive considering the majority of Filipinos are poor and just a few are rich,” student activist Roland Olalia told Gulf News.
In defence, Marilyn Barua-Yap, secretary general of the House of Representatives said the cost of catering and reception activities for this year’s Sona did not exceed last year’s budget for the same items at P2.3 million (Dh191,666).
Meanwhile, Gwyneth Dorado, a finalist in Asia’s Got Talent who was chosen to sing the national anthem at the Sona was given P3,000 to P5,000 (Dh250 to 416.66) for her gown and P10,000 (Dh833.33) for her allowance, Yap said. No one has criticised the amount allotted to the 10-year old singer.
But retired Catholic Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Dagupan, northern Luzon, criticised lawmakers who habitually make the president’s Sona a chance to stage a “fashion show”.
“It’s all about callousness and insensitivity, lack of feeling for others, or pure self-aggrandisement,” Cruz said about the lawmakers’ penchant to display fancy outfits during every Sona.
“I am ashamed of the fashion shows being held in Congress, when lawmakers don fancy attires, pearls, and gold while the majority of people who depend on them [and the impact of the laws that they pass], continue to live a hand-to-mouth existence,” Cruz said.
Criticising lawmakers for pandering to fashion statements rather than showing empathy for the poor, Cruz said, “It is as if lawmakers want to say, I don’t care about other people; I should display myself with make-up, a gown, and accessories like earrings, necklace, and rings.”
Various activist groups have also prepared their respective “Sona” addresses outside of Congress on June 27.
“When poor people in dirty and tattered clothes give their own Sona — they reflect the true state of the nation. We should listen to them. We should listen to what is true,” Cruz said contrasting the bleak “reality” with a beautiful, clean, and lavishly decorated Congress full of well-dressed lawmakers and guests.
At the same time, the security bureau of Congress has assigned 3,500 officers around the Batasan complex, and 1,700 guards inside, during Aquino’s Sona.
Military officers, policemen, and personnel of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority have also been assigned to secure the Congress.
“We are 99.9 per cent ready for the event,” Philippine National Police Director-General Ricardo Marquez said.
