THE LEGAL FRONT
I repeatedly and patiently watched PBBM’s SONA speech to discern its message beyond the raw performance, plans, and numbers he was citing. And I sat frustrated for some time as his message escaped me although the listening audience seemed to have understood, as shown by their repeated applause. “Am I this dumb,” I asked myself as all I heard were deeds, numbers, and applause, without discerning PBBM’s true message beyond the statistics he was presenting.
My patience was rewarded after the event when I summarized PBBM’s cited performance and future plans, and recognized that they loosely fell into three general areas.
The first group related to the economy, followed by those related to governance, and finally, those improving people’s social benefits and living conditions.
It dawned on me then that the recited accomplishments, promises, and plans are all linked to, and have, the people as their common point. In the mathematical terms of my boyhood years, the people are the SONA’s least common denominator and its intended audience.
The economy must perforce be there as it is the essential supporting foundation of all the claimed past accomplishments and promises for the future; it must be hale and hearty to financially support all these for the general welfare of the people and the nation. With an unstable economy, all performance and plans could be meaningless; in fact, the supporting governmental structure could totter and, possibly, fall.
Governance refers to the process of putting together all the elements of administration, i.e., the way the government is and will be run. Governance has been the pitfall of many past administrations, and it was gratifying to note that PBBM showed his concern by giving its more important details more than passing mention.
Social benefits, on the other hand, are the fruits of the application of all governmental efforts to the available resources, to improve the people’s welfare and living conditions. These are the health, safety, infrastructures, and similar concerns, among others, delivered by the governing administration to the governed, for the latter’s ultimate welfare.
All of these – understood and appreciated together in a chained link – unite the people with one another and with their government and the whole nation. This was what PBBM, in a very subtle way, was driving at – that he has been engaged in nation-building in the past year and will continue to build our nation for the rest of his term.
I was elated when I realized the implications of the recital of the raw record of performance, plans and their numbers. For, here is a President, I told myself, who had known the priority duties to undertake; who knows where to go and what to do in the future; and who is consulting the people on the soundness of his actions and plans.
Not everyone could be fully satisfied, of course, as governance and administration always pose questions of priorities of resources and action. Resources are never enough; not everyone can be served at the same time to the extent they wish. Give-and-take is the rule of governance. Some concerns are also best left unmentioned, others left vague, if only for reasons of security and flexibility.
For example, despite our denials and avowals of being “friends to all,” sovereignty and security concerns – being what they are – do not need to be fully expressed and outlined to the fullest detail. Our West Philippine Sea sovereignty faces serious challenge as shown by the adverse Chinese claims and persistent intrusive actions. This issue is furthermore compounded by the potentially explosive China-Taiwan relationship. When and if China acts against Taiwan (our next-door neighbor), we cannot but be involved. And it is not only a question of proximity; we have in fact already taken sides after identifying ourselves – through the foreign military bases we are allowing within our borders and our defense agreements with the US, an avowed Taiwan supporter and ally.
On the advantage side, this alliance might no longer leave us alone and isolated in any West Philippine Sea confrontation. But when a confrontation does take place between China and Taiwan, or a bigger one between US and China, or in the West Philippine Sea, we and our interests will necessarily beat play. Our best interests and course of action as a sovereign nation therefore lie in quiet preparation, independently of the promises and capabilities of our allies.
Underlying our independent action should be our own capability, resources, and the support of our people whose will and participation are vital. Without the people, we may not even have a nation to speak of.
Great Britain, at the start of World War II, fought the Nazis alone after all its allies succumbed, while the US still stood in the sidelines. Despite the prolonged bombing of their cities, England and its people stood fast, alone, and rallied to the call of their leader, Sir Winston Churchill who – through his steadfast courage and speeches – was said to have mobilized the English language and sent it to battle.
The recent lesson of Ukraine in its fight against Russia also imparts the same lesson. Despite the support of the US and the West, Ukraine and its people took it upon themselves to take up arms and resist. To their credit, everyone – particularly, the people – was there, behind the nation and its leader, in ties of loyalty and love of country.
These are the same ties of unity and kinship that PBBM tightened in his second SONA. If for this reason alone, I am all praises for PBBM’s SONA – for attempting to awaken the sleeping nationalism in every Filipino’s heart. ([email protected])