FOR his upcoming State of the Nation Address on July 26, P-Noy promises a “no frills discussion” of the current problems his government has inherited from the previous administration and what measures they’re planning to take to solve them.
“I stated before, syempre kailangan ng imbentaryo. Nasaan na tayo ngayon? Ano ba mga problemang hinaharap natin ngayon? (Of course, we need an inventory. Where are we now? What are the problems that we are facing today?),” was P-Noy’s statement regarding his preparations for the SONA.
“Second broad point would be what are we doing with these problems that we have discovered. The third point is, we will thresh out the many proposals we have for the need of the country, especially infrastructure, the major ticket items, and equipment,” he added.
P-Noy has ordered “an inventory of problems besetting the Cabinet” to base the real state of the nation from. He also disclosed “that they are still trying to thresh out the proposals to address the needs of the country such as infrastructure and other major ticket items.”
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa assures that the President will be straightforward in his SONA and that there will be “no gimmicks involved,” unlike his predecessor, Cong. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo “who used three poor children to dramatize the problems of the country.”
Apart from his no-frills SONA, P-Noy has set up the Presidential Communications Group (to take over the job of the Press Secretary) who will be setting up Twitter and Facebook accounts where hisbosings/kababayans can relay their concerns or suggestions to the President. “The idea is for the government to come up with quick solutions and respond promptly to concerns,” said Communications Group member Herminio Coloma.
P-Noy is trying to live up to his promise of transparency in his governance as much as he can. With new technology at his administration’s disposal, this is the best time to exhaust all means possible to ensure that his goals and promises, as the People’s President, are met.
Of course, like any new endeavor, such methods have to go through birthing pains. What Filipinos should keep in mind is that the newness of his approach in running the system is what sets his administration apart from past governments. The question lies on the efficacy of such methods. It is something that still needs to be tested – a possible trial and error process, in order for his administration to peruse whether they are effective or not.
Hopefully, this WYSIWIG (what you see is what you get) system will lessen the layers of the traditional bureaucracy and bring about speedy, real and tangible solutions to what ails our nation.
Who knows, maybe taking shortcuts is the best way towards “daang matuwid.” (AJPress)
( www.asianjournal.com )
( Published July 21, 2010 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A6 )
