Rep. Alcover: It was a ‘State of the Chapel’ report

By ANAD Partylist
July 27, 2011

QUEZON CITY  –  “Nowhere in his 53-minute or so State of the Nation Address did President Aquino mention what his administration has done to resolve, if not mitigate, the country’s burgeoning problem on health, education, poverty, drug addiction, informal settlers, and peace and order but chose to engage in hypothetical ‘transformational change’ and anti-corruption campaign that are feeble statements depicting his brand of leadership, at the expense of others,” said ANAD Rep. Jun Alcover.

“If indeed he is serious to stamp out corruption in all nooks of the bureaucracy, he should have to start by ridding Congress of the vicious pork barrel funds, better known as Philippine Development Assistance Fund (PDAF),” Rep. Alcover pointed out.

Saying that the pork barrel fund is the source of corruption as it breeds subservience to the ludicrous partisan politics in government, “The distribution of PDAF has been the mother of all corrupt practices in the country that should first be eliminated by PNoy, if indeed he is serious in cleansing government. I don’t see logic when he is going after personalities, waving the anti-corruption flag, but still continue to dangle PDAF funds to enliven and expand his political circle, influence, and exact subservience from Filipinos,” he explained. “In all honesty, how do you call this?” Rep. Alcover quipped.

In eliminating PDAF, government will save about P24.75 billion and use this to construct additional classrooms and increase the salaries of teachers; build additional health facilities and upgrade hospitals; decisively address the root cause of poverty and informal settlers; and improve and strengthen efforts to address the problem of drug addiction, among others.

“Definitely, the country’s health program, vis-à-vis the real conditions on the ground, is in dire straits. The programs of both Philhealth and the Department of Health have not readily responded to the health needs of our people mainly because of lack of hospitals and its corresponding personnel,” he stressed.

On peace and order, Rep. Alcover said that PNoy dismally failed to report on the state of the peace negotiations between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Maoist terrorist CPP-NPA-NDF. “The recent warning of the MILF is a cause for everyone’s concern as it is some sort of a ticking time-bomb with the MILF threatening to renew hostilities if government fails to appropriately respond to their demands,” Rep. Alcover said. “His being mum on the talks with the Maoist terrorists sends wrong signals and could fuel misunderstanding and undue speculation by those who earnestly seek a just and fair resolution to the more than 42 years of Maoist terrorism,” the former Maoist political cadre turned prodemocracy fighter said.