Anakpawis Rep. Joel Maglunsod said he is not expecting President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to tell the truth in her last State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“An inveterate liar like Mrs. Arroyo will not listen even to Archibishop Gaudencio Rosales. For the longest time, Arroyo lived and believed in a dreamland that is not the Philippines and far from the real, impoverished economic and social condition of our 90 million population,” he said.

The neophyte solon said that while Arroyo is expected to talk about her administration’s ‘accomplishments’ inside the halls of Congress, the truth will be exposed by ordinary Filipinos in today’s nationwide anti-SONA, anti-Arroyo ChaCha protests.

“Mrs. Arroyo’s litany of lies will not erase the truth – that poverty, hunger and social injustice prevails in the country. Her ‘BEAT THE ODDS’ national program is just a meaningless acronym for Filipinos. Conditions worsened under her term – unemployment reached record high level at 11.4 percent, hunger grew worse over the years, prices of oil products, utilities, services and basic products increased tremendously and more Filipinos are forced to go abroad due to lack of local employment opportunities. All these happened while Arroyo and her cohorts squandered billions of taxpayer’s money.”

The labor leader turned solon also criticized House Speaker Prospero Nograles for making a personal commitment to push for constitutional change, particularly amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution by affirming the fast tracking of HR 737 that will allow 100 percent foreign ownership of lands.. He said HR 737 violates the national patrimony provisions of the Philippine Constitution and will make Nograles a traitor to national interests.

He added that Nograles’ ‘valedictory speech’ and outline of priority measures prioritizes ‘elite interests’ instead of the actual demands of basic sectors for employment, livelihood and good governance.

The solon also noted that for the last eight years, the Arroyo administration refused to address the demand of workers for a legislated wage hike increase. House Bill 1722 or the P125 wage hike bill is still pending at the Committee level and gathering cobwebs at the Lower House. “We have all the reasons to protest and boycott Arroyo’s SONA and her intentions to stay in power beyond 2010.”

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