Today is SONA Day

President Benigno Aquino III will deliver his fourth State of the Nation Address today, and the whole country will be cocking its ears to hear what he has to say about the condition of our country now, after three years with him in office. Oh, we know we will hear a lot of good news, note that Malacañang has been building up for this for weeks now, as we have seen in its releases. Of course everybody likes to hear good news, except the proverbial dogs in the manger.

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Me, I guess some will consider me among those dogs because I always agonize when SONA time comes in this administration because the President likes to deliver his entirely in Tagalog. Of course I can get by with my smattering of Tagalog, but I always wonder how the members of the diplomatic Corps feel about it. Wonder if they are furnished earphones plugged to translators? I have attended SONAS, once of both President Fidel Ramos and another of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but both spoke in English. Maybe because they both studied in the United States.

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But I have not noticed earphones being supplied to foreign members of the SONA audiences, so their representatives are probably just twiddling their thumbs while our President is spinning his dreams at the Batasan. As for those earphones, when my sister and I attended a conference in Hamburg, Germany, those of us from other countries were given earphones that, wonder of wonders, had a soft speaking voice whispering to us the fully translated version of the lectures.

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Anyway, an attraction at the SONA would be the gowns of the ladies, especially the members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, who come dressed to the nines and glittering with bling-blings. The times I was actually there, my report to the STAR readers was mostly about the ternos of the ladies. In the last one, La Presidenta, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo outshone them all in a majestic terno in, I think it was magenta. This time are many young female members of the House and their attire should bear watching?

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Expected to add excitement to the SONA itself will be the usual tussle between the police and demonstrators or rallyists who have made it a sort of devotion to do their best to disrupt the President’s moment of glory. As usual, they will taunt the cops, to make them forget their instructions to exercise “maximum tolerance” and breach their promise a bit. Let’s hope there will be no stone-throwing incidents to mar the show.

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Will the President also touch on the subject of the P10 billion scam that has everybody in his cabinet fired up? Somebody said it is hard to imagine how somebody could think up such a scheme that even senators and congressmen would fall for. But then, the devil is full of tricks, and can charm the birds off the trees. So the foundation affair must have sounded very, very attractive, and very, very safe. At the time nobody knew that the partners would fall apart and that is why we have this highly entertaining and shocking story in our headlines.

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How was the scam devised? The way the stories were presented, it looks as if the plotters had set up dozens of “foundations” that later reports said had domestic helpers as officials, and these are where somebody with access to a lot of money can “donate” a portion of the amount supposedly listed, and the rest to the discretion of the donor. And who is to tell, since all involved are happy with their take?

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Remember the infamous fertilizer scam that seems to surface now and then, but gets forgotten again? It was a similar scheme, only then it was fake fertilizer being purchased. I don’t recall if foundations were also involved, but I’m sure that if we look further, there could be more. Ah, Foundations! What crimes can be committed in thy name!*

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