SONA

Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had her SONA today. I watched and listened to it and it seemed impressive. I was impressed with what she wanted to do for the Philippines. Of course, her plans were mainly for our progress and it's good that our government wants to have prosperity. Oh and by the way, she had 157 claps. And she was too excited to deliver her speech she almost forgot about the national anthem.

In line with this, I just had a heated discussion with Betsy's aunt. haha At first I thought it was Betsy since she was using Betsy's ym id. It started with a group message where I said: " salamat sa mga gus2ng ipagawang mga highway ni gma, pwede na tayo umabot ng mindanao ng nagcocommute lang. hahahaha woohoo"

Betsy's aunt: why not? It's being done now. If you read the Phil Star - articles by Claude Tayag, he related his travel from Manila to Mindanao (using the Southern Tagalog route) Batangas/Mindoro/Caticlan in Visayas, etc. etc

Ayeen: kaya nga
Ayeen: duh
Ayeen: haha kaya nga ayos un
Ayeen: d ko nmn cnbi na d un mggwa

Betsy's aunt: But with your hahahaha woohoo, you meant something, right?

Ayeen:1 nope. i was simply amazed since everyone thought that would be too impossible
Ayeen: i mean..do we have funds for that? will it fit? how much money will we waste

Betsy's aunt: It's now being done. There's no need to build bridges to connect all the islands. There are many inter island ships that ply our seas. I am not Betsy. I am her guardian "aunt"

Ayeen: oh. haha yeah. but in her sona, what she said was about the inter connecting highways..not merely travel by sea

Betsy's aunt: That maybe between some islands, because the "bridge" from Batangas to Mindoro has been suggested/studied in the past and nothing came of it. But who knows???? If heavy metals like airplanes and ships can fly/float, why not verrrrrrry long bridges?

Ayeen: bridges cannot float nor can they fly. they can exist yes...but what im trying to say is that, yes these are possible but how much money will we spend building these? we are not a rich country and yet we spend money with these things?

Betsy's aunt: I would say we have money, but how and where we spend the "money' is the problem.

Ayeen: we have money..but it isnt enough. thats my point. and instead of spending our money with these bridges connecting the whole philippines together, why not spend it on education or

Betsy's aunt: I am 52 years old. I studied in a public elementary school, private Catholic school and a state college. We learned English from Grade 1 (no nursery, no prep, no kindergarten). Education has deteriorated because of the change in the system. In grade I, we were taught 3 subjects (Reading {in Pilipino and English}, Writing and Aritmetic) with Religion and Music/PE at least once a week. We mastered everthing, anyone in my class (from the brightest to the "least endowed" can write an essay better than most of the graduates today. I had hands on experience of tutoring my son from nursery to Grade IV, and I know the difference. I once asked a classmate who is a teacher in Miriam College, "why the change?" She said, then publishers will not earn...... New books will not be required......

Ayeen: it doesnt matter if the system changes..as long as the quality of education remains the same..at a high standard. but every year..it lowers down. less children graduate. less can read and write. no funds for public schools. not enough teachers. not enough classrooms. the state of education in the country is something we should pity. something we should put our focus on instead of those bridges and highways.

And after this, I was still in heat for another debate and so I had one with, this time, Betsy herself.

Ayeen: oh well...u cant blame me can u? still about the education? its true naman, its going down and down
Ayeen: i live in our tym and we have to deal with it

Elizabeth Calapatia: yes
Elizabeth Calapatia: but we should rily blame d teachers mor
Elizabeth Calapatia: dan d wrong way of budgetng

Ayeen: nope. blame everyone of us. teachers cant do anything about it since they also live here in our country where there are no budgets and stuff
Ayeen: i mean. we can produce great teachers and great students if only we pay attention to them
Ayeen: we dont give importance to them kasi eh

Elizabeth Calapatia: that is true
Elizabeth Calapatia: we are too submissive
Elizabeth Calapatia: we cant be as competitive as the other countries
Elizabeth Calapatia: our government should think more of our country
Elizabeth Calapatia: other than impressing others

Ayeen: no..we can be as competitive..we even have far better skills than they have. we just dont hone it

Elizabeth Calapatia: yea...
Elizabeth Calapatia: d not enough dicpline
Elizabeth Calapatia: n most of us barely care
Elizabeth Calapatia: most just want a quick buck for the day
Elizabeth Calapatia: dey just waste the talents they have
Elizabeth Calapatia: n the government is jst too damn corrupt to even care

Ayeen: we cant also blame them. they have no outlet for it. the government does not support them. but then again...we cant blame the government. there are far mor important things too. our government is corrupt. but every government is corrupt. no country has a clean government. believe me. they just know where to put their corruption. and we are to blame. those people help their country and we dont. we ask what the gov can do for us and not what we can do for it.

Then I ate. haha

pro or anti?

Am I pro or anti Arroyo? Neither. I can praise her and criticize her anytime I want. Praise her when she does something worth praising and criticize her when she does something worth criticizing. I must say though, that she has a strong government. As I've heard in the news, she has detractors from the opposition, military, civilian and even in the CBCP. But here she is, still standing. With such a big smile on her face. Small but terrible. I admire her for that.