It wasn't a SONA, it was SANA

There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.--Maya Angelou

To be persuasive, one must be believable. To be believable, we must be credible. To be credible, we must be truthful.--Edward R. Murrow

The most dangerous of all falsehoods is a slightly distorted truth.--G. C. Lichtenberg 

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People are still wondering what country was described by Gloria in her SONA last Monday. Maybe she thought she would be delivering not a SONA but a SANA or Statement of Activities Not Accomplished. Sana is the Tagalog word used to express unreal futurity in the past or doubtful futurity in the present; it is also used to express uncertainty; or to mean "if only" or "I wish".

Sure she can boast of the nautical highway as roll-on roll-off ports were built. But the other claims are dubious. The claims on the poverty reduction are belied by statistics from her own agency that measure those stats. NSCB data shows poverty incidence to be about the same since she assumed office. Moreover, the Social Weather Stations released on the same day as the SONA survey results indicating that hunger is rising under her watch.

The PCIJ assessed GMA's accomplishments and they came out with a two part report. The report gave her a grade of conditional failure. And riddle me this, she claims foreign direct investments grew by leaps and bounds in her term but still her partymates want to tinker with the constitution in the guise that doing so will attract foreign investments. If GMA can boast that investments are coming in, why change the constitution at all?

Lies + verbal jabs + fashion statements + patutsadas = Twitter top trend

As expected, many find the SONA as a pack of lies. The Philippine twitter scene was abuzz. Jim Paredes was impressed but wondered what country GMA was describing. I pity her ghost writers now. She must miss the previous ones who managed to give her speeches some tone of credibility. Or it must be simply that her credibility has gone down south so much that anything she says sounds like lies.

I will let the experts dissect and analyze the details. I found the fashion statements and the patutsadas more interesting. The first photo (from the GMANews) shows Rep. Liza Maza in a white katsa (flour sack) gown. The gown is hand-painted with a golden image of GMA, who is shown weaving an embroidery of the constitution (Con-Ass), while the people below her are strangled by its thread.

The second photo (also from the GMANews) shows Rep. Riza Hontiveros celebrating GMA's last SONA in a white pearl-scale gown embellished it with a red floral accent and a yellow ribbon for Cory.

But the real eye catcher is Sen. Loren Legarda's gown. That ensemble made Sen. Miriam Santiago look like her alalay.

Based on what I heard at the SONA, I think Sen. Manny Villar may yet end up as the administration candidate. Understandably, GMA will not hit his partymates at the SONA. But she swung at her opponents. So in her potshot at Erap, who still dreams of returning to Malacanan, - "Those who live in glass houses should cast no stones. Those who should be in jail should not threaten it, especially if they have been there." - touche. She was just being her taray self.

Even her party mate, former president Fidel Ramos, received a joust. She said "the noisiest critics of constitutional reform tirelessly and shamelessly attempted Cha-cha when they thought they could take advantage of a shift in the form of government. Now that they feel they cannot benefit from it, they oppose it." It can be remembered that Ramos attempted charter change during his term.

She had some advice to presidentiables - "To those who want to be President, this advice: If you want something done, do it hard, do it well. Don’t pussyfoot. Just do it. Don't say bad words in public." It is an obvious dig at Sen. Mar Roxas who once cursed publicly in disgust. And where does Mar Roxas post his reply? In Twitter, where else - "Gloria, I have to say bad words in public because of bad deeds done in secret."

So why do I think Villar may yet be GMA's candidate? Despite his lead in the surveys (he was ahead of Erap and Mar), he was spared from the patutsadas as if he were a partymate.

Onli in da Pilipins.

Filipinos have a folk belief that if someone is falsely reported to have died, that person will live on even longer, lalong hahaba ang buhay. That must have been the intention of those who started the text rumors that former President Cory Aquino has died. The speed, power, and persuasiveness of text messaging in Manila was such that the false news was even announced by a former Supreme Court justice after a mass for the former president. Talk about verifying the info at hand. A foreign embassy also has sent condolences to Cory's family based on the false alarm. If the pamahiin or kasabihan comes true to form, Cory will still be around for a while.

On the other hand, many can't wait for Gloria Arroyo to go. For every man who prays for Cory to live, there are definitely more who pray for Gloria to leave. The US might have reservations on electing a woman president but the Philippines had two within a very short span of time. Where else have they had two women presidents like we had? One is a picture of hope, the other a picture of hopelessness. Onli in da Pilipins.

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There will lots of protest actions in today's state of the nation address by Gloria. This day is also the Iglesia ni Cristo anniversary. This day is a special working holiday, as announced by GMA, by virtue of RA 9645 which declared July 27 a special working holiday. There was some confusion after she made the announcement. Many thought that it will be another long weekend, as she has a holiday economics policy. Additionally, Gloria had proclaimed non-working holidays to send students and the rest of the public to enjoy themselves when prospects of them joining political rallies were high. But today turns out to be a special working holiday. Where else do you work on holidays? And special ones at that. Onli in da Pilipins.

Stinking Homeland's Incredible Tales

If the US President has his annual State of the Union Address as mandated by their constitution, the Philippine President has her State of the Nation Address or SONA. President Arroyo will deliver her SONA on Monday, July 27. According to Press Secretary Remonde, she will clarify many political issues and highlight the accomplishments of her 8-year term. Remonde added that the President will discuss political reforms that will complement her planned economic reforms. Many local political pundits await if it would include a push for Charter change, or if she would bare her political ambitions.

Equally many, on the other hand will not care at all. To them the event on Monday is "SO WHAT!" or the State Of the Whole Homeland And Territories.

To those who feel bad for themselves at the way this dispensation has treated them, they want Arroyo to say   "SORRY" - State Of the Residents and Regions Yearnings.

If Arroyo remains the taray-queen, bitchy, aloof and snobbish, her speech will be "SUPLADA" - Some Updates on the Philippine Life And Direction Address.

If her speech will be full of lies and will not make sense, it is "NOT SMART" - No Other Than Snobbish Macapagal-Arroyo Represses Truth.

The speech can turn out to be self-gratuitous, wherein it will be called "SALSAL" - Speech of Arroyo: Last Sona, At Last.

But to many Filipinos the presidential speech on Monday will be just full of - Stinking Homeland's Incredible Tales - or just full of "SH*T".

Netbooks ≠ Notebooks

I blogged more than a year ago that the netbook will not attract Pinoys. I was mildly wrong because it was still enjoed a mild success with many brands and versions available for the Pinoys. 

But netbooks are not notebooks. And with a few more bucks, consumers will be able to purchase a full-blooded notebook with more robust features they expect.

Last month in the US, they released a survey indicating that the consumer backlash against netbooks has already begun. They found that 60 percent of consumers who purchased a netbook thought they would have the same functionality as notebooks. That confusion lead to some dissatisfaction. Sixty percent of the people who purchased a netbook did so because of its portability, however, 60 percent of buyers never even took their netbooks out of the house.

Looking around the WiFi locales, one will see many people with low-cost notebooks (13+ in screens) instead of netbooks. I guess the netbooks comprise less than 1/5 of those PCs seen in cafes. But as I said above, netbooks enjoyed a mild success here. So maybe, they are used at home.