IN SONA
P-Noy bares plan of action
BY CARLA GOMEZ

In his first State of the Nation Address President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III yesterday bared anomalies allegedly committed by the past administration that has plunged the country into further deficit, and outlined his plan of action to move it forward.

He also vowed to go after smugglers, boost agriculture, and cut government importation on food, which Negros Occidental sugar leaders have repeatedly sought from government in the past.

Aquino, who delivered his about 40-minute SONA in Filipino and was applauded more than 30 times, said “For a long time, our country lost its way in the crooked path”.

Majority of the officials in Negros Occidental yesterday said they were happy with the State of the Nation Address of President Benigno Aquino III and hopeful for the nation, but Rep. Ignacio Arroyo Jr. (Neg. Occ., 5th District), who was not in Congress for the SONA, said it was “no clear roadmap to recovery.”

Arroyo, brother-in-law of former president and now Rep. Gloria Arrroyo (Pampanga , 2nd District), who was also not present, said he did not attend the SONA but he was at the House at 9 a.m. yesterday to vote for Rep. Edcel Lagman for House Speaker.

The post was won by Rep. Feliciano Belmonte (Quezon City) of the Liberal Party.

A protest rally was staged at the Bacolod City Fountain of Justice yesterday afternoon while President Benigno Aquino III was delivering his first State of the Nation Address at the Batasan Complex in Manila.

It was held by at least 150 members of BAYAN, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Kabataan Partylist, National Federation of Sugar Workers and their allied organizations who marched down the main streets of Bacolod, holding placards stating their demands from the Aquino administration.

Unlike previous protests during the SONAs of ex-president Gloria Arroyo, the militants did not burn any effigy but lobbed red paint on a poster with yellow ribbons symbolizing the deaths of activists under Aquino‘s regime.