Charles Ronndee R.

Corsino
1.SPEECH REPORT
State of the Nation Address of His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III President of the
Philippines To the Congress of the Philippines.
[Delivered at the Session Hall of the House of Representatives, Batasang Pambansa Complex,
Quezon City, on July 27, 2015]
Is it not true that we have a saying: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach
a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. An example of this is the Technical Education
and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The Disbursement Acceleration Program
contributed 1.6 billion pesos to TESDAs Training for Work Scholarship Program. This amount
enabled the graduation of 223,615 beneficiaries. 66 percent of theseor, 146,731 graduates
now have jobs. As for the remaining 34 percent, TESDA is helping them find employment. Just
take a look: All of these scholars have their names and other pertinent data listed down, should
you wish to confirm them.TESDA is the leading partner in the development of the Filipino
workforce with world-class competence and positive work values.TESDA provides direction,
policies, programs and standards towards quality technical education and skill development.
We believe in demonstrated competence, institutional integrity, personal commitment
and deep sense of nationalism.
In September of 2013, lawless elements attacked Zamboanga; our countrymen who had
been living peaceful lives there were used as human shields, their homes were burned
down. This crisis tested the caliber of our uniformed services. Urban combat is considered
the most complex kind of combat; in spite of this, our troops were able to save 195 of the
197 Filipinos caught in the conflict. We salute our countrymen in the uniformed services:
Your sacrifice paved way for the victory of the Filipino people. Loyalty and devotion lead to
bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the
power of love.For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work,
patience, love, self-sacrifice - no paper currency, no promises to pay, but the gold of real service.

2. EDITORIAL OF PERSUASION

For millions of Filipinos, kindergarten and other preparatory courses before first grade used
to give children with financial means an early edge in academic achievements over their
underprivileged peers. With the enactment of Republic Act 10533, kindergarten is now free for
all Filipinos and required for entry to first grade.
The next step is for authorities to ensure that poverty and other problems will not keep
parents from sending their children to kindergarten and keeping them in school. The new law
also makes the mother tongue the medium of instruction up to third grade, with English being
phased in at fourth grade. This should help discourage pupils from dropping out due to language
comprehension difficulties, although the bigger reason for leaving school is poverty.
While basic education is free and compulsory, studies show that the dropout rate remains
high, starting in third grade and increasing in high school. Even if education is free, millions of
families cannot afford even the daily transportation fare, food allowance and miscellaneous
expenses for keeping a child in school. With two years added to secondary education, many
students may fail to get a high school diploma.
Under RA 10533, students will be prepared to pursue either vocational courses, which offer
quick employment opportunities, or regular college courses. The government can fine-tune the
program to reduce the current mismatch between skills and job requirements in many local
industries.
A lot of time, effort and resources went into the development of the K to 12 program, now
embodied in RA 10533 or the Basic Education Program law. The measure is meant to upgrade
Philippine education, whose quality has deteriorated in recent decades, and improve national
competitiveness. Every effort must be made to ensure the success of its implementation.

3. INFORMATIVE FEATURE
ASEAN as One Nation

One of the major projects of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is the establishment
of an ASEAN Economic Community, which aims to integrate Southeast Asias diverse
economies, a region with 600 million people and a combined gross domestic product of $2.4
trillion. But several civil society organizations are moving to postpone the AEC and calling for a
rethinking of its framework, which they claim is biased in favor of corporate interests and the
traditional elite.
The AEC is defined by four pillars: Creating a single market and production base, increasing
competitiveness, promoting equitable economic development, and further integrating ASEAN
into the global economy. To synergize the regions markets and production hubs, this would
entail the free flow of goods, services, investments, capital, and skilled labor. Proponents argue
that if the integration succeeds, the region could become the fourth largest economy in the next
few years.
But for Philippines-based think-tank Ibon Foundation, the current model of the AEC could
further impoverish the poor while facilitating the aggressive foreign corporate takeovers of the
regions resources. It addedthat overall, the AEC is detrimental to ordinary people because it
will lead to an erosion of sovereignty, diminishing access to social services because of a stronger
push for liberalization and privatization, greater inequalities between and within ASEAN
countries, skewed labor mobility, job insecurity, increased land and other resource grabs, and the
undermining of local small-scale farmers.
Ibon Foundation cited the investor-state dispute settlement provision of the AEC as an example
of a one-sided protection measure in favor of corporate power, since it gives investors the right
to sue government when their profits are in danger.
The research center warned that AEC could worsen the uneven and inequitable economic
growth in Asia because it continues old logic of the neoliberal model of development
characterized by a race to the bottom in lowering labor, environmental and other regulatory
standards and taxes, and in changing national laws to create a business-friendly environment.
During the ASEAN Peoples Forum recently held in Malaysia, various civil society
organizations signed a statement echoing the concerns raised by Ibon Foundation. The

liberalization of the labour market has increased the number of precarious jobs and will continue
to adversely impact the rights of workers, an excerpt from the statement.
The groups rejected ASEANs development model for regional integration because it promotes
unequal trade and investment agreements negotiated and agreed to by member states (that) fail
to guarantee redistributive, economic, gender, social and environmental justice, or
accountability.
As an alternative framework to the AEC, Ibon Foundation proposes that the integration must
transform the ASEAN into a region that is truly people-centered by abandoning the market-led
growth strategy and focusing more on peoples concerns such as food sovereignty, climate
change, and respect for human and collective rights.
Solidarity, cooperation and complementarity among states should be pursued instead of
economic competition, the group asserted.
And since the AEC is not yet fully implemented, civil society groups are urging for a more
comprehensive and democratic consultation with all stakeholders so that negotiations about the
proposed regional integration will not be restricted to government parties.
It is only by building a strong regional bloc with popular public support that ASEAN can
successfully advance its agenda in the ongoing talks for greater economic cooperation in the
Asia-Pacific such as the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the USled Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
The AEC concept is an important one, and is needed to boost the regions economic potential.
But to repeat the recommendations made by Ibon Foundation and other civil society groups, this
AEC must be reconceptualized to genuinely empower the people.
4. SPORTS NEWS
Liam McMorrow is a 7-foot-2, 270-pounder who has an interesting background.
McMorrow grew up playing hockey and lacrosse and did not play organized basketball until
after high school. He was recruited into Durham College in Ontario, Canada and later transferred
to US NCAA Division I school Marquette University (which produced NBA players like

Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler) but was unable to play a game after being deemed
medically incapacitated to participate on the collegiate level.
But an undeterred McMorrow resurfaced at Tennessee Tech a year later and managed to play
two seasons, averaging 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 13.9 minutes per game. He was able to
play four games in the NBA D-League and five games in the NBA Summer League. He suited
up for the Halifax Rainmen in the National Basketball League of Canada after a professional
stint in Taiwan where he averaged 16.5 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks per game. The
Rainmen finished runner-up after falling in a five-game series in the finals. He finished with
averages of 11.4 points and 7.5 rebounds though he also had 4.4 fouls per game for Halifax.
Due to the leagues handicapping system for imports, McMorrow is going to enjoy a size
advantage of the 6-foot-5 imports and the undersized locals that are going to have to guard him.
His size, physicality and athleticism will be a huge asset both in the paint and on the boards and
expect him to make the most of that. Keep an eye on his offensive rebounding, too, as he
averaged 3.8 a game in Canada and 6.1 per contest in Taiwan.
Barako Bull had some success, especially early in the Commissioners Cup, with Solomon Alabi
towering over opponents in the handicapped conference. Theyll have a similar advantage in this
one, so this could be a chance for them to make a little bit of noise in this one. Theyre going to
do it without an Asian reinforcement, though, so the locals will still have to do some heavy
lifting if they are to contend.

5. DRUG ADDICTION
Homecoming weekend brings people from across the Davao City to the campus. Many of
the young come for the concerts, dances and house parties. Many older ones come for the
tailgating and to reunite friends they have not seen since the last homecoming.
These grand events bring increased law enforcement. You see blue lights blinking on corners
directing traffic and extra forces on the highway stopping traffic. All this is done for the safety of

the people, we hope. However, in the past we have heard stories of people walking and being
stopped and searched for no reason.
My concern today is for the young. A lot of youth are facing drug addictions at an early age. For
example, a senior in high school that I know said that he could not go to school unless he had a
hit in the morning, specially here in Digos. In another class, a young boy told me that he had
been drinking since he was 9 years old. A parent educator also told me in a meeting that many of
her clients from well-to-do families have been caught with drugs at school. In all of these
situations, the youth involved in drugs and alcohol have been from different races and economic
backgrounds.
It costs to be the boss. The boss is someone in charge and when a drug addiction has a hold on
you, its in charge.
On Tuesday nights, I go to the Weaver House Shelter and attend the support group meetings
called, Blue House II: Making a Difference. In these meetings, I hear confessions of drug use
for 20 and 30 years. Some people have been clean and some are trying to get clean. Clearly, drug
addiction is costly to families and the people.
During homecoming weekend, I heard that some young people were stopped and searched. They
each had one ecstasy pill and were charged with a felony. One pill can cause your life to be
messed up with a felony.
It costs to be the boss, but help is at hand. In shelters, we meet a lot of people with addictions
and others that sell pills. I do not do drugs and have never done drugs, so the only high I know is
happiness. If you have that problem, you can seek a higher power for deliverance and
rehabilitation. Dont waste your time and lose everything. There is help out there. If you
seriously look within yourself, you can change.

6. EDITORIAL OF ARGUMENTATION
It is bad enough that errors have been found in the new set of peso bills destined for public
circulation, it is worse when the president tries to defend the errors with a childish argument.
The errors involve the exclusion of Batanes from a Philippine map on the peso bills and the
misplacement of the Tubbataha reefs by what experts determined would be no less than
hundreds of kilometers.

Another error was the depiction of a rare blue-naped parrot as having a yellow beak when,
according to experts, no such bird exists anywhere in the Philippines. What the country has is a
blue-naped parrot with a red beak.
Actually, these errors could have been easily explained matter of factly, along with a promise to
investigate and perhaps sanction those responsible for the mistakes. But President Aquino had to
take the issue to a different level, way below the periscope of common sense.
In a statement that is as shocking as it is ridiculous, Aquino said he would use a real map or the
GPS (Global Positioning System) and not the new peso bills if he were to search for a place in
the Philippines.
Wow! And to think that is the president of the Philippines talking. The issue here is not about an
actual travel or an attempt to locate a particular location. The issue is about errors on something
as official and permanent as legal tender.
Of course nobody would travel or try to locate some place using a map on a peso bill that is no
bigger than the palm of the hand. For Aquino to grasp the problem in such a manner suggests
how far far away he is from the reality of his situation.
Errors and official mistakes are fast becoming the hallmark of this Aquino administration but
what makes things even worse is that Aquino sees no problem in this. Without knowing what the
problem is, there can be no solution. So heaven help the Philippines.
There are also good things happened in his administration.In the video message, the President
gave a glimpse of the countrys remarkable development since the day he entered office. With
regard to the Public-Private Partnership program: What used to be avoided is now being
pursued, Aquino said. According to records, from Dec. 2011 to Dec. 2014, eight PPP projects
had been awarded and signed by the government amounting to P127 billion. In four years in
office, we were able to surpass the six approved solicited PPP projects from three past
administrations, he said. In the education sector, Aquino boasted the implementation of the K12 program and the backlog in textbooks, chairs and classrooms had already been addressed.
Moreover, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) had trained

672, 258 students under the Training-for-Work Scholarship Program from July 2010 to Sept.
2014. 68.5 percent of the graduates, according to Aquino, already landed a job just six months
after finishing the TESDAs training. Also one of the flagship programs of the Aquino
administration, the president cited improvements in the expanded conditional cash transfer
program with a funding of P12 billion. Now, we are supporting beneficiaries in elementary
grade until 18 years of age, he said. Aquino, stressed that further developments in the country
will take place once the Bangsamoro Basic law is passed.