"As president...I care for you too much..."

"My responsibility is to solve our problems now, and provide solutions on how the country should advance in the future"

Some of the highlights of the 57 minute speech of GMA
VAT significance
"Take VAT away and you and I abdicate our responsibility as leaders. We shall pull the rug from under our present and future progress, which may be compromised by the global crisis,"

Agricultural Reforms
As an exhibit, she cited Edwin Bandila, 48 years old, of Ugalingan in Carmen, North Cotabato, who use to make do with a meager harvest of 35 cavans in just one hectare of land while the construction of the Malitubog-Maridagao irrigation project in Carmen kept getting delayed,

“In my first State of the Nation Address, sabi ko kung hindi matapos iyon sa Setyembre ay kakanselahin ko ang kontrata, papapasukin ko ang engineering brigade, natapos nila (In my first SONA - in July 2001 - I said if the contractor fails to finish the project by September, I will cancel the contract and let the military engineering bridgade do it. They finished it). With Malamar, now he cultivates five hectares and produces 97 cavans per hectare. Mabuhay, Edwin!" she said

Agrarian Productivity
In response to criticisms about the country’s increasing dependence on rice imports, President Arroyo said Filipinos were being hard on themselves. She noted that even during the Spanish regime, the people have been buying foreign rice.

“Nature did not gift us with a mighty Mekong like Thailand and Vietnam, with their vast and naturally fertile plains. Nature instead put our islands ahead of our neighbors in the path of typhoons from the Pacific. So, we import 10% of the rice we consume," she said.

The reason, she said is that "Philippine topography doesn’t always cooperate"

President Arroyo said another project soon to be completed is the San Roque-Agno River project, which is expected to irrigate thousands of hectares of land in Pangasinan.

She said farmers and fisherfolk will now have more loans to avail of, with the Land Bank increasing funds for the purpose fourfold.

“That is fact, not fiction. Check it," she said.

"Agrarian reform should not merely subdivide misery, it must raise living standards. Ownership raises the farmer from his but productivity will keep him on his feet," she said.
She cited the need for former tenants to be empowered to become agribusinessmen by allowing their land to be used as collateral. At the same time, she said the government “must curb the recklessness that gives land without the means to make it productive and bites off more than beneficiaries can chew."

"At the same time, I want the rackets out of agrarian reform: the threats to take and therefore undervalue land, the conspiracies to overvalue it," she added.

Better transportation
Along with massive rice production, Arroyo said, the government is cutting costs through more efficient transport.

For arm-to-market roads, she said her government released P6 billion in 2007.

Mrs Arroyo also highlighted the economic benefits of the roll-on, roll-off system (RORO).

She said this is the reason why the price of bread remains cheap in many areas particularly in Mindanao and Visayas.

"RORO boats carried 33 metric tons of cargo and 31 million passengers. We have built 39 RORO ports, and 12 more are slated to start," she said.

She also thanked local government units who stopped collecting fees from delivery vehicles.

Peace talks
President Arroyo boasted advancements in the government's peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

She said that while peace in Mindanao has been elusive, the government and MILF peace panels agreed on the issue on ancestral domain on Sunday - putting to rest the most contentious issue in the peace talks.

"The comprehensive peace has eluded us for half a century. But last night (Sunday), differences were settled and the tough land issue on ancestral domain was resolved," she said.

Call for unity
At the end of her 57-minute speech, Arroyo reiterated to government officials as well as politicians to unite despite their differences.

“We are three branches but one government. We have our disagreements; we each have hopes, and ambitions that drive and divide us, be they personal, ethnic, religious and cultural. But we are one nation with one fate.
Source; GMANews.TV

PS/And the winner is...
Wearing his Bugkalot tribe attire we call bahag, Nagtipunan, Quirino Mayor Rosario Camma attended President Arroyo's State of the Nation Address stole the show and somehow eased the tension and relieved the formality without effort. He's tribal attire was a complete contrast to those extravagant and finest of gowns worn yesterday.

And the much applauded 50centavo per text from Smart.