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By Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter
Government critics should listen first to
President Gloria Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) to
see what she has accomplished, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said on
Thursday.
He was reacting to a Pulse Asia survey, which
said that the public was looking at the President’s SONA on Monday
with “skepticism” and ”outright disbelief” as they had done
in her past SONAs.
A Pulse Asia poll of 1,200 adults nationwide
from July 1 to 14 showed that six out of 10 Filipinos or 60 percent
were aware of the past state addresses of President Arroyo but many
of them doubted their truthfulness.
Among those aware (60 percent) of the SONAs,
“a big plurality [46 percent] nationwide believes these SONAs had
not been truthful, with another almost equally large number [41
percent] being undecided [on] their truthfulness.”
Only 13 percent nationwide believed Mrs.
Arroyo’s SONAs had been truthful.
Dureza said the President was unaffected by the
survey results and would continue with her report to the nation.
“To the skeptics, listen first to the SONA,” he said during a
press conference. “Listen to the
President, look at the data and verify.”
Mrs. Arroyo will lay down in her speech the
policy direction for the remainder of her term particularly on how
to address the rising prices of oil and food, Dureza said.
On Monday, classes in 15 public elementary and
high schools in areas near Batasang Pambansa, where the President
will deliver her SONA, will be suspended on Monday to ensure
students’ safety against possible chaotic situations that may
arise. Protesters are expected to mass at the Batasang Pambansa.
Teresita Domalanta, the regional director of the
Department of Education for the National Capital Region (Metro
Manila), said they are leaving it to the discretion of private
schools to declare if they will be suspending classes as well on
Monday.
Classes will be suspended at Batasan Elementary
and High School; Commonwealth Elementary and High School; main and
annex of the Payatas Elementary (Annexes A, B, C); Lupang Pangako
Elementary; Cecilia Muñoz Palma High School; Doña Juana
Elementary; Holy Spirit Elementary; Bagong Silangan Elementary and
High School; San Diego Elementary; Fairview Elementary (main and
annex); North Fairview Elementary and High School; New Era
Elementary and High School; Culiat Elementary and High School;
Pasong Tamo Elementary and High School; and Manuel L. Quezon
Elementary School.
The Metro Manila police chief, Director Geary
Barias, during a meeting with Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte
Jr., said the police, the Commission on Human Rights and the
organizers of Monday’s rallies and marches agreed on “ground
rules” on Monday.
Also at the meeting were militant groups,
supporters of the late Fernando Poe Jr. and nurses.
-- Francis Earl A. Cueto, James Konstantin Galvez and Ruben D.
Manahan 4th
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