Senators on perfect draw over Arroyo SONA attendance
07/27/2009 | 03:27 PM
Senators are on a perfect draw: 11 will attend President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) and 11 will boycott it, join protest rallies or simply attend to other matters.
Those attending the SONA at the Batasan Pambansa complex in Quezon City are Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Pilar Juliana Cayetano, Loren Legarda, Rodolfo Biazon, Manuel ‘Lito’ Lapid, Edgardo Angara, Ramon Revilla Jr, Gregorio Honasan II and Richard Gordon.
Of those attending, Legarda and Gordon are prospective presidential candidates in the 2010 elections.
On the other hand, those not attending the SONA are: Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. Senate Pro Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, and Senators Manuel Roxas II, Ma. Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, Panfilo Lacson, Manuel Villar, Joker Arroyo, Francis Pangilinan, Alan Peter Cayetano and Francis Escudero.
Villar, Escudero and Roxas are prospective presidential candidates in 2010.
Roxas II will be delivering his counter-SONA at a protest rally in front of the Commission on Human Rights office at UP Diliman. He will be joined by members of Tindig Nation group, who will march to Ever Gotesco mall along Commonwealth Avenue later to join other protesting groups.
Madrigal will also be joining the protest rallies while Villar will be having a meeting with the Nacionalista Party members.
"I’ve not been attending SONA for sometime now. No use wasting time listening to nonsense," Pimentel said in a text message.
Aquino said the last time he attended Arroyo’s SONA was in 2005.
"SONA should be the time to define the problem, define it correctly in order to have a solution. But (President Arroyo’s) SONA usually whitewashes the political issues. Maybe I would be more productive if I would just improve my proposed bills," he said.
Aquino said he will meet with his staff then return to the hospital to look after his ailing mother, former President Corazon Aquino.
The Philippine Senate has only 23 members.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV is detained at the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame facing various charges in connection with the July 27, 2003 Oakwood mutiny and the November 2007 siege of the Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati City. He has not attended a Senate function outside his detention facility since winning in the 2007 elections.
The 24th slot was vacated by Alfredo Lim when he ran and won as mayor of Manila during the 2007 elections. - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV
Those attending the SONA at the Batasan Pambansa complex in Quezon City are Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Pilar Juliana Cayetano, Loren Legarda, Rodolfo Biazon, Manuel ‘Lito’ Lapid, Edgardo Angara, Ramon Revilla Jr, Gregorio Honasan II and Richard Gordon.
Of those attending, Legarda and Gordon are prospective presidential candidates in the 2010 elections.
On the other hand, those not attending the SONA are: Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. Senate Pro Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, and Senators Manuel Roxas II, Ma. Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, Panfilo Lacson, Manuel Villar, Joker Arroyo, Francis Pangilinan, Alan Peter Cayetano and Francis Escudero.
Villar, Escudero and Roxas are prospective presidential candidates in 2010.
Roxas II will be delivering his counter-SONA at a protest rally in front of the Commission on Human Rights office at UP Diliman. He will be joined by members of Tindig Nation group, who will march to Ever Gotesco mall along Commonwealth Avenue later to join other protesting groups.
Madrigal will also be joining the protest rallies while Villar will be having a meeting with the Nacionalista Party members.
"I’ve not been attending SONA for sometime now. No use wasting time listening to nonsense," Pimentel said in a text message.
Aquino said the last time he attended Arroyo’s SONA was in 2005.
"SONA should be the time to define the problem, define it correctly in order to have a solution. But (President Arroyo’s) SONA usually whitewashes the political issues. Maybe I would be more productive if I would just improve my proposed bills," he said.
Aquino said he will meet with his staff then return to the hospital to look after his ailing mother, former President Corazon Aquino.
The Philippine Senate has only 23 members.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV is detained at the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame facing various charges in connection with the July 27, 2003 Oakwood mutiny and the November 2007 siege of the Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati City. He has not attended a Senate function outside his detention facility since winning in the 2007 elections.
The 24th slot was vacated by Alfredo Lim when he ran and won as mayor of Manila during the 2007 elections. - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV
