Sociological Reflections about the State of the Nations Address

Submitted by: Axl V. Francisco

Submitted to: Assoc. Prof. Marina D. Gamo PhD

Table of Contents Part 1: Introduction Part 2: The Youth and PNOYs SONA Part 3: Analysis and Application Part 4: Recommendations

Part 1: Introduction The youth as defined by RA 8044 or the Youth in Nation-Building Act of 1995 has clearly defined that the youth are those who are 15 30 years old. Considering these, it is estimated that the population of the youth in the Philippines will be around 27 million by the year 2010. This number counts as about one third of the countrys whole population(National Statistics Office, 2000). Having a large population of youth is considered as very good for a country. The youth can be tapped to be a vital source of labor which is of economic importance that could spell the difference of a country inprogress or in depression. The importance of tapping the vast potentials of the youth for our country is indeed one to be looked upon. In considering this our own constitution has recognized the vast capability of the youth in nation building.

A part of Article II, Section 13 of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines as part of its policies has stated that the state recognizes the role of the youth in nation building and that the government, the prime agency of the state in which it expresses its will shall promote and protect the welfare of the youth (De Leon, 2008). This means that the government has a duty as mandated by the constitution to give every youth in the country its basic rights, particularly education.

Education is a right of everyone including the youth. Included in this are the free access to primary and secondary education for all(United Nations General Assembly, 1966) and this was applied in the primary duties government as mandated by the constitution.As of 1996 the educational attainment of the youth are the following: Primary 15%, Secondary 54% and Tertiary is at 30%. The other figures entail that some did not even finish their primary education or not even having an education at all. (Social Weather Stations, 1996). Looking at these figures there seems to be an ongoing problem with the educational system of the country. A matter of utmost importance since education is an essential part of rearing the youth on their quest for nation building.Education forms a vital part in the youths quest for nation building as it serves

as a means to change the society (Oak). This is a reason why governments put education of the youth as one of their top priorities.

Even though having a high literacy rate of about 97% for the youth (National Statistics Office, 2011) , the situation of todays youth are not reflecting these high figures. The Philippine public school system still lags behind its Southeast Asian neighbors in terms of achievement tests and many are not being able to finish at the least their secondary educations. Many school facilities are disintegrating literally with shortage of rooms that made many public schools overcrowded with inadequate facilities for learning, there is a shortage of teachers and the distribution books are far from the ideal ratio of 1 is to 1. The ongoing rise of poverty also plays a part as many of the youth are forced to quit school to find jobs in order to feed their families. Due to the governments lack of support to the educational system many are suffering from the continuing degradation of education in the country. There are a lot of problems that hounds the Philippine educational system.

With the continuous degradation of the educational system in the Philippines come a lot of problems that entails the youth. Problems such as child labor rise in crimes involving the youth, continuing poverty to name a few. Education forms the basis of all societies, as it forms the vital part in forming the economic, political, social and development per se of the society in general (Borkar, 2010). Seeing this, education is a vital pillar of society in which the Philippines seemed to be having a problem. The rise of these problems is always coinciding with a defective educational system that needs to be addressed.

Part 2: The Youth and PNOYs SONA

Last July 25, 2011 the President of the Republic of the Philippines has spoken in front of the joint sessions of the Congress and the Filipino people in general his SONA or the State of the Nation Address. As mandated on the Constitution. This became a wide spectacle as the people of the Philippines are presented with the current situation of the country and the plans that for the future of the country as a whole. People started to tune in on their televisions and started to have many expectations on if the President really has made his promises to what he calls his Boss.

A summary of the recently held SONA would be about how the President claimed the high economic growth rate that his administration has achieved, the ongoing witch hunt for corrupt officials in which he promised on his election campaign with the kapagwalang corrupt, walangmahirap banner and what he said on the daangmatuwid or straight road program of his government with the expose of a 1 Bilion coffee fiasco of the PAGCor and the other programs that really have little or no relevance to plight of the youth in this country. Indeed his corruption drive which was said to be just his papogi or image improving moves that is really a good thing on theory. The rampant graft and corruption in the country is an issue for so long the people can remember. The overly limited resources of the government that should be going to the people are diverted to pockets of the few who are in power. This really should be taken importance by the government.

As the importance of the anti-corruption drive is emphasized many programs that really should have relevance to the youth are not stated. Many viable programs that should help alleviate the plight of the youth are not in the priorities of the government.

To see the relevance of the SONA to the ongoing problem of the Philippine educational system is very hard to see. The SONA has stated many accomplishments of the administrations and the plans for the future of the country but many sectors including the youth are excluded.

There are good points though. The Conditional Cash Program of the government is really good thing. The purpose of the Conditional Cash Transfer Program is to give money grants to the most poverty laden people in the country on condition that they avail of the many government services like enrolling their children to school. A good program indeed since instead of making their children work they are being sent to school. Even if many are saying that the Conditional Cash Transfer Program is just a waste of very limited government resources it still of vital importance if alleviating the people from the reins of poverty could be achieved (Monsod, 2011).

As was said earlier, the reduction if not the erasure of it rampant grafts and corruption in the government is vital for the progress of our country. This is really the root of many problems not only in the Philippines but in all the governments in the world.

Even with all the flowery words the President has said on his SONA on a speech delivered with oratorical brilliance. Many of its contents are not really are what is the real state of our nation not even the plans for the future are lacking in relevance to the plight of the youth today. The SONA lacks many points on what really are the needs of the country and its people.

Part 3: Analysis and Application

Looking on the recent SONA and how it lacks many points on the programs that should have benefited a lot of people not just a privileged few. Many sectors of society are not included particularly the youth. Many of the points stated seemed to be hogwash and not reflecting the real interest of the Filipino people.

Looking at it in a sociological way would make things clearer on how and why the SONA turned out this way. One way of looking at this by using the Sociological Imagination in which finding the relation between history and biography of a certain phenomenon can help in further understanding it (Mills, 1959).

To look at the history of the previous administrations and its programs concerning the youth and the educational system, in which are closely related to each other. These administrations seemed to have neglected the educational system. Figures stated that even though the Department of Education takes the biggest piece in the government budget it still too little compared to other countries if the percentage of GNP or Gross National Product is concerned. The government only uses 3% of its GNP for the Education Department compared to the ideal 6% which was used by many countries in the world. It would mean that the government has not been able to put its priorities right due to other problems such as debt servicing and poor financial management.

Looking at the biography of the President who came from a very affluent family that has been in the politics in the recent decades and producing national icons that are beloved by the people. The President has to bear the brunt of the peoples expectations because his parents are national icons and even considered as pseudo heroes of today. Still looking at his experiences it seemed that he is lacking in it. He was a Congressman

and a Senator before taking his sit as head of the state. These are lawmaking jobs not an implementing one. His experience in administration is very little and to think that he was only forced by the people to run for office was somewhat a reason to the recent events in the country.

The ongoing rift between the government and the people especially the youth has really ravaged the country as of today. Using the conflict theory in which is basically a conflict of the different social classes that arises from the difference of interests between them (Amanto ). This could explain on why the government has been neglecting the people since it has developed a different goal in which it has been pursuing as the powers they held are still theirs. Looking on the majority of those in the government being from a family of landowners there are still many programs that have not been performed like the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform in which it was still not fully implemented since the interest of the landowners and the land tenants differ. It is the same with education since many of the ones in government ted to have different interests than the youth many are still not getting what they truly need.

These sociological theories and many others will help in further understanding the certain phenomena that are hounding this country. It could help answer the questions on many things and even provide solutions to problems.

Part 4: Recommendations

As the many problems concerning the education of the youth and how they are turning into problems of the society is caused by the poor prioritizing of the government on this sector. A solution can only be met if the government started to put their investments on education since no one can argue on how really important education is. The

government should be able to curb the prevalent graft and corruption to have what was said to be overly limited funds to go to their rightful place.

The country can only go forward if its youth is going forward also. From the words of Rizal saying that the youth is the hope of the nation only the youth can help this country in its progress. But in order for the youth to perform their rightful duty to this country they must educated and that is always and has been the governments duty.

Works Cited Amanto , M. (n.d.). Retrieved August 22, 2011, from Conflict Theory.com: http://conflicttheory.com/ Borkar, R. (2010, February 4). Articles: Buzzle.com. Retrieved August 22, 2011, from Buzzle.com: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/importance-of-education.html De Leon, H. C. (2008). Textbook on the Philippine Constitution. Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc. Mills, C. W. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. London: Oxford University Press. Monsod, S. C. (Host). (2011). Walang Pasaway Kay Mareng Winnie [TV Show]. National Statistics Office. (2000). Youth Population Projection. National Statistics Office. (2011). Gender Factsheet. Oak, M. (n.d.). Articles: Buzzle.com. Retrieved August 22, 2011, from Buzzle.com: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/importance-of-education-to-youths.html Social Weather Stations. (1996). The Situation of Filipino Youth: A National Survey. United Nations General Assembly. (1966). International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.