Arroyo to clarify issues, present accomplishments in SONA

MANILA - President Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday will try to clarify many political issues and highlight the accomplishments of her 8-year term, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Wednesday.

The President has been rehearsing for her address at the Amorita Resort in Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol.

Remonde said the President, in her speech, will try to clarify numerous political issues surrounding her.

"The SONA will clarify a lot of interesting issues," he told reporters.

Remonde also said the President will discuss political reforms, saying it will complement her planned economic reforms. However, he did not say if it would include a push for Charter change, or if she would bare her political ambitions.

He added that it is enough for now to know that the address would tackle the accomplishments of the Arroyo administration.

Mrs. Arroyo also postponed a planned interview with members of the media on Wednesday.

The President has been rehearsing her speech while at the 5-star resort.

On Tuesday, she reportedly practiced her speech until 5 a.m. the next day (Wednesday) at one of the function rooms at the resort, surrounded by some members of her Cabinet.

Army battalion for SONA

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Wednesday said it has dedicated a battalion of troops trained in quelling civil disturbances for the SONA on Monday at the Batasan complex.

“We have some CDM (civil disturbance management) units which we will station at the Batasan (complex). We’ll have one battalion of CDM at the Batasan,” AFP chief Gen. Victor Ibrado said in an ambush interview in Camp Aguinaldo.

Ibrado said the deployment will be supervised by the military’s National Capital Region Command (NCRCOM) under Maj. Gen. Jogy Leo Fojas but said the Philippine National Police will have the primary responsibility of securing the President’s address.

The NCRCOM had actually started making preparations for the SONA three weeks ago, when Fojas checked on the troops' readiness for any eventuality that may arise.

“No report of disruption”

When asked if the military has monitored any report of disturbances being hatched by certain groups for the SONA, Ibrado said: “We have not monitored or received any report or any plan by anyone to disrupt the SONA.”

Ibrado said that what they are expecting is the conduct of demonstrations, which is actually traditional for anti-government groups. “We only have reports of rallies that will be conducted by different cause-oriented organizations,” he said.

On the possibility of a destabilization move being launched in time for the SONA, the AFP chief said: “We have not monitored any destabilization plan by anyone.”

Reports of destabilization moves have surfaced before the President’s SONAs in the past. A few years ago, security forces arrested several junior AFP officers allegedly of the mutinous Magdalo group near the Batasan complex for allegedly plotting to sabotage the event. With a report from Nadia Trinidad, ABS-CBN News, in Bohol