Tag: SONA 2015
Aquino’s UST flood plan ‘a waste of money’
August 01, 2015, 12:09a.m. - ENVIRONMENTAL, architecture, and heritage conservation experts are defending UST after President Benigno Aquino III implied in his final State of the Nation Address (Sona) that the University was to blame for flooding in Manila.
The proposed flood “catchment area,” which the President claimed was opposed by a “big university,” would place UST’s heritage buildings in danger, and there was also no guarantee that it would work, experts told the Varsitarian.
Aquino’s last Sona:
THE THOMASIAN community could have ignored the highly intriguing reference made by President Aquino in his last State of the Nation Address (Sona) to a “big university” (“malaking unibersidad”) that had allegedly refused the plan of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to transform its campus into a catch basin for floodwaters. But trust the President’s men to make matters worse for him by making things clear, blunt, and arrogant: two days later, Malacañang spokesman Edwin Lacierda superciliously told a TV program that the big university the President alluded to “was definitely not Jesuit” and later urged UST to choose public “safety” over a “prized soccer field.”
Thomasians hit Aquino for blame game over Manila flooding
July 28, 2015, 4:08p.m. - THOMASIANS hit back at President Benigno Aquino III for alluding to UST’s opposition to a government “flood catchment” project that would have involved digging a huge tank under the UST Open Field, a National Cultural Treasure.
Aquino, in his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday at the House of Representatives, said sacrifices were needed, but a “big university” had rejected a proposal to construct a big flood drain to mitigate perennial flooding in Manila.
Aquino touts K to 12 program in final SONA
July 28, 2015, 2:03p.m. - FILIPINOS will be able to compete with the rest of the world under the K to 12 program that will add two years to basic education, President Benigno Aquino III said in his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 27 at the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City.
Aquino said the K to 12 program would boost the credentials of Filipinos applying for jobs abroad, pointing out that at present, the competence of Filipino workers abroad was being questioned. Some have in fact been demoted by their employers, he said.
Aquino: ‘Big university’ opposed Manila flood-control project
July 28, 2015, 2:03p.m. - A "big university" in Manila was among those chided by President Benigno Aquino III in his final State of the Nation Address, for blocking his public works projects.
Aquino said his government was trying to fast-track a number of infrastructure projects, and urged everyone to help by making sacrifices.
“Para matugunan ang madalas na pagbaha sa Maynila, isinulong natin ang pagpapagawa ng catchment area; pero tumutol po dito ang isang malaking unibersidad. May lumang mga gusali daw kasi silang baka maapektuhan ng gagawing proyekto,” he said, in an apparent reference to the University of Santo Tomas.
