The content of the SONA speech is usually developed from inputs of the departments thru the Cabinet secretaries and staff, from other line agencies, and from the economic, security, and political consultants, etc. It is then cobbled together by the Executive Secretary and given to the chosen speechwriter. The speechwriter, if he/she is a professional, or is experienced enough, will then sit down with his/her principal to — as it were — “acquire” his frame of mind and general tone.
What is the general tone of PDu30 throughout his presidency?
To appear strong.
To appear strong even when weakened.
To appear strong even when he is resigned to the reality of deaths by a pandemic he cannot figure out.
Alas, the appearance of being strong is borne costliest
by those he has chosen to be his casualties
in the campaign to consolidate
his power
in the twilight of his SONA.
In this regard, it seems that finally, PDu30 has found a speechwriter that he thinks
is good enough for him …
such that his ad libs and meandering
still flowed closely to the theme,
or the tone,
of his SONA speech and his presidency,
such that the expletives were reduced to a minimum of five or so :
And the less ad libs, the less expletives –
in this regard,
the speechwriter has succeeded.
And what is the theme or general tone again? That he can give anyone a good beating even when the world has been whipped.
He finally found a speechwriter who has figured him out
even as they could not figure themselves out
of this plague
that had whipped everyone
and everything in its path,
whether appearing strong
or in reality
weathered out.
Just based on a content-analysis of the speech (and i don’t have a first-hand source of the identity), the straightforwardness and no-rhetoric writing style,
and by comparing the language with the published work of the person,
the speechwriter seems to be a former journalist intellectually capable of providing the President the ideological frame necessary
amid the disarray of his thoughts and the method of his work.
This is probably a speechwriter he will keep until the end of his term or the end of these days
whichever comes first
where he needs to face uncertainty
with an appearance that he is not finite
and not uncertain.
In their best of paradigmatic minds,
the best that they could offer the nation
is to wait for the vaccine …
as along the way
they and their cohorts find a way
to perpetuate themselves
or their successors
in power.
But when and how — he says December or January — but he doesn’t know that, no one knows that for sure.
Because
of the strong leaders
the strongest is one who,
when faced with uncertainty,
is able to unite
all of the people
on a definite resolve
that we will not just appear to be strong
when in fact we are just waiting ,
that we will prevail
even when the odds
are still gaining.
We may not be able to figure ourselves out
of the virused haze,
nor win decisively
the race
against the thousands of dying,
but we can buy ourselves time
and
we can buy our people time
by mitigating the number of deaths
and by alleviating the suffering
of the many who are barely surviving.
This, by building the capacity of hospitals and health care workers,
by rebuilding the economy,
by caring for an ailing country;
this —
not by appearing to be strong when in fact unknowing –
but by accepting uncertainty without defeat,
and by navigating
March 8 at 5pm: For all classes of marichulambino : Our Protocols for the handling of our classes in view of the anticipated presidential Declaration of a Public Health Emergency tomorrow Monday March 9, 2020 For all my students:
Our Protocols in view of the anticipated presidential Declaration of a Public Health Emergency tomorrow Monday March 9, 2020 under Republic Act 11332 : A.Our CODE COLORLESS for all class meetings (for our classes only) : 1.Class members who have even the slightest fever are excused from attending any of the classes of undersigned handling faculty; are excused from the requirements for that day; and are advised to stay home or get a check-up from a hospital near their house: When the class member is well, a medical certificate or a certificate from parent with a selfie may be presented. 2.Class members who may feel that their temperature needs to be checked may get assistance from the admin staff of the Dean’s office. The Dean has purchased a digital non-contact IR thermometer which is now being operated by our building administrator Ani. In case you suddenly feel “weak” or debilitated or your temperature is off, you may go home: If you are not sure, you may proceed to Building Administrator Ani and state that you need to check your temperature, then show the protocols instituted by our class. If you find out you have a fever, take a selfie of the digital thermometer with you: This may be presented later as the excuse slip (see protocol for class members with fever). 3.We will maintain our seating arrangement where the chairs are arranged circularly at the perimeter of the classroom : Class members’ faces and mouths are facing a wide empty space of the classroom where the lecture or class presentation is made rather than the back and side of their classmates. 4.Class members are required to bring their own handkerchief / clean tissues and alcohol or hand sanitizer and to disinfect their hands and arms before and after classes. 5.Only class members who do not have a cold / sore throat / triggered allergic rhinitis are allowed to handle the coffee machine to make the class coffee (please use the hand sanitizer in the bag of coffee supplies). 6.Observe proper etiquette in coughing and sneezing (use the inside crook of your elbow). Foot bumps or outer elbow bumps will now replace handshakes and hugs and kisses between acquaintances. 7.sss: Stay smart and Safe. -marichu B.Our CODE PASTEL for our classes only : #walangpasok or lockdown of U.P. Diliman: In case of #walangpasok or a lockdown of U.P. Diliman (no classes) 1.We will activate our electronic live video classroom learning or telecom-live-video-classroom: Class members are advised to stay away from the campus but during our class hours must be “present” in front of their internet-capable devices and required to log on at the start of the class hours. Class members who do not respond when the roll is electronically “called” by being live-video-present will be marked as absent. Class presentations, lectures, and recitation will be accomplished by group-video-live visible to all class members but not necessarily made public. (for this purpose, please state at the end of your answers in this week’s exercises, your preferred platform (check one or state one) . The electronic live video classroom learning will be prepared this week as a contingency in case of a lockdown so please state your preferred platform this week: a.FB Messenger video group chat Messenger b.Messenger on Twitter video group chat c.Gmail group video chat d.Instagram group video chat e.Snapchat group chat f.Others 2.In case of a lockdown or #walangpasok #noclasses, the class will electronically seek permission from University authorities for us to conduct our electronic live video classroom learning system (since undersigned handling faculty has not been informed of any protocols at this time) and for the hours devoted to such electronic live video classroom learning system to be CREDITED IN FAVOR OF THE STUDENT as part of the traditional residential classes, and all points earned by the students to be credited. Class members checking or selecting their preferred platform are automatically authorizing the handling faculty to seek permission on behalf of the class. 3.During the lockdown or #walangpasok, class members are required to check their emails and the U.P. Diliman twitter site twice a day to monitor any updates on the lockdown. 4.When the lockdown is lifted, traditional residential classes resume with our Code Colorless reinstated. C.Our CODE YELLOW FLAG: Extreme situation where a forced quarantine is enforced by the Department of Health authorized by the national government in a particular college or particular area or the entire Diliman campus: i don’t know yet. i’m pretty sure it has been discussed by the University executive staff and protocols have been written down. Protocols can be instituted by the University for the University community on its own or unilaterally; or, if coordination is deemed better, through a letter to the DOH (which is now given wide latitude once the Declaration of a Public Health Emergency is signed) or through a MOA between U.P. Diliman and the DOH: Any one of these or all three. D.All protocols written here shall be deemed superseded by any protocols enforced by the U.P. Diliman administration. Class members are advised to stand by for these protocols. In the extreme scenario of a quarantine (e.g., a person passing through the open campus is found positive) undersigned is not authorized to institute protocols for the class in case of this extreme scenario.
One thing is sure: The brightest scientists are working round-the-clock to culture a vaccine against Covid-19 and … pretty soon, the last two sets of protocols (lockdown… forced quarantine) will be simply stored in our disks and files 😊
Live normally with proper hygiene, drink fruit juices: Stay smart and safe. -marichu
