Tomorrow is another important day for GMA's administration with her State of the Nation Address (SONA).  Obviously, GMA will discuss economic gains and the initial results of the economic reforms her administration implemented.  Most likely, she will also talk about her continuing economic plans for this country, reiterate her call for Charter Change, and other plans that in her view would improve the lot of the majority of the people.

Like in most administrations, she will probably paint a bright and rosy picture for this country's future—granted that the people will work with her to achieve economic progress and put an end to all this political instability.  While the opposition and other groups critical of GMA will stage protests and rallies to denounce the SONA, I am one of those who happens to believe that it is but right to inject hope in the SONA.  People have to have hope, and what they hope to see this country could be.

We all know the lingering problems of this country, perhaps as far back as 50 years ago.  We have progressed very slowly, not fast enough to cope with the growing population.  We are always on the brink of being a developed country, but in reality, staying on the fringes as a Third World nation and economy.

At the risk of sounding repetitious, it all boils down to first, this nation and its people being divided.  There are Ilocanos, Tagalogs, Kapampangans, Visayans and other regional groupings, but never really collectively as Filipino.  Even today, there are so many groups and names like One Voice, Voice One, Stop ChaCha, Sigaw, Black and White Movement, Red and Yellow Coalition, and even some nasty text messages like the "LB Movement," all of them singing different tunes and pushing different ideas and different agendas.

Transparency International says corruption continues to be one of the main factors dragging the country down, painting the Philippines negatively before foreign investors.  Add to this the problem of rapid population growth.  Even the "men in robes" know that there are simply too many people, majority of them poor, and the government could not address the problem of overpopulation by itself.

This is compounded by lack of education, leading to a vicious cycle that breeds even more poverty, which remains the biggest issue.  Yet our men in white robes continue to meddle, soundly rebuffing efforts that would help manage the country's alarming population growth.  The operative word is manage, not control—it simply means slow it down.  Our professionals are leaving for more lucrative pay abroad, and we can't really blame them because there is no alternative the government could offer at this time.

The sad part is this country is blessed with abundant natural resources that could pull this country out of this situation.  As a matter of fact, one of our friends, Tony Garcia, took his six children (some of whom were visiting from the United States) around the Philippines for the first time.  Tony usually gets smitten by the beauty of people and other places abroad, but after his trip to Palawan, Cebu, Bohol and other parts of the country, he was overwhelmed by the beauty of this country and the richness of its resources.  He could not believe with his own eyes, and was raving about this to me the other day, just to give you an indication of what this country can offer, not only in terms of beauty, but in resources as well.

Deep inside, we all know what the problem really is—it's us.  We probably have to look at ourselves as the main problem.  When we see things in a negative light, it affects our perception and leads us to focus on the wrong things.  So we blame the system, we blame other people, we blame everyone else but in reality, the fault is in all of us.  Collectively, we're all to blame for allowing things to be the way they are today.  The bottom line is, we remain divided, and this has been one of our biggest stumbling blocks.  While this division continues, this country will remain stagnant.

True, life is indeed harder nowadays, and the prices of basic commodities continue to go up beyond the reach of many.  Disasters and typhoons have been plaguing the country, with many areas in the countryside declared under a state of calamity.  But GMA cannot solve all these problems by herself, and it doesn't help any that we have a political opposition that seems obsessed with a singular objective: to kick GMA out of Malacañang.

As a matter of fact, a member of a foreign chamber summed it all up: "Many Filipinos have become masochists because most of the problems of the Philippines are self-inflicted," he said.  Other countries like Lebanon—a beautiful country whose capital of Beirut was once dubbed the "Paris of the Middle East"—has been strife-torn for decades, but this is because that nation is caught in the complicated crossfire between Israel and the Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah.

In contrast, the problems of our country are mostly self-inflicted.  What's happening in Lebanon right now should also wake us up to the realization that this nation is not strong enough to withstand the impact if the war between Israel and the Hezbollah is prolonged.  The situation in the Middle East, the North Korea issue, acts of terrorism and all these other things will inevitably have their effect on us.

When China sneezes, the Philippines will most likely catch a cold, to paraphrase the expression.  The true state of our nation is that we are not economically strong enough to withstand the consequences of any disturbance outside our borders beyond our control.  This is how precarious our situation is.

We are 90 percent dependent on oil, and the situation in Lebanon bodes ill, not just for us, but for the rest of oil guzzling countries.  But instead of concentrating on solutions and working on our resources to lessen this dependence and harnessing and legislating alternative energy sources like bio-diesel or ethanol, we spend a lot of time finding fault in everything and everyone.

The same is true for our OFWs.  We are so dependent on them and their dollar remittances that a Lebanon situation creates even more problems.  We lack the logistics to bring them home to safety, and if they do come home, there are no ready jobs waiting for them.  At the end of the day, it all boils down to the political bickering and finger pointing.  We simply can't afford to continue along this path.

Ideally, all must work to keep the economy going, to give the country an investor-friendly atmosphere creating more jobs, utilize our resources and make this country strong enough to withstand negative consequences that external forces or situations could bring about.  As of now, oil prices have already reached record high proportions.  Certainly, we can all agree to pray that the Lebanon conflict will end soon enough.

Clearly, protecting the economy must be the priority.  If we have an economy that is stable, democratic institutions are strong, the government has the resources, majority of the people do not have a hand-to-mouth existence and things are moving well, then we can have an impeachment everyday if legislators wish to do so, and they can even conduct hearings everyday—365 days of the year if they want—from fertilizer scams to horse manure.  But the reality is, the population is growing by leaps and bounds, there are more people to feed every single day, more jobs must be created, and more money for education must be allocated.  We simply do not have the luxury of time and continue to be divided.  That—in my view—is the state of our nation.

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