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description=SONA The State of the Nation Address (SONA) is an annual report of the Philippine President in a joint session of Congress.  It is similar to the State of the Union Address of the US President.  It is a report on—as the name says—the state of the Philippine nation, according to the executive arm of…;

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Text of the page (random words):
year people come out in a huge mobilization throughout the philippines to counter the philippine president s sona with the people s sona 2009 effigy of gloria macapagal arroyo bagong alyansang makabayan bayan is the umbrella organization of all sectoral groups that do community work in the national democratic movement in the philippines every organization every sector prepares for this event extensively ugat lahi root of the race a national democratic group of artists work every year on a large scale effigy that will be burned at the closing of the people s sona they change the theme every year according to the issue at hand for instance this 2009 they built a tank that stood for the charter change that president arroyo was ramming through congress charter change or cha cha is a tactic presidents in the past have used to extend their terms in office here are some of the effigies in the past mobilizations during the people s sona 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 i was included in these preparations in the 2009 sona i and the other two exposurists from filipinas for rights and empowerment fire in new york were going to be doing performances in the program for the people s sona we were also going to be tasked during the march to ever gotesco commonwealth a mall that lies along commonwealth avenue the road to batasan pambansa national congress we were going to be blocked by the police at this point but to make our point the contingent was going to gather at a rallying point along commonwealth avenue then march to the mall to prepare for sona we went to a solidarity lunch at the office of bayan where all foreign nationals on an exposure would be gathering to be given a briefing about sona there were 9 belgians 6 filipino americans a white american and a korean american i had been told that this was a small number of exposurists and was a clear signal of the economic crisis in the year before the exposurists approximately numbered 40 people altogether already in that solidarity lunch we heard about the actions of the state to counter our involvement the 9 belgians told a story of how they were held up in paglalakbay a long walk of two weeks from southern tagalog to the capital by the peasant farmers to protest sona military personnel had asked to see their names and wanted to take them into custody they had to stay inside their jeep for 3 hours while the negotiator of the action spoke to the military refusing to allow the military custody of the belgian exposurists an article was even written in a major philippine newspaper of how the belgians were being deported for supposedly engaging in prohibited political activity ramos august 09 2009 we were told by nato the secretary general of bayan that for folks who could not blend in meaning our white allies they had to claim that they were foreign observers they could not participate in the chanting or in the program of the people s sona but they could march along the contingents that hosted their exposure the march itself was punishing the heat of the day was incredible one could feel the heat coming off the concrete and pictures taken off the day show a bleached kind of light people have been known to faint in the march so we were advised to bring hats and water it was an incredible experience everyone really turned out for the day because in our march we were occupying one whole side of the highway it was four car lanes of people in one long snake like line for gabriela we carried the very large quilt that all the women s organizations made the gabriela quilt there was a lot of coordination needed to carry the quilt because the end had been raised on stilts the people carrying the last part of the quilt could not see the march stopping or going so my task was to stand beside the people carrying the end of the quilt and telling them when to stop and go cris one of the other exposurist was assigned as a media person she would be giving interviews to media who requested for such jackie was assigned to document the march we were all partnered with staff from the central office but we had other tasks during sona we were also performing as representatives of gabriela usa the program of sona included progressive rock bands artist s groups and speakers from different sectors there were elected officials mostly partylist 1 representatives who came and spoke at the mobilization as well the organizations this year also agreed to do an action based on president arroyo s sona they would play clips on her report of the nation s conditions and the people would hold up placards of liar a speaker would come up and then dispute the president s figures in job employment the gdp quality of life improvements in the country etc then to break up the monotony of speeches there were progressive rock bands and artist groups that would perform in one set of a popular band that had already achieved main stream success a mosh pit formed in front of the stage and it had already started to rain so hard soaking us through our umbrellas and raincoats that people started dancing finally at the close of the program we burned the effigy it was the longest burning effigy for 30 minutes the people would light it up and then the flames would die with the damp paper mâché during the whole time a band was playing continuously and the vocalist would be screaming sunog or burn people were screaming alongside him newspaper journalists would comment that it seemed fitting it took so long for the effigy to burn gloria macapagal arroyo has also had the longest term since ferdinand marcos the infamous dictator during the 1970 s organizers would joke just as she refused to let go of the power so did she refuse to burn on the other side of island along commonwealth avenue during the whole program there were lines of police in riot gear with helmets shields and sticks behind our stage the road had been blocked off with a line of trucks huge concrete barricades and barbed wire one of the other exposurist jackie said that it felt like a pagan ritual i agreed thinking that this was probably the most cathartic way for the people to express all their anger that is without getting into a tussle with the police that were on the other side of the highway and the barricades strategies and tactics kahn 1991 and brown 2006 both agree that strategy is the overall plan or path it defines the direction of the work and guides the actions of the organization kahn 1991 adds that tactics would be the specific things that we do to help us get there petitions picket lines marches demonstrations hearings publicity and pressure campaigns 137 brown 2006 lists the following as strategies service advocacy mobilizing community development and electoral politics service is the provision of programs or direct assistance to the community it provides immediate relief but is not a long term solution advocacy involves trained individuals to speak on behalf of the population mobilizing is bringing people together for an action such as a rally or a march as a subset to mobilizing i would add coalition building to this list rosenthal and mizrahi 2004 have conceptualized coalition building in a way that makes it a strategy they emphasize its utility in today s current conditions of conservatism and competition for resources bringing organizations together is a way to integrate services share resources build capacity and increase political power community development is the institutional change attempted to address inequities such as job creation affordable housing and programs that redistribute resources to oppressed populations lastly electoral politics is focused on a candidate running for office to influence decisions in the government brown points out that this strategy is difficult in as it involves people only in the campaign there is no strong ongoing political organization that would provide a machinery to plug in people these are quite specific examples of strategy that at the same time encompass the different levels of community practice however i would argue that this is not enough in thinking about overall plans that shape the direction of the work and the steps needed to get there we are simply paying attention to the external work of an organization this is not a bad thing every organization needs strategy and tactics to be able to measure your work and make sure that you are not wasting effort and resources this is to make sure that all your input is moving you forward but i would say that an organization needs to build itself in an article that asked if community based organizations should prioritize building coalitions rather than building their own membership rosenthal and mizrahi 1994 argue for prioritizing building coalitions however they admit that coalitions are most effective when comprised of organizations that have achieved enough maturity and internal development 21 sen 2003 supports this point even local organizing is more likely to make a positive long term contribution if it addresses ideological questions while building a strong and active base among the people 1 from the things that i have observed in the organizing of the national democratic movement in the philippines it is in fact more important to make sure that there is a solid base within the organization and among organizers strategy and tactics cannot only be regarding the political work of an organization defined as the actions and plan to move the political agenda of an organization strategy and tactics should definitely include the organizational development of the group defined as the development of relationships among mass members and organizers and the expansion of the group it is critical as sen writes that ideological questions be addressed this paper then is not only about strategies and tactics but about method and practice praxis as freire 2007 would call it if there is one thing i have learned in this exposure it is that there is always something greater than myself than my one group and that we are submerged in this larger system so examining strategies and tactics is not enough it is actually the praxis of the national democratic movement that bears closer examination which still includes political strategy and tactics praxis reflection freire 2007 defines praxis as reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it 51 this accurately describes the methodology of the organizers i observed and worked with in the philippines reflection and action are important components that must exist within your work as an organizer to give a concrete example in all levels of organization from local mass based groups of 20 people to the very large umbrella organizations composing of hundreds of organizations with chapters overseas the structure always includes a general assembly or congress to decide on election of officers give assessments of the work and plan for the next period once unities 2 are reached on what the general plan of action is for the next period be it three years or six months officers will take up the coordination of the tasks or the steps as set out in the planning of the group in october 2009 filipinas for rights and empowerment fire of new york sent out three delegates to attend the gabriela congress a gathering of all the chapters and regions of the umbrella organization this was where assessments and plan of action was laid out each chapter would report on their achievements and shortcomings see video of fire s assessement after congress the delegates came home to new york and reported on what were the general trends in the organization and in particular what are the things that fire would need to focus on improving one criticism is that our mass members did not reflect the most oppressed in our area we were an organization composed of students and professionals whose class background were of middle class organizers in gabriela asked us to step up our local work with filipina domestic workers in new york or connecting with filipina mothers and their children the assessment along with the affirmations and criticisms that come with it is the reflection component of the work but while there is a time set aside for reflection it does not mean that there is no critical reflection taking place while action is being carried out on the contrary both are happening simultaneously and must also be the fruit of each so that reflection leads to action and the consequences of action become the objects of reflection freire 2007 66 what is unique in this movement as i am slowly finding out is that the reflection component of asking for assessment and accountability must also be done for individual members especially organizers i mentioned earlier that organizational development includes interpersonal relationships among the members of the organization in the long haul for social change and justice one of the most damaging aspects to organizing is conflict resolution and management assessments for accountability should be held regularly members reflect on their shortcomings being objectively self critical about the work that they do the process of self criticism allows an individual member to recognize his or her faults and weaknesses in front of the collective to improve the work and move forward then the individual member receives criticism from his or her collective this allows members to process areas that need improvement with this procedure one can be the first to recognize one s weaknesses avoiding the tension in being called out however this is not a space to get justice or unload emotions on a fellow organizer this is primarily is seen as a way for the organizer to reflect on shortcomings in a way that he or she can use the information to improve on the political work as it pertains to the collective there are guiding principles to the process start with unity we are all in this together recognize the person s contributions learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones we all make mistakes we should use them to improve and rely on others to point them out keep the end in mind although painful it is necessary to our growth criticize the action not the person avoid personal attacks when people make mistakes it does not make them bad people be specific it does not persuade a person to change his mind if he does not know what he is doing wrong be timely it takes longer to address shortcomings once they have built up be principled criticisms should be about a how someone does something b if the person does not do what was agreed upon c if the person did something outside of our recognized principles be self critical no one is perfect and above self examination be humble this process does not need boastful or arrogant behavior or thinking that one has done everything right and cannot be criticized do it in this order unity criticism unity this process is to achieve higher unity we criticize ourselves so that we can improve the work and mo...