Malacañang mum on P-noy’s SONA

Malacañang will not give details on what President Aquino would report to the country during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) next month, saying it is still a work in progress.

“Let’s take the President’s word first... The President has given out his thoughts, those are preliminary thoughts. It’s been reduced to writing,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told a press briefing yesterday.

Lacierda refused to say if the President would mention former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo or ousted officials like former ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and ex-chief justice Renato Corona in his SONA.

“The President will go through it again and it will be further refined by the President. And the President has already stated his vision or his idea of his SONA,” Lacierda said.

In his message approving the country’s investment priorities plan for this year, the President cited the economy’s continuous growth “at a dynamic pace” despite global uncertainties, significant increase in credit ratings and confidence levels in the leading development indices.

“Simultaneous with these ratings upgrade, our Board of Investments posted unprecedented investment approvals of over P368 billion just last year,” the President said.

“These promising reports give me confidence that our policy interventions and structural reforms are taking root, and my administration remains committed to sustaining this momentum of progress and moving toward becoming a model of stability and prosperity in the region,” Aquino said.

Gov’t accelerates spending Meanwhile, the Department of Budget and Management announced yesterday that national departments and agencies disbursed a total of P668.4 billion from January to May this year, or 13.1 percent higher year-on-year.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said disbursements in May alone reached P151.3 billion or 16.7 percent higher than in the same month of last year, the highest disbursement level and fastest year-on-year growth so far compared to the previous months of the current year.

Abad said non-interest expenses, which grew by 13.6 percent to P537.44 billion, drove the increase in disbursements during the five-month period.