Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's State of the Nation Address could easily be mistaken as a thief's checklist. You know, have we stolen the TV? Check. The car? Check.

I cant help but think that way as Arroyo ticked off the big ticket items she and various government officials authorized or completed last year – airports, roads, ports. Makes me wonder: How much exactly was spent on those projects? I mean, really spent on the projects and not wasted lining the government officials' pockets.

In my view, a SONA should say where the nation is at and where the president envisions the nation to be in, while outlining how to get there. She does not need to enumerate roads and ports. She does not need to single out congressmen (who probably pocketed a hefty kickback) for every damn project. Where is the country at right now? Where does Arroyo see the nation in the near future? How will we get there?

Filipinos never got the answers. Probably never will.

Aside from saying that the government will build more roads and airports – which everyone knows will eventually cost more than they should, what with kickbacks and all – and declaring that she wants the Philippines to be one of the rich nations of the world within 20 years, we never heard anything that resembled a concrete plan and vision.

We've heard these before. Platitudes about "tax reforms," "more investments in education and infrastructure," and ensuring "peace and order." Blah blah blah. Arroyo might as well have sent a recording of her previous SONA – it was practically the same, no one would notice the difference.

Moreover, there was but one mention of the controversial Human Security Act of 2007. And that passage merely mentioned that "we must resolutely apply the Human Security Act." Uh-huh. But given the suspicions of various groups that the Act is prone to abuses, that line could be construed as "Go ahead. Repress and eliminate leftist groups, the Act legalizes it." Arroyo should have been more exact, more forthcoming.

But of course, she would never be. We all know that, even before the infamous "I am sorry" speech.

Arroyo's call for Congress to pass the Cheaper Medicines Bill was just about the only passage worthy of praise. That was the only concrete proposal (not counting the public works projects mentioned) in the entire speech.

The SONA was bad enough. But when one adds the threatened deportation and blacklisting of the foreigners that participated in the demonstrations just outside Congress, it is just plain sickening. Is that threat not an indication that "our sovereign, democratic, compassionate and decent way of life," as Arroyo put it in her SONA, in danger from the government itself? Maybe I expected too much from this "president." Maybe, as the economist and as the supposed-intellectual that she is, I expected better.

For all her bluster, Arroyo displayed cowardice when she dodged the issue of the Human Security Act, corruption, leftist murders, and cheating in the previous elections – both the recent one and in her presidential election last 2004. Even if she ended her speech in a combative mode when she declared that "the presidency is as strong as it wants to be," it was a meek attempt to appear strong. Fact is, she would have projected that image best if only she tackled the issues the people expected her to, if only she dealt with the tough issues.

This administration puzzles me. Arroyo is supposed to be smart, isn't she? But for her presidency has been marked by a curious string of blunders. Appointing as COMELEC Commisioner a known dagdag-bawas (vote shaving and padding) operator prior to her reelection bid? Appearing on national TV to respond to allegations of election fraud – in a stoic manner? (And whoever understood what she was apologizing for?) Refusing to rein in a military that has repeatedly embarrassed her by abducting – or worse, murdering – her detractors? Are you kidding me? Are these acts of an intelligent president? She's practically insulting the people.

But maybe Arroyo knows Filipinos would never stand up to her. Well, so far she has been proven right – the Filipino people haven't called her bluff.

At least not yet.