Monday, July 27, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will deliver her ninth and last State of the Nation Address (SONA) today, capping a nine-year term marked by scandals and unrest but also by reforms and economic gains.

Her speech — to be delivered to close to 2,000 people at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City — will deal with issues such as education, national security, the economy, and infrastructure.

Security has been tightened in the metropolis, and authorities have taken the added action of cancelling classes at all levels given the expected protests.

Schooling was stressed at a meeting with education officials yesterday, where Mrs. Arroyo said “Nothing is more sacred or more valuable to enhancing the dignity of every Filipino than a good education. No issue is more important to me…”

Matters such as the economy and peace and order, meanwhile, “will be part of my SONA … all have been crucial to my priorities as president,” she said.

Mrs. Arroyo’ final address to Congress comes amid allegations that she wants to hold on to power beyond 2010. Palace officials declined to say if the issue would be tackled in the speech.

The SONA will instead delve on the President’s achievements and legacy, Press Secretary Cerge M. Remonde said.

Catapulted to power through the “People Power 2” uprising in 2001 that unseated President Joseph E. Estrada, Mrs. Arroyo’s term has been rocked by numerous scandals, ranging from allegations of poll cheating and massive corruption.

Military and civil unrest have also marked her administration, among them the 2003 Oakwood mutiny — one of its leaders, Lt. Sg. Antonio Trillanes IV, is now a senator — and the so-called People Power 3 in 2001.

The Arroyo administration, on the other hand, can also lay claim to growing the economy — 2007’s 7.3% was a three-decade high — and fiscal reforms that have kept the country afloat.

Amid all the controversies, Mrs. Arroyo can be considered a “survivor,” political analyst and Institute for Political and Electoral Reform executive director Ramon C. Casiple said.

“Her presidency was all about political survival. She can tell us she survived those nine years, and we can say the same but this is not good. We are worse [off] than before she stepped in,” he claimed.

Filipinos, said Mr. Casiple, should be concerned about what is left out in her SONA, particularly the issues of poll cheating, extrajudicial killings, and corruption.

“But we can’t expect her to face these issues. Will she say sorry to us? No, of course not. She will talk about her accomplishments,” Mr. Casiple said.

The President is expected to deliver a 40-minute speech, Mr. Remonde said. The president, he added, is “really putting much attention [to her SONA]. It’s fair to say, indeed, more effort has been spent on this one.”