This Made Me Laugh (Updated)

Caught Sir Butch Dalisay on ANC yesterday morning. They were interviewing him (along with Teddy Boy Locsin) regarding the State Of the Nation Address that had been scheduled for yesterday afternoon. The interviewers wanted to know what went into the writing of a S.O.N.A., as Sir Butch had helped in the drafting of the speeches of Fidel Ramos during his administration (Teddy Boy Locsin had done the same for Corazon Aquino during her time). When asked whether he had helped in the writing of yesterday's S.O.N.A., Sir Butch said:

"No, I've gone back to novel writing...it's honest fiction."

Whereupon everyone on TV started laughing.

I couldn't help but laugh myself. What Sir Butch said works on a number of levels, doesn't it?

This post serves too as a reminder for the launching of Soledad's Sister on July 31, 2008. Click here for the details.


Update: I found an online article about this, "Writing S.O.N.A. Is Like A Jigsaw Puzzle". An excerpt:

Meanwhile, amid scepticism about the truthfulness and accuracy of the SONA, Locsin clarified that the data used in SONAs are usually accurate but that these are inadequate.

“Every boring fact, and figure is a fact. Every bridge that is mentioned was there. The question, ‘If that is the truth, if I am poor, if that is the truth, how come I still feel bad? How come I’m still hungry?’ It [figure] doesn’t say it’s lying; it only says it's inadequate,” the lawmaker said.

For the congressman, the fundamental mistake in almost every SONA is that the leaders of the country reflect in their speeches the advice of foreigners on how to run the economy.

More than the facts and figures, Dalisay said that a SONA should be inspiring and sincere.

“No matter how good the speech writer is, if the audience feels they’re being had, it's not going to work,” he said.