MANILA, Philippines - Despite painting a picture of the bankrupt government he inherited, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) galvanized public opinion into a wave of optimism for some 20,000 Filipinos who monitored his speech online on Monday.

A total of 23,147 participated in abs-cbnnews.com’s 12-hour live chat for the SONA. Most of them were upbeat and hopeful all throughout the chat’s 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. session, cheering Aquino online as he delivered his SONA by 4 p.m., and leaving expressions of support hours after the speech ended. 

The chat was accompanied by the live streaming of the day-long SONA coverage of ANC, and the special coverage “Boses ng Bayan: Ang Unang SONA ni Pangulong Aquino” of ABS-CBN. This allowed people to watch through their computers the ANC and ABS-CBN coverages while they participated in the chat session.

By the time Aquino stood behind the podium to address the joint Congress, there were at least 5,000 people in the chat facility, many of them commenting or throwing questions for the entire chatting community as Aquino spoke.

OFWs not mentioned in SONA

The participants were from various areas in the Philippines, at times announcing in the chat what kind of weather they were having in their respective places. There were also Filipinos overseas, some from the Middle East and the US, who noted that Aquino failed to mention overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in his speech. 

Venerable Cabingan, for instance, asked, “Bakit di nabanggit ang mga OFW sa SONA ni Noy (Why weren’t OFWs mentioned in the President’s SONA)?”

A chat participant, who identified himself as Novie of Riyadh, and replying to another,  said, “@Robert… Tama ka, ang sarap mangarap, lalo na sa mga OFW… Sarap umuwi at diyan na lang mag-work (@Robert, you are right, it’s good to dream, especially for OFWs. It’s nice to go home and work there).”

Belief in P. Noy's sincerity

But in a distinct display of hope for what lies ahead for the country, the same set of Filipinos living or working overseas said they now want to go home. There were several of these comments as Aquino delivered his 36-minute speech.

“As a Fil-Am  (who) could no longer vote for a Philippine president, I was so impressed with President Noy Aquino's SONA. This was the very first time I had watched a SONA from the West Coast where I am at,” said one chat participant.

Many also wrote expressions of support for Aquino in the chat, saying they believed his sincerity and his resolve to pursue cases against corrupt government officials, and to change what has long been perceived as the incurable penchant for lavish lifestyle of those in power.

On the other hand, many also reminded their fellow participants that Aquino would not be able to change the situation of the Philippines alone, and that the people should be helping him and the government.

Many also criticized leftists and activists, and said these people should try to help Aquino and give him a chance to work on his program, instead of immediately criticizing him.

Aquino wins in 'WARS'

The support for Aquino was reflected in the result of the online polls conducted alongside the Wireless Audience Response System (WARS), a one-click survey system for small groups used by ABS-CBN to gauge public reaction to Aquino’s first SONA.

WARS was used in the Harapan 2010 election debates to allow the public a sample of the perception over debating candidates. 

The WARS and online polls’ results were similar.

Voters in the online polls said they believed Aquino’s administration could curb bribery and lavish spending for government projects, and hold accountable the previous administration over anomalies.

They also said they believed jobs could be generated if industries and businesses were allowed to flourish under a clean government.