MALACANANG yesterday ordered the immediate suspension of all preparations related to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28 following reports that some government workers continue to put up materials in public areas while a number of communities are battling heavy flooding.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is in the United States on an official visit, was dismayed after learning of the reports.
“Let me be clear: All SONA-related preparations are hereby ordered immediately suspended. The Department of Public Works and Highways, along with all concerned agencies, must put full attention and exclusive focus on flood response and relief operations,” Bersamin said in a statement.
“The President’s directive is to focus all efforts on ensuring the safety and welfare of the Filipino people, especially during times of crisis. All government agencies are expected to act accordingly,” he added.
Social media reports and photos show individuals putting up posters and tarpaulins about the President’s fourth SONA in several areas even at the height of heavy rains and floods in Metro Manila.
The President, in a video message released on Monday night in Manila, said he had issued several instructions and ensured that contingencies were in place even before he left for the US last Sunday.
Marcos urged the public to follow the advice of national and local government units to ensure their safety.
Meanwhile, Rep. Eli San Fernando (PL, Kamanggagawa) slammed the administration and the DPWH for their “continued failure to prevent widespread flooding, despite hundreds of billions of pesos allocated over the years for flood control projects.”
San Fernando challenged Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan to explain where the billions of funds annually allocated for floor control programs went, saying nothing has improved from the previous years. He vowed to push for a comprehensive audit of all flood control funds in the last 10 years.
“This happens yearly. It rains, it floods, people will wade through flood waters and the government will say, ‘We’re doing our best.’ If billions were released for flood control, why can’t we control floods? Sec. Bonoan, where did the DPWH use the billions of funds?” he said in Filipino.
Rep. Renee Co (PL, Kabataan) said it is “infuriating” to see children wading through flood waters to go to school and seek food in relief operations while “Malacañang is busier with forcing workers to set up SONA posters in the pouring rain.”
She vowed to scrutinize the proposed budget for flood control programs.
Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday said flood water should be siphoned off and delivered to Malacañang as “drinking water” of the Executive.
The second highest elected official of the country made the comment as she lambasted the government for blaming the Duterte administration for the massive flooding in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.
“Ipunin po nating lahat tapos i-deliver natin sa Malacañang para may mainom siya, para meron silang mainom doon (We should collect all flood water and deliver it to Malacañang so he (Marcos) will have drinking water, so they’ll have drinking water there),” she said in the Netherlands where she is visiting her detained father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) earlier attributed the worsening floods in Metro Manila to the Duterte administration’s Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach project on Roxas Boulevard, which it said blocked three major drainage outfalls, Faura, Remedios, and Estero de San Antonio Abad.
The Vice President accused the administration of “political scapegoating,” saying it is using her father to deflect the criticisms that it has been drawing for its alleged failures.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces said 2,500 soldiers will be deployed to help secure the SONA, in coordination with the PNP.
AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said the soldiers will be deployed not only in Metro Manila but “all over the Philippines.”
PNP chief Gen. Nicanor Torre III earlier said 12,000 policemen will be securing the SONA. – With Wendell Vigilia and Victor Reyes
