FOUR days before the 2024 State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Marcos Jr., the Kilusang Mayo Uno slammed the reported P20 million budget for the preparations and holding of the annual event at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.
In a brief statement, KMU chairperson Elmer Labog said such a huge amount for the presidential speech is simply unacceptable and insensitive on the part of the government.
“The so-called honorable government officials are simply wallowing in luxury while the workers and the people are going poor and hungry,” said Labog.
“This is the height of insensitivity towards the plight of ordinary Filipinos by living a luxurious life in the middle of this poverty crisis,” he added.
Proof of this, he said, is the “night and day” difference in the amount of the SONA budget and the recent salary increase for Metro Manila minimum wage earners.
“The insulting P35 wage hike is mere crumbs when it comes to the lavish occasion that is the SONA,” said Labog.
He said this only means the people must let their cries be heard by the leaders gathering for the SONA.
“We must join forces in opposing this prevailing insensitivity in government,” said Labog.
Marcos will deliver his third SONA on July 22, with over 2,000 guests expected to attend.
It comes weeks after the National Capital Region wage board issued a wage order granting a P35 wage increase for minimum wage earners in the region.
PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said the police force is ready for the possible participation of supporters of former President Duterte and Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in protest actions during the SONA of President Marcos Jr. on Monday.
“We are prepared for that. They are already factored in,” Marbil told reporters in an interview at Camp Vicente Lim in Laguna, home to the Calabarzon police regional office.
Marbil said the PNP has an idea of how many protesters would join the protest actions based on the applications for rally permits.
“There are applications for permits but again I will not give you anymore (details) rest assured we are 100 percent ready for the SONA,” said Marbil, adding that some of the policemen who will secure the SONA will come from the Calabarzon police regional office.
“Remember that we are securing not only the President, not only the people from Congress who will attend. If we protect the President, if we protect Congress, we also protect democracy,” he said.
The PNP earlier said some 22,000 policemen would be deployed to ensure peace and order during the SONA.
The camp of former President Duterte has been critical of the Marcos administration. Last month, his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, resigned as education secretary and as vice chairman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
Quiboloy, the leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, is the subject of continuing manhunt operations. Courts have issued arrest warrants against him and several co-accused on charges of child abuse and human trafficking.
Marbil said no threat has been “monitored threat but we will assume there is always a threat because no one (from the PNP) should relax.”
He said he has directed PNP ground commanders to prevent the protesters from burning effigies.
PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo said the PNP has coordinated with leaders of groups planning to join the protests not to burn effigies.
“While it may be classified as freedom of expression, our freedom of expression is not absolute,” said Fajardo.
Fajardo noted that Section 13 of Batas Pambansa 880 or the Public Assembly Act of 1985 prohibits the burning of any object in the streets or thoroughfares.
Asked if the PNP is prepared to apprehend violators, Fajardo said: “Yes, we anticipate that…But we continue to appeal and we continue our coordination with sectoral groups joining the rally to avoid burning effigies.”
CAYETANO’S TAKE
In a press conference, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said the President’s third SONA would prove if the plans and visions made in past ones have been achieved.
“Whip the government into what you wanted to accomplish in your first two SONAs and make sure it gets done… So, if there’s going to be a SONA that will be heard, it’s this one, because you have 24 months to get it done,” Cayetano said.
He said President Marcos Jr., just like past presidents, would want to leave a legacy and one way of achieving that is to construct inter-connecting subway systems not just in Metro Manila.
“My point is, are we going to be happy that the last administration negotiated the subway and then just wait for it to finished by ’27, ’28, ’29?” he said, adding other subway projects in Cebu and other parts of the country should be in the drawing board now.
“Because if you don’t start that now and there is no direction during this SONA, believe me, that will not happen,” he said, adding the President should be “tough” in his speech when it comes to projects that he wants to be accomplished.
Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. said he is optimistic that Marcos will “adequately report the administration’s progress” on what it has done to address the most pressing concerns of the people.
“I am confident that President Marcos Jr. will give a comprehensive report to the people on what his administration has done for the people the past year,” Revilla said in Filipino.
He also expects the President to present measures to sustain the gains of his administration and his programs to ensure food security.
“I also would like to hear the President’s plans on how to further address inflation. But I would like to echo his words that the current inflation rate is still within the government’s target of 2-4%. While it is a genuine concern, under control pa naman ito,” he said. — With Victor Reyes and Raymond Africa
