PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his first State of the Nation Address with quiet aplomb.
He was prompt, arriving at the Plenary Hall at 4 p.m. on the dot and took to the podium to deliver his first-ever SONA at 4:05 p.m.
In 74 minutes, he did not issue a single threat, crack any joke, or went off script as his two most recent predecessors were known to do. Yet, he easily held the interest of his audience until he ended his speech at 5:19 pm. with a categorical pronouncement: “The state of the nation is sound.”
Marcos opted to go bilingual, speaking in effortless English to recite data-heavy economic figures but switching to his awkward Filipino to speak about food shortage, the farmers’ plight, and providing cash dole-outs to the poorest sections of the society.
In all, the President’s first SONA was applauded 86 times, highlighted by two standing ovations.
The first one had to do with a prodigious and bound-to-be-pricey promise to build major hospitals in other regions of the country similar to the Philippine Heart Center, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, and the Lung Center of the Philippines, all of which are located in Metro Manila.
The second one sounded like a warning about his administration’s stance on the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea and an apparent departure from the conciliatory attitude towards China of his immediate predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
“I will not preside over any process that will abandon even one square inch of territory of the Republic of the Philippines to any foreign power.”
Marcos showed he can do the talk.
The next six years will tell if he can walk that talk.
Senators praised Marcos’ SONA speech but some of them said there were concerns which were not mentioned.
At the House, militant lawmakers said they were disappointed that Marcos’ speech was meant for big businesses and not ordinary Filipinos.
Sen. Francis Escudero said Marcos delivered a “well-crafted speech with detailed legislative agenda but conspicuously silent on peace and order.”
“I laud his initiatives on land reform, energy, specialty hospitals, no more lockdowns, rightsizing and (creation of the) Department of Water,” Escudero also said.
Sen. Grace Poe said Marcos’ SONA was “pointed, forceful, and aggressive” especially when he made a strong stance on the territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea.
“It confronted gut issues head on such as hunger that puts at the center the continuation of the feeding program for children and boosting the agricultural sector. By vowing not to give up even a square inch of Philippine territory, he stood firm in defending our sovereignty as well as protecting the livelihood of our fishers who risk life at sea to put food on our tables,” Poe said.
Poe also lauded the President for giving priority to the digitalization of government services, realization of the Public Services Act “to entice investors and create employment opportunities,” improvement of the country’s mass transport system, and modernization of airports and seaports to attract more tourists.
Poe also welcomed the President’s order to improve the country’s water system.
“With the spotlight trained on the country’s murky water situation, our people’s wait for access to stable and clean water supply must soon be over,” she added.
Sen. Christopher Go thanked Marcos for promising to continue the programs started by Duterte, especially on the country’s healthcare system which showed its weakness at the onslaught of COVID-19.
“I am glad that he promised he will make life comfortable for every Filipino especially the poor. It is important that no one will be left behind in our desire to return to our normal lives,” he said in Filipino.
Go also lauded the President for giving recognition to the newly-created Department of Migrant Workers which was passed by Congress and signed into law by the Duterte during the 18th Congress.
Sen Loren Legarda said the President’s first SONA “was comprehensive, inspiring.”
“The SONA laid out very clearly the work we have to do. Twenty legislative measures, outlining our fiscal policies, addressing our needs in health, education, infrastructure, agriculture, transport, OFWs, even climate,” she said.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the President is ready to work, based on details of his plans which he provided during the SONA.
Former Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the specialty hospitals which will be ordered duplicated nationwide “is a brilliant idea.”
‘NOT IN SYNC WITH POOR’
At the House, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas said Marcos’ speech was “clearly addressed to big businesses and corporations, not ordinary Filipinos.”
“Marcos Jr. made no mention of the scrapping of excise tax and VAT (value-added tax) on oil, no wage increase, and not even a hint at ending contractualization. Meanwhile, Public Private Partnership (PPP), a modality that will suck public funds dry, has been mentioned several times.”
She also said that while there may be “good-sounding plans and programs,” the President’s top priorities “are not in sync with what poor Filipinos need – lowering of prices of food and basic commodities, wage hike, contractualization, affordable housing, end to human rights violations and extra-judicial killings, and continuation of peace talks (with communist rebels.”
She also said
Brosas also said that while Marcos spoke about strengthening programs on violence against women and children, there were no concrete plans to support such agenda.
“Time and time again, the government only mentions women’s issues like some consolation prize – just all talk, no clear plans. What women need is a comprehensive plan that will address the sector’s basic issues like lack of jobs and livelihood and state-perpetrated violence against women,” Brosas said.
Brosas also questioned Marcos’ plans to address the country’s health crisis, “considering that there’s still no health secretary amid the rising cases of COVID-19.”
EDUCATION
Rep. France Castro of the party-list group Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said teachers were left out in the President’s first SONA as she slammed the President’s “silence on disinformation and fake news, human rights violations and impunity, and corruption especially those in which top officials including Duterte are implicated, is deafening.”
She also pointed out that the measures for safe school reopening should be followed “or we will have a disaster waiting to happen as more COVID cases are recorded.”
Castro also criticized Marcos’ push for the use of English as the medium of instruction “because, as studies have shown, we must begin teaching learners using their first language or mother tongue, if not, they are already at a disadvantage in learning their lessons.”
“We will continue to observe the new Marcos administration to see if it will fulfill its many promises and we will not back down if it push anti-people policies like the so-called rightsizing of government, mandatory ROTC and new taxes,” she said.
DATA-DRIVEN SONA
House leaders praised the President for using numbers and clear data in his SONA.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said the speech cemented the President’s role as “technocrat-in-chief.” He also said he was “very honored and elated” to see his bills mentioned as priority measures of the Executive.
Salceda is the principal author of at least 13 of the 19 measures listed by Marcos as priority measures.
Salceda, who is expected to retain his chairmanship of the committee on ways and means, vowed “begin taking up all the tax-related bills mentioned by PBBM as soon as we are constituted as a committee. We will be on our feet on Day 1.”
Fiscal management measures mentioned by President Marcos include the National Government Rightsizing Program, the Budget Modernization Bill, Package 3 of the tax reform on real property valuation and assessment, and Package 4 of tax reform on passive income and financial intermediaries.
At the beginning of his speech, Marcos also mentioned tax administration reforms such as the Digital Economy VAT Law, the Ease of Paying Taxes Act, and reforms against possible undervaluation and misdeclaration of imported goods.
Salceda said he will also be filing a Joint Resolution on the Medium Term Fiscal Program “and I believe I will probably be asked to sponsor the provisions of the resolution, as is typically my assignment in the House.”
Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto said the President delivered a “data-driven” SONA “when others before him had used words to conjure the future.”
“He (Marcos) painted it using numbers,” he said. “And that makes his SONA brave, not boring, because when you set specific targets — on growth, jobs, debt, inflation — then you set up the goals by which your administration will be measured.” — With Raymond Africa, Wendell Vigilia and Jocelyn Montemayor
