IT is the “misfortune” of every President of the Republic to be required by the Constitution and tradition to render an annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) to the Filipino people, during which every sector of the population has its own issues and problems being pushed for discussion.
Any president will find it hard to compress over 20 topics on governance, accomplishments, plans and promises in a little more than one hour, the length of time any audience can bear without losing interest on what is being dished out.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is a bit lucky that he still commands quite a huge following and his political capital has been intact, with many Filipinos giving him more time to deliver on his campaign promises.
Now that Marcos is done with his second SONA, it is time to review and ascertain how various segments of society perceived what he said, starting with the business community. Businessmen and policy-makers had their eyes and ears glued to the presidential speech, trying not to miss any word or phrase in the 73-minute report, which is understandable.
Business leaders generally viewed the second SONA better than the first, called the speech substantive, comprehensive and without fanfare unlike those of previous presidents, giving the event a more formal character. They agreed with Marcos that the economy is sound and improving, although much has yet to be done.
‘The business community is generally comfortable with any democratic administration and these comments are expected.’
Their concern is how President Marcos would operationalize the oft-repeated government policy of Easy of Doing Business, for the Chief Executive’s tact is to “digitalize everything” to make things move faster in all offices of the government. In many of PBBM’s previous remarks, he had always touted digitalization, but exporter Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. correctly pointed out that “digitalization is a tool but not a solution.” Ortiz-Luis said “digitalization can increase transaction volume but it is not for everyone; others don’t have the equipment and training how to proceed with it. It cannot help someone improve his borrowing, for instance.”
Many were happy, including PCCI’s George Barcelon and employer Edgard Lacson, that the President is finally launching a no-nonsense campaign against smugglers, hoarders and cartels, especially those controlling the supply and prices of food. Management Association of the Philippines president Benedicta Du-Baladad noted the President’s desire to address gut issues confronting society, such as health services, the job market, and education.
Lacson is more content with the speech than others. He said it “covered all major wish lists of business, workers — domestic and OFW — and ordinary citizens.”
The Makati Business Club supported the administration’s avowed reforms in the power and water industries and its investments in infrastructure, to be maintained at 5 to 6 percent of GDP.
The business community is generally comfortable with any democratic administration and these comments are expected. The workers, peasants, students and social and political activists who held a rally outside the Batasang Pambansa during the SONA have their own complaints and ideas. For much of the Filipino nation, life goes on after the SONA, with Bongbong Marcos embarking on another trip abroad, this time to Malaysia.
