Marcos’ 2023 SONA: Only part of a bigger picture

MANILA, Philippines – After sitting through President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 24, Rappler panelists agreed on one thing: it did not meet expectations.

In a SONA that lasted around an hour and 10 minutes, Marcos enumerated his accomplishments during his first year in office, and what Filipinos should be expecting in the second year of his six-year term.

Despite touching on different sectors – from the economy, agriculture, transportation, to foreign policy – panelists felt that the speech only skimmed the surface and did not delve into issues faced by each sector.

An underwhelming SONA

Rappler resident economist JC Punongbayan said that Marcos made use of a lot of “window-dressing,” or last-minute acts and proclamations to boost one’s portfolio, and increase the number of achievements to be reported in the SONA.

Punongbayan said that even if Marcos mentioned favorable statistics pertaining to the Philippine economy, it was the result of the “permanent scars” inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ira Cruz of Move As One PH said that Marcos’ SONA was “sorely lacking” because he failed to mention active transportation plans and initiatives. Cruz also pointed out that the President failed to mention prevailing transportation issues, such as the PUV modernization program and the jeepney transportation strike.

“The President clearly left that (transportation strike) out of his State of the Nation Address,” Cruz said. “We were kind of hoping that the President could have issued a clear directive for a whole of government approach.”

Rappler editor at large Marites Vitug said Marcos did not talk about maritime issues enough, especially in relation to regional superpower China. (READ: 8 out of 10 Filipinos say alliances needed to defend West PH Sea – Pulse Asia)

“I felt he downplayed our maritime issues with China…. He sort of glossed over it and stopped with the line ‘friend to all, enemy to none,’ which is already outdated – the world has changed,” Vitug said.

She also said that even though Marcos mentioned the rule of law in his SONA, he should have also touched on related issues, such as corruption.

“He wasn’t in it to inspire the nation,” Rappler columnist John Nery said. “It was more like a progress report of different sectors.”

Nery said that Marcos put more attention to providing updates on what his administration had done in its first year. He added that it was also a way of consolidating political relationships across the board.

Playing politics

There has been a lot of speculation on President Marcos’ political relationship with Vice President Sara Duterte. Multimedia reporter Bonz Magsambol said that Duterte is careful about how she positioned herself publicly, as she is aware of her popularity as a government figure.

“Cautious si Sara Duterte sa kanyang mga dealings with the government kasi ayaw niyang ma-outshine si [Marcos] (Sara Duterte is cautious with her dealings with the government because she doesn’t want to outshine [Marcos])…. Because she is carrying the Duterte brand,” Magsambol said.

Her resignation from the Lakas-CMD party last May was, however, a clear indication of her “declaration of war,” even if this left her open to attacks from her opponents.

When it comes to Marcos’ position on the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into the former president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, the President has to strike the right balance between appeasing the international community and his political allies, one of the panelists said.

“Kay Marcos ‘to mahirap kasi paano niya po-protektahan ‘yung alliance niya kay Duterte pero pababanguhin pa rin niya ‘yung pangalan niya sa international community? (It’s hard for Marcos because how will he protect his alliance with Duterte while rebuilding his image with the international community?)” multimedia reporter Lian Buan asked.

Marcos recently said that his administration will not cooperate with the ICC, citing the need to uphold the country’s sovereignty.

Marcos’ year 2

Punongbayan hoped to see more concrete action from the President in terms of the economy in his second year. “Given the political capital of the President, more could have been done. There are so many reforms and key aspects of the economy. There are many missed opportunities in the past year,” he said.

Nery expects to see a more headstrong and politically-confident Marcos in the coming months: “We will see a more assertive Marcos, going forward. Not in the Duterte kind of assertive, he is just not [that] type of person. He is Mr. Good Vibes and Mr. Party, but he will be assertive in that way.”

Ultimately Vitug wants a Marcos who doesn’t fall back on his promises, especially those that involve maritime territorial assertion in the region: “I want to be hopeful. I hope Marcos doesn’t go to strategic appeasement of China… I hope he does not succumb to pressure because of loans…and that] he will continue to be assertive of our sovereign rights. And maybe a bigger picture of our national security policy.“ – Rappler.com