Things Marcos left out of his 2024 State of the Nation Address
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approached the halfway point of his presidency with his third State of the Nation Address (SONA). While he heeded the call of lawmakers and government agencies to ban Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), other concerns were not mentioned in the yearly presidential report.
With a numerous issues that demand his response, Marcos kicked off his speech saying that data and numbers meant very little to a population confronted with the threat of high food prices.
“The hard lesson of this last year has made it very clear that whatever current data proudly bannering our country as among the best-performing in Asia, means nothing to a Filipino, who is confronted by the price of rice at P45 to P65 per kilo,” Marcos said in his SONA.
ALSO READ: What Marcos said in his third SONA, from A-Z
Throughout his speech, Marcos reported data that reflected the highs of his administration, such as an improved employment rate and a reduced poverty rate.
What the president left out of his speech is also a statement in itself. Here are some of them:
Pending measures
Pension and procurement. In his first two SONAs, Marcos cited several priority measures to Congress, which included the tax measures for the Military and Uniformed Personnel Pension and the New Government Procurement Law. This is the first SONA in his presidency where he did not list priority legislation, other than saying that enabling law for the Loss and Damage Fund is necessary.
“We have secured a seat on the Board of the Loss and Damage Fund. Further, the Philippines has also been selected as host country to that fund. This will require an enabling law from Congress to confer the legal personality and capacity to the Board,” Marcos said in the 2024 SONA.
Divisive proposals. Marcos also did not mention several high-profile bills, including the divorce bill, the SOGIE bill, the death penalty bill, and others. Mentions of Charter change measures, a heavily contested proposal that caused a rift between the House and the Senate, were similarly skipped.
The president supported an economic Charter change but the issue had fallen away from the spotlight after the chambers clashed on the measure. It also proved to be unpopular in public sentiment. According to a Pulse Asia Survey, 88% of Filipinos were against the move.
Transport
Traffic and mobility. While Marcos gave much emphasis on the transport infrastructure, specifically for airports and seaports, he made no mention of the country’s worsening traffic crisis on land.
“Aside from agriculture and disaster risk, our other vital sectors and pillars — such as education, health, energy, low-cost housing, transport, information technology — they all stand to benefit from our aggressive infrastructure development,” Marcos said.
Jeepney modernization. Marcos also ommitted the jeepney modernization program. His government has repeatedly moved the the deadline for the much delayed Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.
This was initially set for December 2023, and then it was extended April 2024. In May, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board put the consolidation rate at 81%.
Socioeconomic issues
Legislated wage hike. While he touted an improved employment rate, Marcos made no mention of a legislated wage hike, only pointing to an improved wage hike by regions.
“Sa lahat ng mga ginagawa nating ito, katuwang natin palagi ang pribadong sektor lalo na sa mahahalagang bagay ng trabaho at pasahod. With tripartite consensus, minimum wage levels have been increased in various sectors, in all regions including the BARMM, for workers in private establishments,” Marcos said.
(With everything we do, we always have the private sector as our partner, especially in crucial matters of employment and wages. With tripartite consensus, minimum wage levels have been increased in various sectors, across all regions including the BARMM, for workers in private establishments)
In February, the Senate was able to pass a legislated wage hike to pull up the daily minimum wage of P100. In May, then-Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri urged Marcos to certify the bill as urgent. The president has yet to do so.
Instead, Marcos urged the regional wage boards to review daily workers’ salary. “As president, I call upon the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board to initiate a timely review of the minimum wage in their respective region with due consideration to the impact of inflation, among others, within 60 days prior to the anniversary of their latest wage order,” Marcos said in his Labor Day speech at Malacañan Palace.
Self-rated poverty. Marcos mentioned government programs that address the perennial problem of poverty, such as the conditional cash transfer, and the reduced poverty rate from 18% in 2021 to 15.5% in 2023.
But those who counted themselves as poor reached 58%. Data for which pollster SWS released last week show this ratio is the highest since September 2002 during the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The current self-rated poverty rate surpassed that after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 under Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos' predecessor.
Despite the rise in self-rated poverty, however, the percentage of those who view themselves as not poor has also increased.
Good governance
Fighting corruption. Marcos said the Commission on Audit’s systems worked with his administration's open government initiatives. The president also used the New Procurement Act or Republic Act 12009 as an example of steps towards transparency.
The Philippines was able to improve its standing in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, slightly improving its rank from 116th in 2022 to 115th in 2023. However, this is still considered to be on the lower end of the spectrum. The Department of Budget and Management in May also said that the Philippines ranked first in Asia in terms of budget transparency, according to the 2023 Open Budget Survey.
While these are welcome steps, Marcos was not able to mention new plans or policies in his wheelhouse to further fight corruption and improve transparency, especially on the Maharlika Investment Fund.
Pharmally. He also did not express any intent to solve specific corruption scandals in the government, such as the previous administration’s Pharmally mess. During the height of COVID-19, the Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. was the government’s pandemic supplier. However, a series of Congressional probes exposed several apparent anomalies, including the diversion of P47.6 billion of COVID-19 funds into the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management.
While lesser known government officials are being probed, former president Rodrigo Duterte has yet to be called to question.
Rights and freedoms
Accountability in the drug war. Marcos stressed that his verison of the war on drugs is bloodless and does not involve extermination in its strategy. He skips mention, meanwhile, of accountability and investigations into the executions during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on drug suspects.
ICC. Relatedly, Marcos was mum on the topic of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Throughout his term, he has remained fairly consistent that he will uphold the Duterte patriarch’s decision to leave the ICC and to not cooperate. He has repeatedly said that the Philippine justice system works.
“The position that we’ve taken is that we do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC. We view it as a threat to sovereignty, simply because the ICC was formed to conduct, to provide justice to areas where there is no judiciary, where there is no court system, where there is no police, where there is no peace and order and that’s not the Philippines,” Marcos said in an interview with ABS News in March.
For human rights observers, however, justice continues to elude the families left behind by extrajudicial killing victims, with many pinning their hopes on the ICC.
Civil liberties. Another area Marcos overlooked in his SONA is that of press freedom. While there is a Presidential Task Force on Media Security, the murder case of Percival Mabasa (known as Percy Lapid) has yet to be resolved, with the alleged mastermind ex-Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag.
The president also left out the rights and protections of activists and environmental defenders. In 2023, the Global Witness called the Philippines the most dangerous place for environmental defenders for the 10th straight year. The watchdog found that 11 of the 16 environmental defender killings in Asia happened in the Philippines.
Political shakeups
Unity. Despite his 2022 presidential campaign bearing the slogan of "unity," Marcos made no mention of the word in his third SONA. He opted to end his speech urging caution:
“To solve all the problems that we have been suffering under, all officials, law enforcers, workers in government and most of all the citizenry must always be vigilant, principled and think of the health of the nation,” Marcos said.
Where Marcos had spoken of unity, he has now had to navigate a government strife with opposing factions.
Rifts. A series of internal political crises has plagued the Marcos admin—such as the clash between the House of Representatives and the Senate. Senate President Francis Escudero also led a coup against Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, creating a rift within the upper chamber.
Beyond squabbles between lawmakers, Vice President Sara Duterte made a sudden departure from Marcos’ Cabinet following her family’s months long tirades against the president.
Duterte was absent from the SONA for the first time, declaring herself the “designated survivor” during the event. Her office also said she would not be watching or even tuning into the president's speech.
Marcos made no mention of his former running mate, choosing to focus on giving orders to new Education Secretary Sonny Angara, who replaced Duterte at the helm of the department.
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