A couple of lawmakers want President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to unveil his plans for peace and order, agriculture, national security, the economy, and farm-to-market roads in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 25.
Reps. Arnolfo Teves Jr. of Negros Oriental's 3rd district and Richard Gomez of Leyte's 4th district revealed on Wednesday, July 20, on the sidelines of the launch of the Kilusan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) at the EDSA Shangri-la what they expect to hear from the Chief Executive.
“Number one, definitely, the President will call for unity. As a representative I want to hear the President to talk about peace and order, his move against drugs, his move about agriculture, national security, about the economy,” Gomez said.
Teves seconded this, saying that Marcos’s message will “revolve around” his campaign tagline of unity and economic recovery.
He also said he hoped the President will do better than his father, the late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
“Usually naman ‘yung mga anak, tayo (the children, us) bilang (as) parents, we want to achieve to be better than us,” he added.
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In particular, Teves wants a P1-billion-per-district-per-year allocation to build farm-to-market roads that will ease transport of agricultural products to commercial markets.
The lawmaker promised never to run for public office again if the flow of products doesn’t improve due to his proposal.
He said he will also file a bill to support the use of the decommissioned Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) that became non-operational because of financial and safety concerns.
“Yan ang pinakaimportante sa lahat ng Pilipino. Ang mahal ng kuryente at lahat tayo apektado (That’s the most important for all Filipinos. The cost of power is too high and we are all affected),” Teves said.
Marcos will deliver his first SONA at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City in full in-person capacity on July 25 amid an ongoing pandemic, rising inflation, and a debilitating national debt.