Kabayan Party-list Rep. Ron Salo has bared his "wish list" for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Marcos’s maiden SONA will take place on Monday, July 25, on the official start of the 19th Congress at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City.
This is what Salo asked of Marcos from the latter's first SONA:
“A reiteration of the President’s campaign promise to lower the price of rice and the specific strategy in achieving it."
“A strategy to address the excessive increase in oil prices and its domino effect on the cost of basic goods and services.”
" policy direction on the call by some sectors to undertake a comprehensive review of the K+12 curriculum.”
“Marching orders to the Department of Health (DOH) to address the continuing rise of Covid-19 and dengue cases, in addition to other communicable and non-communicable diseases.”
“ policy statement concerning climate change and people’s adaptation noting that many coastal and low-lying communities are continually threatened by rising seawater and frequent flooding.”
“ policy direction on the scheduled barangay election in December this year noting that the country just had a national election that put a majority President into office.”
“Consideration of the country’s dying salt industry and the plight of salt farmers, noting that 93 percent of the salt requirement is currently imported. With only 7 percent local production, the urgency of this matter cannot be overemphasized as the livelihood of Filipino salt farmers is about to be completely obliterated."
Pertinent to some of these requests, Salo cited three House bills (HB) that he filed to address the issues he mentioned.
These are HB 519 or the 3Cs of Education Bill, which will modify curriculums; HB 1840, which aims to reschedule the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BKSE) to October 2023; and HB 1976, which seeks the revitalization of the country’s salt industry.