President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered on Monday, July 25, his first State of the Nation Address (SONA)—a speech that was 73 minutes long, and marked by 90 rounds of applause.
Lawmakers, foreign dignitaries, and other special guests applauded Marcos 90 times vis-a-vis his plans and programs, especially those focusing on economic recovery from the pandemic, at the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City.
For his SONA, marking the first time in two years a full in-person public address was held by Congress, Marcos cited his priority projects that include health systems capacity-building, infrastructure development, education, internet connectivity, and energy production amid the persisting threat of Covid-19.
The President was first applauded when he greeted his wife, First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos and their children.
This was followed by another round of applause when he spoke of pushing for national growth by strengthening the agriculture sector during his first SONA.
“Ang mga pautang at (The loans and) financial assistance sa mga magbubukid at mangingisda ay magiging institusyon at patakaran ng aking administrasyon (for farmers and fishermen will be an institution and policy of my administration),” he said.
The crowd mostly interrupted Marcos’ speech with applause when he mentioned the priority legislative agenda of his administration.
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Here are the 19 priority measures:
1. National Government Rightsizing Program (NGRP)
2. Budget Modernization Bill
3. Tax Package 3: Valuation Reform Bill
4. Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA)
5. E-Government Act
6. Internet Transaction Act or E-Commerce Law
7. Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE)
8. The Establishment of a Medical Reserve Corps
9. National Disease Prevention Management Authority
10. Creation of the Virology Institute of the Philippines
11. Department of Water Resources
12.Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension
13. Amendments to the Build, Operate, Transfer Law
14. National Land Use Act
15. National Defense Act
16. Mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and National Service Training Program (NSTP)
17. Enactment of an Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry
18. Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA (Rep. Act No. 9136
19. E-Governance Act
The President was also cheered five times for his foreign policy, and his plan to put up specialized public hospitals outside Metro Manila, including his directive to the Philippine Competitive Commission (PCC) to stop the cartel of pharmaceutical companies.
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“On the area of foreign policy, I will not preside over any process that will abandon even one square inch of territory of the Republic of the Philippines to any foreign power,” Marcos said.
The President’s 7,890-word speech based on Google’s word count was longer-than-usual, but this was shorter compared to the 30,427-word SONA delivered by his late father and dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1969, the longest recorded so far.
Meanwhile, while most of the lawmakers were seen applauding the President’s SONA, opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros had her arms to her sides.
She was photographed standing along with the rest of the lawmakers inside the plenary hall of the Batasang Pambansa. But unlike them, she didn’t applaud any of Marcos’ pronouncements in his address.
Hontiveros ran under the slate of former vice president Leni Robredo and her running mate, former senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
Though she is a member of Akbayan, Hontiveros maintained a close political relationship with the once-ruling Liberal Party.