'Window shopping': Minority senators say PBBM's SONA has 'no vision, no clear objectives'

Senators of the minority bloc on Tuesday, July 26, expressed dissatisfaction with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s first State of the Nation Address (SONA) as they compared it to an act of "window shopping" that had "no objective" and "no vision".

Sen. Risa Hontiveros said Marcos fell short in laying out his plans because, while there were lots of them, he did not explain where he would get the necessary funding.

"Malinaw at madaling masukat ang economic targets, pero paano natin ito maaabot? Napakarami ng ng priorities pero, kapag ganyan ka-ambisyoso ang plano, ambisyoso rin dapat ang revenue generation (It's clear and easy to measure economic targets, but how we could meet this? There are lots of priorities. But if the plans are ambitious, the revenue generation should also be ambitious)," she said, describing the SONA as having "no clear objective" and "no vision".

"Kaya para sa akin, yung speech kahapon, mistulang window shopping lang. Tingin-tingin muna kung ano ang uubra sa panlasa ng mamamayan (So for me, his speech yesterday was akin to window shopping. It's like experimenting to see what would favor the taste of the masses)," she added.

Meanwhile, Sen. Koko Pimentel said he expected Marcos to be focused more on the agriculture sector, considering he is the head of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

"But if you look at the 19 priority measures, parang shotgun eh... Sana naka (It appears to be a shot gun approach. It should be) laser-focused on food production," Pimentel, the minority floor leader, said.

Pimentel, a lawyer, also said he waited for Marcos to talk about the country's justice system "because there were lots of problems" in it—a sentiment that Hontiveros agreed with.

The President should have also discussed how to increase the salary of teachers, end "endo" or the act of contractualization, as well as the possible shift to federalism, among other things, he added.