President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday, July 24, urged Congress to act on his administration’s legislative agenda, which include reforms in military and uniformed personnel pension, the Blue Economy law, and new taxes for single-use plastics and digital services, among others. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 24, 2023. (Photo from the Presidential Communications Office) During his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on the first day of the second regular session of the 19th Congress, the Chief Executive urged both chambers to support his priority legislation. “Makikipagtulungan tayo nang mabuti sa Kongreso para sa mga mahahalagang batas na kinakailangan para sa ating tuloy-tuloy na pag-ahon (We will work with Congress for the important laws we need for our continued progress),” he told members of Congress, the diplomatic corps, and members of his Cabinet. “And once again, I appeal to Congress for its support for the following priority legislations,” he added. The priority measures the President mentioned were: excise tax on single-use plastics, value-added tax (VAT) on digital services, rationalization of mining fiscal regime, motor vehicle users charge, military and uniformed personnel pension, amendment of the fisheries code, amendment of the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, and amendment of the Cooperative Code. He also called for support for a new government procurement law, new government auditing code, anti-financial account scamming, Tatak Pinoy law, the Blue Economy law, ease of paying taxes, income classification for local government units (LGUs), and the Philippine Immigration Act. In his one-hour-and-10-minute SONA, Marcos expressed confidence in “the initial results of our efforts” as he urged members of Senate, Congress, and his Cabinet “to be relentless in our aspiration of peace and progress.” “This has not been the work of a single person, neither a single branch or government, nor even the whole government acting alone,” he said. “This is the collective synergy achieved by all Filipinos working together. It took a whole-of-nation effort to achieve this immediate recovery from our pandemic slump. Unity was what made us rise once more,” Marcos added. He promised that his administration is just starting and that the country’s continued path to progress will continue. “Hinihiling ko ang inyong tiwala at pakikiisa. Sa ganitong paraan, makakamtan natin ang ating hangarin — ang maginhawa, matatag, at panatag na buhay para sa lahat ng Pilipino (I am asking for your trust and cooperation. In this way, we will achieve our goals — a prosperous, strong, and stable life for all Filipinos),” he urged. In a May 2023 report, the House of Representatives said that 31 of 42 priority bills of the Marcos administration have hurdled the third and final reading in the lower house. A week ago, the President signed the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill that would create the country’s first sovereign wealth fund and which he certified as urgent. He also earlier signed the SIM Registration Act, an Act Postponing the December 2022 Barangay and SK Elections, and Amendments to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) fixed term law, which were proposed by his Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) but not mentioned in his first SONA.