OF TREES AND FOREST
With the third State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., his administration has officially entered its third year — the final year of the first half of his presidency. In my view, the key element of this third year should be the same as his focus when he was inaugurated as the 17th president in 2024: Focus on the economy.
In his inaugural address, President Marcos said, “I am here to tell you about our future. A future of sufficiency, even plenty of readily available ways and means to get done what needs doing – by you, by me.” Amid regional geopolitical skirmishes and local political noises, the administration needs to be laser focused on this goal; on ensuring a prosperous future for our people. As we approach the midterm elections next year, I hope the BBM administration will not get distracted by partisan politics which will certainly increase next year.
It is with these things in mind that I listened to President Bongbong’s third SONA delivered before the joint session of the Congress of the Philippines. As with the first two SONAs he delivered, it was apparent that the President was well-prepared and that he understood all the things he said in the prepared speech. That added a sense of determination and force to the speech.
Everyone, of course, reacts differently to the speech. But here are some of my humble notes on the presidential address.
First, I liked that he started by saying that glowing statistics are useless if it will not redound to actual benefits that our people will feel. What good will the growth in gross domestic product (GDP) do if Filipino families continue to struggle putting food on the table because of high prices? I have always said that it is not enough for us just to grow the economy, but it is important that our people feel the effects of high economic growth.
Second, while the President did talk about the economy and the private sector, he also discussed ensuring the support for the marginalized sectors. He talked about assistance to farmers and teachers as well as support in terms of health care. I was also glad that BBM reiterated his commitment to fight poverty.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) just reported that the country’s poverty rate fell to 15.5 percent in 2023 from 18.1 percent in 2021. This surpassed the government’s 16 percent to 16.4 percent target in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028. As the President noted in his speech, this decreased poverty rate is lower than the pre-pandemic rate and which also meant that over that period about 2.5 million Filipinos have been helped out of poverty.
Third, I completely agree when the President honored our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers). He noted their contributions to the economy and sacrifice for the country. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that the remittances of OFWs in 2023 accounted for about 8.5 percent and 7.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and gross national income, respectively. Cash remittances coursed through banks reached a staggering $33.5 billion, higher by almost three percent compared to the remittances in 2022.
And finally, the President focused on economic growth by instituting reforms that will sustain our gains. He discussed efforts to rationalize investment schemes, improved government efficiency by expediting transactions. He promised to continue with investment-led growth and capital markets reforms. I particularly welcome his focus on energy infrastructure, promising increased power supply to meet increasing demand as well as accelerating digital transformation and infrastructure.
I congratulate the President for a well-delivered SONA. I thought it was clear and concise despite the breadth of topics he covered. Now, the hard work begins. Congress needs to do its job by deliberating and approving proposed policies by the executives. The SONA is simply an outline of priorities, the devil, as they say, is in the details.
About a couple of days before the SONA, the President called on Congress to pass measures that will be responsive to the needs of the public before the end of the year. During the signing of the Negros Island Region Act and the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act, the President said: “To our fellow workers in both the houses of Congress, I implore that before the year ends: That laws which are more inclusive, responsive, and people-centered to be passed. Our people are eagerly awaiting the passage of the 17 priority bills…which if passed and enacted, will steer our national development and improve the conditions of our fellow countrymen.”
After the SONA, the applause, and the pageantry, comes the hard part: delivering on the promises to the nation. (Email to: [email protected] and/or http://www.mannyvillar.com.)