Beyond the first year: Expectations for Marcos’ second SONA

MANILA, Philippines — All eyes and ears are on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as he is set to deliver his second State of the Nation Address on Monday.

One year after Marcos took office, Filipinos have various expectations from the president for his upcoming SONA.

Depending on who is asked, these expectations range from assessing his accomplishments to outlining his plans and priorities for the nation.

Further support for Marcos’ priority bills

For Dennis Coronacion, head of the University of Santo Tomas Political Science Department, his expectations include Marcos requesting Congress for the second time to support his legislative agenda, including the priority bills he mentioned during his first SONA.

In his first year, Marcos signed six pieces of legislation and days before his second SONA, he enacted into law the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund.

Economic plans

Coronacion also anticipates that Marcos will provide further insights into his plans for the economy.

“We are still recovering from the bad effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and I expect him to come up with more ideas, more solutions especially when it comes to the economic problems brought about by the pandemic,” the political analyst said.

“Many are still struggling,” he added.

P20/kilo rice

Coronacion also looks forward to hearing Marcos discuss his campaign promise of lowering the price of rice, a commitment that holds great significance for many Filipinos who have been anticipating its fulfillment.

“What are his plans about this? Will it remain an empty promise or will he be able to address it?” the political analyst asked.

Food security

In connection with the P20 per kilo rice promise, the political analyst anticipates that Marcos will talk more about food security, a concern that Coronacion identified as a weakness of the administration.

During the first months of the Marcos presidency, the Philippines faced several food shortages, including onion, garlic and sugar. Although there were measures taken to address this problem, Coronacion expects the president to provide more solutions to combat the country’s food security issues.

West Philippine Sea

The political analyst also expects that Marcos will address matters concerning foreign policy.

“Many are concerned that a war might break out in the South China Sea, particularly between China and the US. So what are our president’s plans about this? Where are we headed in terms of foreign policy?” Coronacion asked.

Support for farmers

In interviews with Philstar.com, ordinary Filipinos shared their expectations for Marcos' second SONA. 

Marlon Cabrera, a corn farmer from Isabela, is hopeful that Marcos will extend increased support to farmers, as he emphasized the challenges of high agricultural input costs, coupled with minimal returns when taking their harvests to market.

Filipino farmers are facing more difficulties today, including those related to climate change, market access and innovation.

“Na-encounter naming mga farmer ngayon, maraming kumakain dun sa mga mais namin. Tapos 'yung mga damo, dati madali naming mapuksa. Ngayon, mahirap,” Cabrera shared, expressing his frustration that despite using insecticides and herbicides, the pests keep coming back, posing a persistent threat to their yields.

("Recently, we've encountered a lot of challenges as farmers. Many pests are now consuming our corn crops, and the control of weeds has become more difficult than before.")

“So du’n sana magfocus – sa mga farmer talaga (So I hope the president will focus on the farmers),” said Cabrera, who hails from Ilagan city, the corn capital of the Philippines.

Youth

From the perspective of the youth, Far Eastern University student Steph Mangantulao has high hopes that Marcos will address progress on critical issues such as climate change, the red-tagging of activists and the pursuit of quality education, among other pressing concerns.

“Safe na balik-eskwela especially ngayon na nagfu-full face-to-face na ang mga schools, and transparency din for the Filipino people (I hope for a safe return to school, especially now that we have shifted to face-to-face learning and also transparency in government actions for the benefit of the Filipino people),” Mangantulao said.