Today, 22 July 2024, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. will deliver his State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA).
The third SONA is a midterm SONA. It is a very timely event in light of the challenges we face today as a people. Consider the following Social Weather Stations data:
* Fifty-eight percent (58%), or around 16 million, of Filipino families identify themselves as poor, as of June 2024 – the highest in 16 years.
* Forty percent (40%) of Filipino remain optimistic on the economy, as of December 2023 – the lowest since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Forty-five (45%) of Filipinos feel no changes in their quality of life over the past year, as of March 2024.
This is the audience of the 2024 SONA. What they want to hear is the genuine state of the nation.
This is the reality on the ground. These are actual sentiments of the majority of Filipinos expressing widespread dissatisfaction of government’s capabilities and priorities.
Notwithstanding the President’s commendation of the Economic Team in handling the economy, 8 out of 10 Filipinos, according to Pulse Asia, disapproved the Marcos Jr Administration’s response to inflation – an economic issue that concerns 7 out of 10 Filipinos.
Our people’s economic hardship, as expressed in recent surveys, is a far cry from the narrative of progress, which PBBM is expected to triumphantly articulate in this afternoon’s SONA.
It is quite unfortunate that the fruits of the Philippines emerging as the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia and the second fastest in Asia have not trickled down to the greatest number of our people.
Sadly, there are two narratives of our beloved Philippines – one from the national leadership, and the other from the local populace – reflecting a disconnect made obvious, again, in today’s SONA, just like the disconnect of the P20 per kilo of rice broken campaign promise and P20 million-SONA merienda budget, among others.
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Dennis Ting is a former director of the Department of Budget and Management.
