President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will deliver his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday, July 27, outlining his administration’s priorities for the final two years of his term, which ends in 2028.
The address comes amid impeachment proceedings against Sara Duterte, calls to prosecute those responsible for corruption in flood control projects and preparations for the next presidential election.
Marcos is expected to report on his administration’s accomplishments and lay out how it intends to govern during the remainder of his presidency.
Based on the latest Social Weather Stations survey, Marcos’ trust rating fell to a record low of 34 percent from 35 percent in March as the flood control controversy persisted nearly a year after he exposed a corruption scheme involving public funds intended for projects meant to protect millions of people.
‘Mahiya naman kayo’ (‘Shame on you’), Marcos said, vowing that the government would file charges in the coming months against those responsible for siphoning off billions in public funds intended for flood mitigation projects.
Palace press officer Claire Castro said this year’s Sona would be kept simple in line with the government’s austerity measures in response to the socioeconomic consequences of the Middle East crisis.
On the content of Marcos’ second-to-last annual report to the nation, Castro said the president had been coordinating with heads of government offices to discuss their accomplishments, key programs and major initiatives.
Last year, the president’s speech lasted 1 hour and 11 minutes and covered a wide range of issues, from lifting millions of Filipinos out of poverty to fighting corruption in government.
‘Ibubuhos natin ang lahat-lahat’ (‘We will give it our all’), Marcos said, stressing the need to do more so that Filipinos could have better and more comfortable lives.
‘Let us not deviate from our attention and from how we are leading to development because we can see it already. This is what we should work together on. This is what we should focus on,’ he said in Filipino.
Marcos began his presidency in 2022 after winning the election with 31.63 million votes, at a time when the Philippines was still reeling from challenges brought about by ‘some factors of our own making’ and others ‘that are beyond our control.’
A year later, he declared, ‘Dumating na po ang Bagong Pilipinas’ (‘The new Philippines is now here’), saying that the ‘state of the nation is sound, and is improving.’
He also said the government had ‘highly competent and dedicated workers.’
In his third Sona in 2024, however, Marcos acknowledged a difficult reality: Although the Philippines had been considered one of Asia’s best-performing economies, ‘it is nothing to a Filipino,’ especially those making do with what little they had.
Under Section 23, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, the president addresses Congress at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City at the opening of its regular session each year.
This year’s Sona comes with less than two years remaining before the 2028 presidential election and more than a year before the filing of certificates of candidacy.
Last year, Marcos did not address every issue that Filipinos identified in the latest Pulse Asia survey as among the country’s most urgent concerns.
One was a wage increase, which the 19th Congress failed to legislate before the Sona.