Vol. VI, No. 14 – July 31, 2024
In his latest State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos Jr. presented what appeared to be a product of fanciful imagination rather than a reflection of the realities facing ordinary Filipinos. Marcos Jr.’s third SONA, full of lofty promises and rosy projections of his administration’s so-called ‘achievements’ glaringly downplayed the urgent and escalating crises of insufficient wages, skyrocketing prices of basic goods and services, widespread landlessness and pervasive poverty.
He spoke with an apparent confidence about economic growth and stability – yet again falsely claiming that the Philippines was “among the best in Asia”. Marcos Jr. talked about millions of Filipinos supposedly lifted from poverty, but his words ring hollow to millions of Filipinos struggling to make ends meet. He made these claims based on understated poverty and employment figures conjured with statistical magic.
The price of basic necessities including rice has reached alarming heights, leaving Filipino masses in a constant state of economic distress. In his address, Marcos Jr. deliberately glossed over the fact that many Filipinos now face the impossible choice between putting food on the table and paying for essential services like paying for their electricity and water bills, healthcare and education. His assurances of economic improvement provide little comfort to those who see their purchasing power eroded month over month. It must be noted that the rice crisis in the Philippines is not simply a matter caused by a simple imbalance in supply and demand, but a direct result of the Marcos Jr. administration’s policy of import dependence and systemtic neglect to develop the country’s local rice production. Further, the ongoing rice and food crisis happened under his watch as secretary of agriculture.
Perhaps the most glaring omission in his address was the issue of landlessness. Despite his platitudes about agricultural development and support for farmers, he failed to acknowledge the systemic problems that leave farmers without land to cultivate. The lack of genuine land reform continues to disenfranchise millions, trapping them in a cycle of poverty and destitute conditions.
Marcos Jr. boasted the completion of more than 5,500 flood control projects. But just days after his speech, Typhoon Carina bolstered by the southwest monsoon winds swept through Luzon, causing massive flooding that killed 39 people and affected 4.8 million Filipinos. His claims of disaster preparedness and the billions of pesos of taxpayer’s money spent on these so-called ‘projects’ therefore become questionable when faced with the undeniable evidence of widespread devastation.
In his speech, Marcos Jr. mentioned once again how there are “no guerilla fronts” active across the country and that “only seven weakened groups remain” all of which are subject to focused military operations. But what Marcos Jr. fails to understand is that the worsening economic conditions and intensifying political repression is pushing more and more Filipinos to fight and take up arms in the countryside. Indeed, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) recently stated that “recruitment by the New People’s Army (NPA) continues steadily and is certain to rise in the coming months and years.”
Overall, Marcos Jr.’s address was an exercise in wishful thinking, a narrative constructed to obscure the harsh truths that millions of Filipinos confront on a daily basis. The same realities he seeks to obscure however (poverty, low wages, landlessness) are the same conditions that will bring about his downfall as the people’s war continues to advance in the Philippine countryside.
