Things Marcos left out of his 2024 SONA

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approached the halfway point of his presidency with his third State of the Nation Address (SONA). While he heeded the call of lawmakers and government agencies to ban Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), other concerns were not mentioned in the yearly presidential report. 

With a numerous issues that demand his response, Marcos kicked off his speech saying that data and numbers meant very little to a population confronted with the threat of high food prices. 

“The hard lesson of this last year has made it very clear that whatever current data proudly bannering our country as among the best-performing in Asia, means nothing to a Filipino, who is confronted by the price of rice at P45 to P65 per kilo,” Marcos said in his SONA. 

Throughout his speech, Marcos reported data that reflected the highs of his administration, such as an improved employment rate and a reduced poverty rate.

What the president left out of his speech is also a statement in itself. Here are some of them:

Pension and procurement. In his first two SONAs, Marcos cited several priority measures to Congress, which included the tax measures for the Military and Uniformed Personnel Pension and the New Government Procurement Law. This is the first SONA in his presidency where he did not list priority legislation, other than saying that enabling law for the Loss and Damage Fund is necessary.   

“We have secured a seat on the Board of the Loss and Damage Fund. Further, the Philippines has also been selected as host country to that fund. This will require an enabling law from Congress to confer the legal personality and capacity to the Board,” Marcos said in the 2024 SONA. 

Divisive proposals. Marcos also did not mention several high-profile bills, including the divorce bill, the SOGIE bill, the death penalty bill, and others. Mentions of Charter change measures, a heavily contested proposal that caused a rift between the House and the Senate, were similarly skipped.

The president supported an economic Charter change but the issue had fallen away from the spotlight after the chambers clashed on the measure. It also proved to be unpopular