I attended the President’s second State of the Nation Address and I genuinely enjoyed it.
Compared to the first one, this was concise and measurable. It exhibited better grasp of the insurmountable task at hand. Compared to his predecessor, this was delivered professionally, as if before a global audience. The President did not even need to drink an ounce of water.
The lighting on the rostrum added drama to the speech. There were no videos played during the SoNA, focusing more attention on the content of the speech itself. The Cabinet secretaries in attendance were the only persons identified in the speech.
When he entered the Plenary Hall, there was minimal fanfare as the attendees stood patiently as he made his way to the front, except for one female representative who had the gall to take a selfie. If we may recall, during the SoNAs of former president Rodrigo Duterte, public officials would crowd around him as if he were a rock star. This time, the officials stayed in their assigned areas.
I learned from a friend in Malacañang that the speech was dictated by the President himself and transcribed by assistants. It was later fine-tuned by a single writer to make it concise and coherent, then reviewed and finalized by the President. The speech touched on all areas of importance. There were no surprises, which should be just right for a presidential speech.
Among the items mentioned, I particularly liked the following:
He made mention of the revision of several laws, including the Fisheries Code and the Cooperative Code. This showed his sympathy for the majority of Filipinos. As for the economy, he emphasized the need for more tax reforms, a continuation of the Duterte administration’s TRAIN laws.
I was keenly interested in the revision of the Procurement Act considering that Finance Secretary Ben Diokno was among those who helped draft the Procurement Act that we have today. A new Auditing Code would likewise be beneficial, as it would arm CoA Chairman Liel Cordoba to better assess the performance of government offices.
The “Build, Better, More” Infrastructure Program, the sequel to President Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” Program, was highlighted to show how it would improve the economy. He mentioned the Luzon Spine Road that would reduce travel time from 20 hours to nine hours, as the construction of 12 major bridges, including the 32-km Bataan-Cavite Bridge, the 32-km Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridge, and the Davao-Samal Bridge.
What took center stage was the approval of the Maharlika Investment Fund which would serve as the investment vehicle to propel our economy forward. He assured the appointment of credible officials proficient in fund management and said that other countries with sovereign funds were interested in investing right about now.
There were several other items that I will mention in the succeeding articles. But what was most distinct was how the President ended his speech. He repeated, but improved, his soundbite from last year: “The State of the Nation is sound and it is improving.” Then he launched his platform, “Dumating na po ang Bagong Pilipinas.”
We are all hopeful for this, and we support you, President Marcos.
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