by Daniel Long

 

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. just finished his third SONA (State of the Nation Address). As someone who considers himself part of the opposition and aligned with the Maisug, I was pleasantly surprised by what I had heard in his speech today. There was the good, the bad, and the missing. Of course, the elephant in the room was the timed release of a short video of a man who has an uncanny resemblance of the President using illegal drugs otherwise known as the alleged “polvoron video”. It is unknown when and where the video was taken, many are even suspecting it could be an AI (artificial intelligence) generated clip or a “deepfake”. For legal purposes, I will not attach the disturbing video which has been circulating all over social media in this piece. DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos and Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro were quick to issue strong statements denying that the man in the video was the President and said it was part of an effort to destabilize the administration. Former President Rodrigo Duterte released a statement saying the best way for BBM to debunk the video would be to
“undergo a hair follicle drug test”. I personally believe that is sound advice.

But I digress, since I wish to write an objective assessment of what Marcos Jr. considers are his achievements as our nation’s leader since the past year. The President begins his speech with agriculture -emphasizing the need to boost local agricultural production, lessening imports, and going after smugglers and hoarders. He seems to be bothered by survey after survey showing the top concern of 70-80% of Filipinos is still inflation and the high price of goods, admitting the administration needs to do more to address these challenges. Marcos Jr. boasts of his signing of the Agrarian Emancipation Act that called for forgiving more than P57 billion of unpaid interests for payment by 610,054 farmers. After 50 years, it took two other Marcoses (Imee and Junior) to give free land to the landless like their Father. A new policy would benefit 200 to 300 trucks carrying agricultural products driving in both the North and South Luzon expressways by exempting them from toll fee increases. Aquaculture took a backseat in this SONA. News reports of the country importing galunggong fish are unacceptable for a so-called “archipelagic state” like ours. We are the only ASEAN country with no separate Department of Fisheries! As First Lady Imelda Marcos says, for urgent national matters, for her time human settlements, a mere “Bureau” is not enough as they are limited to managerial and inconsequential tasks. While the Kadiwa stores and new irrigation systems BBM inaugurated are good, I would’ve liked to hear about making irrigation free for all farmers like it was during his Father’s regime. “Irrigation dams ensure water security in underserved areas”, said the President.

Speaking of water security, missing from the SONA is a progress report of the Kaliwa Dam, which would produce 600 million liters of water per day for Metro Manila residents. One of Marcos Jr.’s noble actions recently was to intervene in the dispute between the Manuel Pangilinan owned COBI water supplier and the local Cagayan de Oro authorities last May. The President demanded the oligarch-owned distribution service restore normal water supply to the district. The President said, “We will not allow the people of Cagayan de Oro to be denied their right to adequate, clean and safe water supply.” Also missing from the speech was a call to increase hybrid rice production. In 1977, President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. invited Chinese scientist and “Father of Hybrid Rice” Dr. Yuan Longping to the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) in Los Banos to collaborate with Filipino scientists. According to former President Gloria Arroyo, Dr. Yuan’s research boosted the incomes of our farmers and increased rice productivity. According to a recent Pulse Asia survey, only 4% of Filipinos believe Marcos Jr. can lower the price of rice. The Philippines is currently the world’s top rice importing country. When his father was President, the country even exported rice to neighboring countries Malaysia and Indonesia. As Governor of Ilocos Norte, Bongbong turned that province from a net rice importer to a net rice exporter with a 283%production surplus. I personally believe he is able to lower the price of rice to P30-P35 per kilo but that would require, however, a strong political will like his father to go after the haciendero class.

Moving on to energy security, what was missing from the SONA was a plan to finally open the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Congressman Mark Cojuangco narrated in a new documentary last month that the structure is safe, reliable, and ready for operations. Think of how many billions we can save in oil imports if we transition to nuclear energy. On June 2, Meralco reported that 2 million households in Metro Manila, Rizal, Pasig, etc. suffered brownouts. It is a sin of omission on the part of the President to not even mention the name “Manuel Pangilinan” once. Private elites should not be bragging about making profits at people’s expense while the latter continue to suffer brownouts and expensive electric bills. Fortunately, the President flirted with the idea of amending the 2001 EPIRA law (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) which privatized the power sector. BBM, it should not be amended, but abolished! That junk legislation promised to lower the price of electricity. Very self-evident that that was a lie.

Of course, there was the usual jingoism with the President saying in an apparent dig at China, “Ang West Philippine Sea ay hindi kathang isip lamang, ito ay atin.” The entire crocodile farm gave him a standing ovation for that soundbite except for Senator Imee Marcos, who remained seated and did not clap. The Spratly Islands are claimed not just by us and China, but also by Taiwan, Vietnam, and Malaysia. What made me cringe was Marcos Jr. using the phrase “rules-based order” for the 2nd SONA in a row. It is US code for maintaining unipolar hegemony and forever wars for their weapons industry. The US has not even ratified the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) nor are they even a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Americans are currently sponsoring and arming a regime in the Middle East to commit a genocide against a nation-state of mostly children against the wishes of the United Nations. Marcos Jr. should know that that is what the “rules-based order” of the US is.

Regardless, I was delighted to hear the President’s pronouncement that “Proper diplomatic channels are the ONLY acceptable means of settling disputes” and that the country will continue “to find ways to
de-escalate contested areas.” First, it was a return to the constitutional principle that the Philippines
“renounces war as an instrument of national policy” and second, recognizing the reality of a territorial dispute, hence the phrase “contested areas”. With the recent news of a new presidential hotline between the Philippines and China to avoid maritime clashes and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announcing yesterday of a provisional arrangement for the resupply of daily necessities and rotation missions to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, it’s safe to say the forces of diplomacy and peace won over the forces of escalation and confrontation. It looks like US Ex-Air Force Colonel Raymond Powell’s “assertive transparency” to get the Philippines to invoke the US Mutual Defense Treaty and start a war with China has hit a brick wall. Our territorial dispute with China should not define our bilateral relations with them. If Marcos Jr. is serious about improving our tourism sector, then his regime must stop singling out Chinese visitors to our country – tightening visa requirements and limiting how many visas are stamped per consulate. In 2019, 1.7 million Chinese tourists visited the Philippines and contributed billions to our economy. On June 13, Vietnam Express reported that Vietnam has already surpassed the Philippines as China’s top banana supplier. The Bank of America has warned us that if tensions with China continue to increase, our development and economy (tourism, investments, trade) will suffer. The only war Marcos Jr. should declare is a war on corruption, poverty, high prices, and hunger – not our neighbor and nuclear-armed superpower China.

And then, Marcos Jr. surprised everybody with his announcement saying that “Effective today, all POGOs are banned.” A most welcoming surprise. POGO has done much harm to our people, not only by gambling addictions, but the newspapers are littered with stories of murder, human trafficking, and sexual abuse. While taxes collected from POGOs generate revenues for the state, in my view, the negatives outweigh the positives. The President said our countrymen working now in these POGOs would be given new jobs. Contrary to popular opinion, China abhors these POGOs and the Chinese Embassy in Manila and Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian has been requesting the Philippine government to ban them even during the time of the Duterte regime. Gambling is illegal in mainland China. Now, the people must hold the administration’s feet to the fire that this directive would be enforced. Will the mathematically impossible lotto operations (recall the edited face coverings of a supposed winner) be suspended next? I hope so.

Above all, what was missing was Vice President Sara Duterte, the most popular government official.
(71% trust rating according to Pulse Asia). Not only was she not present at the SONA, but she was not credited for her achievements in the Department of Education. Take it from a Kakampink teacher named Cherry Mirafuente: a new decongested curriculum, overtime teacher’s pay, removal of admin tasks for teachers, 30 day straight vacation for teachers, decluttered classrooms, and many more. Marcos Jr. made it very clear at the end of his 1 and a half hour speech that his administration’s priority is the economy and poverty alleviation. I have yet to hear him support his poverty alleviation czar Larry Gadon’s call last November to restore all basic utilities like electricity and water distribution (Meralco, Maynilad, Manila Water) back into public hands. Without this important policy change, Secretary Gadon said, poverty alleviation “can never be achieved”. Mr. President, you still have a few more SONAs to make nationalization your surprise announcement. The economy would actually experience a boom and foreign investment pledges would materialize rapidly – “ayuda” is just a band aid solution to our current woes.

   

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