PRESIDENT Marcos said his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28 is about 80 percent complete and will focus on ongoing social and economic programs amid a changing national landscape.
Speaking to the Philippine media delegation in Washington D.C. on Wednesday (Manila time), Marcos explained that this year’s SONA will differ from previous addresses because “the state of the nation today is different from what it was last year and the year before that.”
“We will be talking about mainly the same things — about the social projects of the government for people in need,” he said.
“We will talk about the programs that we have initiated and will continue to promote and endorse. Hopefully it will continue after my term,” the President said.
He noted that he had anticipated losing time for SONA preparations due to his three-day working visit to the United States.
“We’ve been working very hard on it,” he said. “The SONA is about 80 percent written. But it needs some fine-tuning.”
The Chief Executive said final revisions would be done when he returns to Manila.
The fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. should do away with lavish preparations amid the devastation caused by heavy floods due to multiple tropical storms and the enhanced southwest monsoon (habagat), according to Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña.
“It is the height of insensitivity if we will roll out the red carpet for SONA when our constituents and their families don’t even have roofs over their heads,” Cendaña added..
Instead of colorful displays, Cendaña said the SONA will tackle the current state of affairs in the country.
