The first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. on Monday will be an occasion for a reunion of families, or so it seems, for the second and third generation of politicians who were once allies, rivals, or protagonists in the Old Congress.
Incoming Speaker Martin Romualdez himself is the second generation in a family of distinguished politicians to occupy the House of Representatives leader’s seat after Leyte Congressman Daniel Romualdez was elected to that post in 1961.
Lawmakers who represented the Lanao provinces in the Old Congress were once Nacionalista allies prior even to the first Marcos presidency in 1965, from the 1940s through the 1950s.
This makes Monday’s SONA look much like a reunion of later-generation of families of lawmakers from Muslim Mindanao with a Marcos presidency.
Current Lanao del Sur First District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong is the son of former Lanao Congressman and Governor Mamintal Adiong and Soraya Alonto, daughter of the late Senator Ahmad Domocao Alonto, a contemporary of Marcos Sr. in the glorious years of the Philippine Senate.
Maguindanao Second District Rep. Mohamad Pendatun Paglas is the grandnephew of the late Senator Salipada Pendatun, whom Marcos Sr. had described as his comrade-in-arms, having both fought in World War II and “an exponent of peace efforts… since we first joined Congress in 1946.”
Rep. Yasser Alonto Balindong of Lanao del Sur’s Second District is also Alonto’s grandson and is the son of 1971 Constitutional Convention Delegate lawyer Pangalian Balindong, a former Deputy Speaker of the House.
Maguindanao’s Rep. Dimple Mastura is the wife of Vice Mayor Shameem Mastura, the grandnephew of 1971 ConCon Delegate lawyer Michael O. Mastura. In a 1981 gathering, Marcos Sr. was said to be looking for an elder of the Masturas.
Marcos Sr. was noted for his sharp memory—he was looking for Maguindanao Sultan Muhammad Tato Esmael Calog Badaruddin, whom he met in 1946, but was apparently unable to attend a gathering of Moro traditional leaders that he had called for at Malacanang in 1981.
The old Alonto authored the law (Republic Act 1387) creating the Mindanao State University in 1959. During his presidency, however, Marcos Sr. granted the MSU stewardship to Congressman Muhammad Ali Dimaporo, a home political rival of Alonto and his brother in-law, Congressman Sultan Al-Rashid Lucman, a Liberal Party stalwart.
With then-incumbent President Diosdado Macapagal as imminent Liberal Party standard bearer, the elder Marcos stood a slim chance in a bid for the party’s nomination for the 1965 presidential elections. Marcos then joined the NP and won that election.
From the Cotabato Empire Province, South Cotabato was separated through RA 4849, one of the first laws that Marcos Sr. signed days before his first SONA in 1966.
Marcos Sr. had dismissed political insinuations that dividing Cotabato was a political concession to his Nacionalista allies in Hilario de Pedro Sr., who was appointed the first governor of South Cotabato, and Mayor Jose Escribano of Tacurong.
But the elder Marcos said the separation of South Cotabato would effectively contain a political conflict between the groups of De Pedro and Ecribano on one side, and of Pendatun and Governor Datu Udtog Matalam on the other.
Marcos and Pendatun were reunited in 1984 by their unyielding common stand against communism. The former invited the latter to join the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan and run for the Regular Batasan Pambansa that year to take part in national efforts to effectively resolve the conflict in the south.
In other developments:
• The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party-list urged the House to withdraw its memorandum prohibiting attire with political messages at the first SONA of President Marcos Jr.
• Employers and workers groups led by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines want to hear from President Marcos Jr.’s first SONA the details on how his administration will create jobs and address the rising inflation in the country.
• Two days before President Marcos Jr. delivers his first SONA, Filipinos are enthralled by digital billboards that also serve as an invitation to watch the Chief Executive discuss key policies and priorities.
• Highway patrol cops have arrested three men in Quezon City for violating the six-day gun ban in Metro Manila for the safety of the SONA on Monday.