The first SONA of Marcos 1.0

PRESIDENT Bongbong Marcos, or Marcos 2.0, delivered his first state of the nation Address yesterday before the Joint session of Congress. it signals the opening of the regular session of both chambers of Congress following their respective organization where the senate President and the speaker of the House, as well as the other senate and House of representatives officials are elected and installed. in the sona, the President reports on the state of the country, introduces his program of government and unveils his legislative agenda and priorities for the year.

BBM’S first SONA was the 84th SONA delivered by a Philippine president since 1935. After the President’s inaugural address, the SONA is the most important speech given by the newly elected President to his people. Our Constitution mandates that “the President shall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session.” (Article VII, Section 23 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution). The same provision was contained in our 1935 Constitution, which provided “that the President shall from time to time give to the Congress information on the state of the nation, and recommend to its consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Thus, the President cannot avoid this obligation without breaching the highest law of the land.

Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon acknowledged this constitutional duty when he stated in his first SONA delivered on November 25, 1935 at the National Assembly following his inauguration as the duly elected President of the Philippine Commonwealth that he was giving the message “in fulfillment of the Constitutional mandate to give a report of the state of the Nation” to the National Assembly on its opening session.

The SONA, next to the President’s inaugural speech, is the most significant and profound message that comes from the lips of our President. This was amply demonstrated in BBM’S address yesterday.

Every president of our country uses the SONA as a pulpit to voice his concerns about the problems besetting our nation and as a platform to propose solutions to them. The SONA is the best forum where the President can articulate his views and express his hopes and aspirations to realize his dreams for our country and people.

The elder Marcos (Marcos 1.0) had used his SONAS, the most of any president, to transmit and expound his views on government and the various complex issues confronting it. Undoubtedly, Marcos 1.0 was one of the most powerful and eloquent presidents who occupied Malacañang. And he could deliver his entire speech without notes or teleprompters. He could deliver his speeches extemporaneously or composed them with little effort like a gifted wordsmith or a ghostwriter. Let’s revisit his first SONA, which he delivered on January 24, 1966 following his inauguration as the 10th President of the Philippines.

On Agriculture—like his son, President BBM, Marcos 1.0 was faced with the challenge to increase agricultural productivity to address food insecurity. On this particular subject, the elder Marcos declared: “One of our first concerns is to strengthen the agricultural sector. Self-sufficiency in the production of food, especially rice, must be attained in the shortest possible time. We must also… diversify our production of export crops so that we can develop Philippine agriculture into a reliable earner of foreign exchange.” He stressed the need to implement land reform. “If necessary, we shall consider the sale of government properties not immediately needed to realize the funds for the proposed Land Bank. (This eventually resulted in the creation of the Landbank). “The Agricultural Credit Administration must be reoriented to permit a total concentration of its resources on land reform cases.” He cited specific steps to attain rice selfsufficiency, to wit: “It is necessary to enact legislation to: 1) adjust to more realistic and rewarding levels the floor of the government buying price for rice and corn; 2) provide legislative authority to borrow funds abroad to finance the construction of irrigation systems; and, 3) reorganize governmental agricultural agencies to achieve a reduction in operational costs in order to attain efficiency and maximum coordination in all levels of governmental planning and implementation.”

On Private Business and Free Enterprise —“We believe in the principle of free enterprise. We realize that when the public sector goes into debt and competes with the private sector for credit, the scale is biased against the latter. This results in the draining of the credit flow to business, which in turn impinges upon production and therefore operates against our basic growth.… Our fight in free enterprise demands that we accept the consequence of this bold adventure.” On the other hand, Marcos 2.0 was willing to take action to help out distressed companies. “While we… are committed to defend the free initiatives of business which are not inconsistent with public interest, we will not shy away from our responsibility to intervene, to sustain ailing essential industries….” He also proposed the creation of “an Investment Office which shall furnish all the information that may be required by prospective investors….” (This resulted in the formation of the Board of Investments).

On Physical Infrastructure— Marcos 1.0 acknowledged the need to put up infrastructure to support our economic growth. “The government must provide a solid physical base which can adequately support planned and sustained economic growth. We seek to provide a safe and sufficient network of major thoroughfares, with supplementary integrable developmental road systems, complementary water and air transport facilities, and a comprehensive communications network…. Civil works designed to solve the perennial f lood problems; and an adequate physical plant for regular governmental social services, in the form of schools, hospitals and sanitaria, public buildings, mass housings, and community development.” This paved the way for the massive infrastructure building, which was a hallmark of the Marcos 1.0 administration. Although critics had termed it as the “edifice complex.”

On Inflation—the elder Marcos also assured the public that “consumers do not suffer from the consequences of a rise in prices. Not only will we exercise the utmost responsibility in monetary and fiscal policy in order to hold the line on prices, but we are determined to undertake massive production programs in rice, fish, vegetables, and meat. We shall fight hoarding and market manipulation with every force at our disposal. We will use the persuasive powers of the Presidency to prevent the spiraling of prices in key sectors and products.”

On Taxation and Prudent Fiscal Policy—marcos 1.0 stressed that “we cannot lay any claim to nobility or greatness unless we can improve our tax collection system. We must show convincing proof that we are using in the most judicious and economic manner the funds we collect in the form of taxes.”

Marcos 2.0 can take a cue from his father’s ideas. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Proven and tested approaches may be borrowed and adopted if they are effective in resolving our problems. For instance, Masagana 99 may be renumbered and improved. For a while the rice-sufficiency program worked until the financing program behind it faltered. Technocrats and experts can review the program and come up with reforms to enhance the implementation and ensure that it does not suffer from the same pitfalls. This is the best way for Marcos 2.0 to build on the legacy of Marcos 1.0 and gain the respect and trust of our people.