Metro Manila, Philippines — President Bongbong Marcos will tackle threats facing the country on several fonts in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22.
In an interview with reporters on Wednesday, Marcos said issues affecting the lives of Filipinos will be discussed including the economy, criminality and even fighting illegal drugs.
“The economy, how is it doing? Criminality, how are we doing on that? How are we doing in the other problems, social problems that we are facing such as drugs, such as the different threats that have been coming to us,” said Marcos when asked about what to expect from his annual address.
The chief executive said it’s important to discuss the true state of the nation, the government’s progress on his previous promises and whether or not there have been changes in the lives of ordinary Filipinos.
“It’s a SONA. Ganun pa rin. Ibabalita ko kung ano ‘yung mga naging progress doon sa ating mga ginagawa.So, ire-report ko kung talaga bang ‘yung mga sinimulan natin ay tuloy-tuloy at maganda pa rin ang progress at kung gaano pa katagal bago matapos ‘yung malalaking project na ‘yan,” he said.
[Translation: It’s a SONA. I will report on the progress of government undertakings. I will also give an update on big government projects.]
The president said it will be a challenge to squeeze in all gains in the past year in a one-hour speech.
“Kaya’t ang ginawa namin ay mayroon kaming ginawang brief, ganung kakapal which is a report to the nation, which goes into the detail. The detail that I cannot go into during the SONA dahil masyadong mahaba,” he said.
[Translation: What we are doing now is we are crafting a brief on my detailed report to the nation. It will not be all mentioned in the SONA because it will be too long].
Marcos said the government will share the briefing to all public and private sector partners, the media and even to schools.
“And that’s basically what the SONA is going to look like,” said Marcos.
NewsWatch Plus Senior Correspondent Tristan Nodalo contributed to this report.
