Marcos ‘fine-tuning’ SONA speech

Metro Manila, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is finished with his speech for his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 22.

Marcos said in an interview with reporters following the distribution of presidential assistance to farmers in Apayao that he is just fine-tuning his report to the nation.

“Tuloy-tuloy. Pero ‘yung kabuuhan nung speech ko tapos na. Fine-tuning na lang mga ginagawa namin, aayusin namin ‘yan lahat bukas at saka hanggang Linggo para maging handa para sa SONA sa Lunes,” said Marcos.

[Transition: It's ongoing. But the entire speech is done. We're just doing some fine-tuning, we'll fix everything tomorrow and until Sunday to be ready for the SONA on Monday]

Marcos said the challenge now is prioritizing issues he wants to tackle.

“So, ang problema marami --- napakarami ang gusto kong pag-usapan, baka humaba masyado,” he added.

[Translation: So, the problem is there are many --- too many things I want to talk about, it might get too long]

Marcos said he wants to show to the people his administration’s accomplishments.

“Kaya’t nandoon tayo ngayon pero tapos na 'yan. Sinusubukan lang namin na tiyakin na maganda na ‘yung lengguwahe, na maayos lahat ng nais naming pag-usapan ay nandoon, at mayroon tayong maipapakita sa taumbayan na may nagawa sa nakaraang isang taon,” he said.

[Translation: We are just trying to ensure that the language is good, that everything we want to discuss is there, and that we can show the public that something has been accomplished in the past year] — T. Nodalo