29/07/2025
๐ฆ๐ข๐ก๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฑ: For Development, For Solutions, For the People
July 28, 2025 โ Current Philippine President Ferdinand โBongbongโ Marcos Jr. delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address at 4 PM today, addressing the current issues faced by the country and putting forward the accomplishments of his administration in the past three years.
PBBM started off by acknowledging the members of the Congress, his family and relatives, as well as the newly elected senators and municipal government officials. The President opened his SONA not by highlighting the accomplishments of his administration, but by admitting the shortcomings of the government. โ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ข๐ฏโฆ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐จ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ข๐ฏ,โ PBBM stated.
On the issue of the widely advertised platform of PBBMโs P20-per-kilo rice which he promised during his campaign, the President believes that the current administration has proven that this stunt is indeed possible. It should be noted, however, that this was made accessible as a subsidy project funded by the government which benefitted low-income families, but caused a loss to the rice farmers who were forced to sell their rice at a very low price.
Other accomplishments reported by PBBM during his SONA are the established biosecure facilities and nationwide vaccines against ASF virus in response to the continuous price hike of pork in the market. As for the education sector, the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning or ARAL Program continues its effectivity, focusing on enhancing studentsโ skills in math and science subjects. Tutoring and remedial programs were also conducted and PBBM encouraged schools to continue such initiatives to promote volunteerism and to provide internship and preemployment opportunities for the youth.
PBBM also flaunted the Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service or BUCAS Centers, as well as the operation of the eGOV app which serves as an accessible means to acquire government services.
โ๐๐ข ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ข๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ข [๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ] ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ต-๐ญ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ต,โ PBBM stated. The President mentioned several projects and programs that he will implement before the end of his administration, with major projects covering the economic, education, social, and development sectors of the Philippines.
PBBM pushes the strengthening of government programs related to agriculture by increasing the production of rice and agricultural products as well as high-class hybrid coconuts for export. The President also mentioned investing in science and technology for improved farming as well as scholarships in agriculture.
The arrival of laptops and other teaching materials for public school teachers was also mentioned and PBBM ensured that there were no anomalies in its acquisition. More subsidies and financial assistances will also be offered which is targeted to benefit around 200,600 students.
PhilHealth will also cover more benefits, as per PBBMโs statement, which will now include cardiac-related diseases, cancer, dialysis, medicine and check-ups, and other outpatient services. Medical assistance services will also be more accessible via eGOV app, and PBBM states that all transactions will be free in DOH hospitals.
PBBMโs administration also gave way to several infrastructure developments under the Build Better More (BBM) Program, with promises for future projects such as the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge, PNR Bicol Line rails, and the rehabilitation of the Guadalupe Bridge.
Acknowledging that corruption is present within his administration, PBBM called out those involved in plundering and graft. He called out water districts and their joint venture partners responsible for poor rendering of services in water resource, as well as those who conspired in acquiring funds meant for flood-control projects. With this, PBBM will require a list of projects per region which will be audited, reviewed, and published for public scrutiny and assessment.
โ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ข๐บ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐ด๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ข๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ด๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ข๐ฏ,โ PBBM stated. Now at the midterm of his administration, this SONA shows the focus of the administration on development for the people. The President assures that the outcomes of his term may not materialize now but will be apparent in the next administration; โ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ,โ he added.
The President ends his SONA with more focus on future endeavors instead of current achievements, and he reminds the Filipinos of their identity and values, and that the government will always be of service for them. โ๐๐ข๐ด๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ช๐บ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ข๐ฏโฆ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐บ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ข๐บ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ. ๐๐ข๐บ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ.โ
Article by Trixia Beluang, Feature Editor
Layout by Sofia Hancel Modestano, Associate Editor; Marwin Oliquino, Editor-in-Chief
