The president's speech

What now? President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 28, which also marked the formal opening of the 20th Congress (both the Senate and the House). This SONA is particularly interesting because, aside from this being at the halfway mark of Marcos' presidential term, it came at the tail-end of a week-long barrage of typhoons (Crising, Dante and Emong) and southwest monsoon (habagat) that caused massive flooding in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. 

The devastating effects of the natural calamity put into spotlight the current government's ineptitude, inefficiency and corruption. The billions-of-peso flood control projects that Marcos boasted in last year’s SONA proved to be one epic failure. More likely than not, he really had no idea what he was talking about. There was no denying that the funds flowed not into some concrete, viable and long-term solutions, but into the pockets of all the persons concerned (government officials and private contractors).

Given such scenario, the citizens had come to expect that what Marcos would deliver in his fourth SONA would prove to be all lies, illusions and publicity stunt. That once again, he would just recite everything that was written in the speech without knowing what it really means. All that hour-long talk to be spent in atrocious blabber and pretentious posturing.

But I would spare you the tedious point-by-point exploration of Marcos' SONA. If you want all the facts and figures (or so they think), then simply visit the Facebook page of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO). The “official” talking-points are all there, presented in a rather bland visual aids. Of course, it helps if you actually listened to the entire SONA, no matter how a challenge it might be.

Allow me instead to highlight three interesting things (for me, at least) in Marcos' SONA. First is his “fearless” declaration of “Mahiya naman kayo!” (“You should all be ashamed!”), in reference to the brazen and remorseless corruption that has long been prevalent among politicians and other government officials. If words could literally cut deep, then a whole lot of those present in the House of Representatives (HOR) would be fatally wounded. I do not know with others, but I find Marcos' delivery of those words rather lame and insincere. If he was really brave enough, then he would have directly pointed his accusatory finger towards those who were directly in front of him at that very moment. That could have been a truly provocative gesture.

Absurdly enough, the intended audience vigorously clapped over Marcos' remark, as if those words were their rallying cry as well. How appalling! The entire scenario was really apt for a Ruben Östlund-like satire. The audience's startling response proves that corruption in the country has become something normal, like an essential aspect of Filipino culture, in such a way that it does not sound alarming anymore. It is something that has ironically become a badge of honor. 

Second is Marcos' proud announcement of PhilHealth's “zero-billing policy” in government-owned hospitals. With this policy, patients need not worry anymore as their entire medical and other related expenses will be fully shouldered by the said government-run health insurance entity. As it turns out, there are only select government hospitals that are implementing such policy.

And even then, it cannot be literally called “zero billing.” If you ever get to experience first-hand being treated in a public hospital (like myself), then you would know that, in most cases, PhilHealth would only shoulder a certain percentage of your total expenses. Aside from the fact that the actual filing for such a benefit is still mired in bureaucracy, given all the required documents and the long queue of people. As if being sick were not stressful enough, we would have to endure the stress of bureaucracy as well.

And before we forget, PhilHealth was defunded by Congress last year, while its purportedly “surplus” budget was “repurposed” towards the National Treasury. Some political experts say that such a defunding was unlawful and defeated the very essence of the Universal Health Care Law. Given PhilHealth's lack of budget, how could the government possibly sustain its “zero-billing policy” in public hospitals? Thus, what Marcos proudly declared in his SONA rather backfired against him. Is our dear president really out of touch with what is actually happening in the grassroots?

It is my firm belief that access to healthcare should always remain as one of the government's top priorities. If the citizens lack access to even the most basic health services (due to financial hardship, red tape, government negligence, etc.), then how can we expect our nation to move towards a healthy future? 

Third is how Marcos responded to the issue that has greatly affected his administration in a negative manner – flood control. In all likelihood, this is what the public was mostly anticipating, considering that merely a week before the SONA we were faced with the painful reality that the administration's flood control projects proved to be an enormous blunder. Refresh our memories a year back and we get to see that Mother Nature dispelled big-time Marcos' trumpeting of the “success” of the flood control projects merely a day after his third SONA.

And the answer that we received regarding the issue in his recent SONA? More evacuation centers! This is pretty consistent with Marcos' abandon-all-hope stance a few days prior where he callously stated that severe natural calamities like typhoon are the “new normal” and that we should already adapt to them. Rather than coming up with a comprehensive, feasible and long-term solution to the massive problem, our dear president opted to be reactive once more. This again proves how clueless he is with what is actually happening around him.

Well, Marcos promised in his SONA that he will have the mega-budgeted flood control projects audited and that he will hold accountable all those responsible for the projects' massive failure. Given his less-than-credible reputation, this will only sound good on paper, that is for sure. It is already tiring to be optimistic about what good his administration can do nowadays. If they are sincere and truly have the good of the nation on top of their minds, then just do it. Less talk, more action is what matters.

There are three more years left in the Marcos presidency. If he is still keen on redeeming himself in the eyes of the public, then he should initiate drastic and radical changes to his kind of leadership for the nation's good. Otherwise, three more years is such a long time for his kind of governance. It may come to a moment in which the people's exasperation has reached its boiling point already. Having the unstable and seditious Sara Duterte as the vice-president does not help either.