State of the Nation: Addressing the problems

Red carpets were literally taken off from the floors when President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (PBBM) delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City last Monday.

- MARICHU A. VILLANUEVA

Lawmakers and guests all walked on the shiny marbled floors of the Batasan, fully waxed and well-polished on SONA day. Except for the wall-to-wall carpet of the Batasan session hall, PBBM walked the entire length of the naked floors of the connecting halls going to the podium for his SONA.

Fashionably dressed men and women usually go through the ramp-like walk on the red carpet at the traditional joint opening session of the Senate and the House of Representatives each SONA year. But as previously announced, the respective leadership of the 20th Congress banned the roll out of the red carpets. This was supposedly in deference to the situation of many Filipinos still reeling from the severe disaster incidents the past two weeks prior to the SONA.

Three successive typhoons, Crising, Dante and Emong, combined with the habagat or monsoon rains, caused 34 reported deaths due to severe flooding and landslides in Metro Manila and other parts of the country. Many people wallowing in poverty suffered more economic dislocations with the typhoon damage to their poor houses and livelihoods. Daily wage earners lost much needed revenues with suspension of work and offices for several days.

It did not stop PBBM from reciting in his SONA statistics and his administration's accomplishment report.

Many of the intervention measures that PBBM announced at the SONA included more freebies for the remaining three years of his term. From "zero" hospital billing to "free" internet supposedly in all public schools nationwide, all the people in the audience heartily applauded every piece of feel-good announcement of PBBM.