PBBM's post-SONA nation-building and governance imperatives

In his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) shortly after his inauguration in 2022, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. affirmed his belief that "the state of the nation is sound." After a year in office, he observed in his 2023 address before Congress "the synergy of all Filipinos working together...in a whole-of nation effort.

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Last year, he concluded by quoting John Stuart Mill, the 19th century English philosopher: "Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing."

This year's SONA was foreshadowed by two concurrent developments: first, continuous monsoon rains and three tropical storms battered the country, thereby unleashing deadly floods and landslides; and second, a nascent political storm was sparked by the Supreme Court declaration that the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte is "unconstitutional."

Moving toward the second half of its six-year tenure, this is the backdrop against which the Marcos administration must diligently soldier on and endeavor to craft a state of the nation that is significantly better than when it took office in June 2022.