Progressives scored President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) earlier this afternoon, saying he offered the Filipino people nothing new but war brinkmanship.
Reacting to Marcos’ speech before Congress, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) said the true state of the nation is one of debilitating economic crisis, rising fascism, surrender of sovereignty, lack of accountability and endless infighting among the ruling elite.
Leading the traditional People’s SONA rally along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, the umbrella alliance of dozens of progressive organizations said Marcos’ “Bagong Pilipinas” remains an empty slogan marred by endless bickering among the Marcos and Duterte factions.
BAYAN featured two main effigies in this year’s People’s SONA, one showing Marcos and his Vice President Sara Duterte exchanging blows while the other showed their likeness in a giant ball as “people’s enemies.”
“The maneuverings of those in power, who are seeking to remain in power, take place amid rising prices, low wages, widespread poverty, landlessness and unemployment,” BAYAN said.
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Duterte did not attend Marcos’ SONA, a controversial move that highlights the unequivocal end to the “Uniteam” tandem that resulted in the two’s declaration as winners in the 2022 national elections.
Duterte allies, Senators Bong Go and Ronald dela Rosa, also snubbed Marcos’ SONA.
The protesters destroyed both effigies to symbolize their disgust at both parties as Marcos was in the middle of his speech at the Batasan Complex nearby.
Bayan also criticized the P20 million peso SONA budget for “overkill security and tone-deaf pageantry” that shows insensitivity amid people’s poverty and suffering.
People’s issues
BAYAN added it is business as usual for the big landlords, foreign big business and corrupt bureaucrat capitalists under Marcos.
“The approaching mid-term elections has whipped the ruling elite into a frenzy of maneuvers and counter-maneuvers as they all seek to gain advantage for themselves for 2025. While they gather today under one roof, we see the deep division among those in power, a sign of the worsening political crisis yet to come,” the alliance said.
BAYAN also said there has been no accountability for human rights violations and large-scale corruption of the Duterte regime as the Marcos government continues with weaponization of laws against critics.
“Human rights violations are on the rise due to the use of the ‘anti-terror law’ against dissenters,” it said.
BAYAN said the Filipino people demand genuine freedom and democracy as well as land reform, national industrialization, economic self-reliance, genuine sovereignty, respect for human rights and real democracy.
“The current situation has shown us the utter bankruptcy of the leadership of the various factions and parties of the ruling elite. They have all failed to solve the crisis and are in fact responsible for the crisis,” it said.
BAYAN also noted that Marcos has not made any serious peace efforts and has not re-constituted the government’s peace panel that would resume peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
War brinkmanship
Despite receiving applause from his supporters in Congress when he declared “Atin ang West Philippine Sea,” (The West Philippine Sea is ours), BAYAN said Marcos is pushing the Philippines to the brink of war by firmly aligning his government to US provocations in the region aimed at China.
“We are fast becoming a playground for the war games of superpowers. First it was the US VFA then Australia, now Japan, and soon we will have a VFA with France, Canada and New Zealand,” the alliance said.
BAYAN added the country has been reduced to a staging ground for the power projection of imperialist countries and a host for their troops, bases and weapons.
“The geopolitical developments between the US and China have also influenced the domestic crisis in the Philippines as both the US and China give support for their favored puppets,” referring to the Marcos camp that clearly favors the US and the Duterte camp that has been pro-China since the last administration. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
