Marcos' 2nd SONA to last 1 hour and 25 mins, Cong. Sandro says

Presidential son and Ilocos Norte Representative Ferdinand Alexander "Sandro" Marcos said Monday that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) would be an hour and twenty-five minutes long.

In an interview with reporters, Sandro said his father wrote his own speech.

"It's so different than the first year. He wrote the speech... I think to begin with medyo mahaba, pero he was able to shave it down a little bit," said Sandro.

"It will essentially be a report on what has been done in the last year and what problems we continue to face," the lawmaker added.

According to Marcos, his father does not want to have a long speech.

"As a general rule, ang sinasabi niya lagi if it goes over one hour thirty, one hour forty-five, wala ng makikinig sayo," Sandro said.

He also said that his mother, First Lady Louise "Liza" Araneta-Marcos, did not intervene in writing the speech.

"Hindi talaga siya nakikialam sa mga ganoon," he said, noting that they only provided moral support to the President.

Meanwhile, when asked if former First Lady Imelda Marcos would attend the SONA, the neophyte lawmaker said he has no idea yet.

Earlier, Senator Imee Marcos said they are still convincing their mother to attend the SONA. 

“Kino-convince namin. Gusto pumunta pero pinagbabawalan pa ng doktor kasi masyadong marami daw tao,” said Sen. Imee Marcos. 

(We are convincing here. She wants to go, but her doctor is against it because there would be so many people.) 

Asked if the former First Lady will just watch the SONA virtually, Senator Marcos said: “Ewan ko last two minutes magde-decide ‘yon.”

(Maybe she'll decide in the last two minutes.)

In May, Imee said Mrs. Imelda Marcos had undergone angioplasty. 

Expectations

Meanwhile, Dean Philip Arnold Tuaño of the Ateneo School of Government is hoping that Marcos will do a better job in shepherding his priority legislations after his second SONA. 

Tuaño noted that while the President was able to rally his congressional allies to pass the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill into law less than a year after it was filed in the House, he only managed to do the same to only one measure he mentioned during his first SONA.

“SONA is a time for assessment and a good time to look at the legislative achievements of the President. If you remember, he promised 20 priority bills, but these are passed [only] in the House. It has some weight, but in the Senate, these are not the priority or not even filed yet,” Tuaño told GMA News Online in a Zoom interview.

“The President should make clear what his priorities actually are... He should mention these several times to persuade the public, and his priorities should be clear to legislators because otherwise, why would they actually act on them?,” Tuaño added.

Lastly, Tuaño said priority legislations should include political reforms that will redound to the people.

“The legislative process should have political reforms where there is participation from the general public. How does the government work on transparency and accountability?,” Tuaño said.

“Those are the ones missing: reforms on the political side such as devolution of governance to local government units and improving access to public services,” Tuaño added. —with Llanesca T. Panti/ VAL, GMA Integrated News