West Philippine Sea, POGOs, other highlights of Marcos' speech

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. delivered his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22, announcing a ban on the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), which earned thunderous applause and a standing ovation from the audience.

''Effective today, all POGOs are banned,'' Marcos declared in his a little over an hour speech, ending speculations about the administration's policy on the online operations that have spawned illicit activities such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, torture, and murder.

“The grave abuse and disrespect to our system and laws must stop. Kailangan na itigil ang panggulo nito sa ating lipunan at paglalapastangan sa ating bansa,” he said. 

Weeks before the SONA, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto recommended a total ban on their operations due to the crimes associated with them.

Here are the other highlights of the issues discussed in the President's third SONA.

West Philippine Sea

Aside from the POGO ban, Marcos also reiterated that the country owns the West Philippine Sea, noting that it "cannot yield, cannot waiver" in protecting its sovereignty.

This was far from the position of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who chose to maintain warm ties with China during his governance. 

"Ang West Philippine Sea ay hindi isang kathang-isip natin lamang. Ito ay atin. At ito ay mananatiling atin, hangga’t nag-aalab ang diwa ng ating mahal na bansang Pilipinas," he said.

Marcos then thanked the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Coast Guard, and even the fishermen in the region for protecting and monitoring the Philippine territory. 

"Tanggapin ninyo ang taos-pusong pasasalamat ng buong bansa, dahil sa inyong ginagawang pagmamatyag at sakripisyo," he said.

Campaign vs. illegal drugs

The President also touted his administration's campaign against narcotics, saying that it did not include killings, a huge difference from Duterte's violent and bloody campaign against illegal drugs. 

"On the fight against dangerous drugs, our bloodless war on dangerous drugs adheres, and will continue to adhere, to the established '8 Es' of an effective anti-illegal drugs strategy," Marcos said.

"Extermination was never one of them," he added.

Marcos said his administration's campaign has resulted in the seizure of P44 billion worth of illegal drugs and the arrest of more than 97,000 drug personalities in its more than 71,500 operations.

Agriculture, food security 

When it comes to ensuring food security, Marcos said the government was constrained to temporarily implement mandated price ceilings on rice. He added that the extension of the reduced tariff rates to facilitate the importation of rice, corn, and pork until the end of this year was also implemented. 

"Sa kabila ng mga hamon na ating kinakaharap, nasaksihan natin ang pinakamataas na ani ng palay sa bansa nitong nakalipas na taon. Pumalo ito sa lagpas dalawampung milyong tonelada — ang pinakamataas na ani natin mula pa noong 1987," he said.

"Gayumpaman, ang ani na ito ay katumbas lamang ng labintatlong milyong tonelada ng bigas. Kulang pa rin ito para sa ating pangangailangan na labing anim na milyong tonelada ng bigas, kung kaya’t napipilitan tayong mag-angkat," he added.

Marcos also mentioned the continuous distribution of Certificates of Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) to beneficiaries. 

The President is also eyeing to make Kadiwa Centers more permanent as he sees the effectiveness of the program in providing cheaper agricultural products to consumers. 

Marcos also announced that the government is readying the distribution of vaccines against African Swine Fever to protect livestock and shield farmers from loss of their sources of livelihood.

This year, he said a total of 1,200 kilometers of farm-to-market roads all over the country will be completed.

Water, irrigation projects

Marcos said his administration is focused on providing irrigation to the country's farmlands.

"Ngayong taon, bibigyan natin ng patubig ang halos apatnapu’t limang libong ektarya ng bagong lupain. Bubuhayin din nating muli ang irigasyon sa halos tatlumpu’t walong libong ektarya ng lupain sa buong bansa," he said.

Among the projects he mentioned were the Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project in North Cotabato and Maguindanao del Sur; Cabaruan Solar-Powered Pump Irrigation Project in Quirino, Isabela; and Jalaur River Multipurpose Project in Iloilo.

"Moving forward, irrigation dams will supplement all our other bulk water projects to ensure water security for our people, especially in the underserved areas," he said.

He continued: "Sa nakalipas na dalawang taon, mahigit siyam na bilyong pisong halaga ang naging bayad-pinsala sa mga apektadong magsasaka at mangingisda. Ngunit mainam na rin na nailunsad nang maaga ang mga modernong paraan ng pagtatanim, tulad ng low-water-use farming technologies." 

"Sa ating nasimulan sa proyektong LAWA at BINHI, isinasagawa na ang mga modernong imbakan ng tubig, upang lalong maging handa at protektado ang ating mga magsasaka sa banta ng tagtuyot," he added.

Education, livelihood 

Marcos also wants the national learning recovery program to proceed as soon as possible, citing recent assessments which showed that more than half of learners in grades 6, 10, and 12 have failed to reach the ideal proficiency levels and scored low in information literacy, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.

He added that the digital gap should also be addressed with as much intensity.

Marcos further stressed that the quality of the country's education system rests on the quality of our teachers. 

He emphasized the need to uplift and upskill teachers, whose competence and trademark Filipino patience, determination, and compassion will be at the core of the national learning recovery.

In his speech, Marcos also reported that the employment rate has increased to 95.9%. 

He said the government also saw an increase in middle-skilled employment, wage and salaried employment, and full-time jobs.

Health

The President committed to bringing mobile primary care clinics in every province to extend healthcare services to people living outside the metro.

Marcos is eyeing that all provinces will have enough centers or facilities that are capable of providing basic medical services to those who are in need. 

He said the health sector would continue to increase the quality of hospitals and specialty centers, all while modern hospitals are being built by the government and private sector. 

Intended to decongest public hospitals, Marcos said the Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service or BUCAS Centers shall provide competent ambulatory care, most especially to the poor and to the disadvantaged, for health conditions that do not require hospital admission. 

He said he wants all provinces to have a mobile clinic to provide laboratory examination and other basic services to the people.

The President announced that the recently launched “Walang Gutom 2027” will be fully rolled out from the initial 2,300 households to 300,000 food-poor households across the country by the end of the year. The program will go on until it can feed the one million most food-poor Filipinos by 2027. 

"To ensure the health and nutrition of children zero to two years old from the poorest families, we have proposed in the 2025 Budget a new grant under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program for this purpose," he said.

"Sa pamamagitan nito, ang isang buntis o ang isang ina na benepisyaryo ng 4Ps ay mabibigyan ng karagdagang tulong-pinansyal na laan para sa kanya at kanyang anak," he added.

Security, criminal justice

In ensuring peace and order, Marcos said the country's police, military, and coast guard undergo continuous capacity-building and asset-upgrading.

He said there was an overall decrease in the crime rate and an improvement in crime solution efficiency. However, Marcos said this is still not enough as law enforcers need to earn the trust of the general public. 

Meanwhile, Marcos mentioned that the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ''has impressively established the strong foundation for its progressive autonomous social development.''

He said investments continue to pour into the BARMM, adding that the peace and order situation in the region has improved. 

Marcos also touted that the new rules on criminal investigation and independent judiciary will function in unison. 

"In tandem with the justice system, the Commission on Audit's mechanism works in harmony with our transparency, streamlining, and open government initiatives. All in all, these successfully foster a culture of accountability that curbs corruption in government," he said.

"With the newly enacted Republic Act No. 12009 that I signed just last Saturday, government procurement will be modern and innovative, more streamlined and efficient, and truly at par with global best practices," he added.

Internet services, power

Marcos said power and internet services are continuously being upgraded in both capacity and connectivity. 

"As part of our nationwide internet infrastructure development, phase 1 of the National Fiber Backbone has been completed and operationalized. Phases 2 and 3 have already begun early this year, and shall be completed by 2026. This fiber backbone will give us sufficient capacity in terms of bandwidth," he said.

"As of 2022, only seventy-seven percent or 20.6 million households were connected to the Internet.  This is much too low," he added.

With private partners, Marcos urged the efficient use of common towers to provide connectivity to the people.

"Bigger and faster IT infrastructure requires stronger and more impervious cyber-defense. Our recently launched National Cybersecurity Plan lays down the blueprint for us to safeguard our systems against cyberattacks," he said.

As for the energy projects, he said new investments are being poured into the sector to increase at a steady pace. 

"Nireremedyuhan natin ang pangangailangan ng mga lugar na wala pang kuryente at madalas ma-brownout, sa pamamagitan ng microgrid at off-grid systems, at mga missionary small power utilities na sinusuportahan ng solar," he said.

Running through Bataan, Pampanga, and Bulacan, he touted the newly inaugurated Mariveles-Hermosa-San Jose transmission line that will further strengthen the reliability of the Luzon power grid. 

In the Visayas, Marcos said all stages of the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone project have likewise been completed. This project shall serve to stabilize the power situation in Western and Central Visayas.

Dahil sa proyektong ito, naiwasan ang blackouts sa Panay Island noong Abril hanggang Hunyo, sa kabila ng yellow at red alerts sa rehiyon. 

The Dumanjug-Corella Line of the Cebu-Bohol Interconnection Project was also recently energized, enabling the transfer of power between Cebu and Bohol. 

"With these systems currently operating at capacity, these major power lines shall contribute to the efficient power exchanges not only between Luzon and the Visayas, but also involving Mindanao. Energy sharing and transfers between, among, and within the three island groups have now been made possible with the energization last January of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection," he said.

"The energization of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection is a defining moment not only for the power sector but for the entire country. Finally, we have connected the power grids of all three major island groups," Marcos added.

After his more than an hour speech, Marcos immediately left Batasang Pambansa, escorted by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Senate President Francis ''Chiz'' Escudero. 

He did not face the media. —LDF, GMA Integrated News