By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
I watched the full live coverage of the 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA) of PBBM last July 22, 2024. To me, it was not boring as some would have it.
FPRRD claims that Pres Marcos Jr. is lazy, not working, and only making pasyal-pasyal. So I intently listened to the speech of the President to see if there were accomplishments worth noting.
The report was worth watching and listening to, unless you are a close-minded, biased critic of PBBM. It was quirky, but I initially tried to note down how many times the President’s speech was interrupted by applause-appreciative or otherwise. After counting at least 30, and not even 30 minutes into the speech, I stopped recording. Of course the SONA took about one-and-a-half hours punctuated by two standing ovations towards the end.
I don’t know if there were rah rah boys among the 3,000 or so spectators inside the Batasang Pambansa where the SONA was held. Truth is, most of the congressmen and senators in attendance were leading the applause as the live cameras clearly showed. I guess, this is proof that the SONA was not that boring. And the president is really working, never mind if others find him a bit slow in making decisions.
PBBM made agriculture, being close to his heart, one of the top concerns in his SONA, devoting more than 15 mins for it.
The SONA covered accomplishments in so many areas, including agriculture, agrarian reform, energy, infrastructures, tourism, education, nutrition for school kids, health concerns, sports, cyber security, WPS, national defense, and space satellite. These are highly likely to redound to the benefit of Filipino citizens.
With the advancements made by the country in various fronts, as indicated in the SONA, I can understand now why our tycoons like Ramon Ang of San Miguel, Enrique Razon of ICTSI, and Lance Gokongwei, of JG Summit, have heaped high praises for this administration. And they are backstopping such with their new, very huge added investments to the local economy.
Well, the accomplishments are neither here nor there, according to staunch critics of the president.
I believe the Cordillera region can readily relate very much to at least 2 areas in PBBM’s speech: agriculture, and climate change. A third could be irrigation.
PBBM mentioned that the country produced over 20 million metric tons of palay last year, the highest rice yield ever. It translates to 13 million metric tons of milled rice, but it is still short of 3million metric tons of the rice demand locally.
Although Cordillera supplies less than 5% of the total rice requirement, our farmers have shown the ability to produce much higher yield when provided with the right support. We have also agriculture staff that are willing to do their share in helping the farmers. Provide the support, the right technology, and the region could serve as a model on how to substantially increase rice production and bring down costs-from seeding/planting to milling, distribution and marketing-especially in Kalinga, Apayao and Abra. This should bring down the price of rice.
Agri-smuggling was also noted in the president’s speech. If the national government wants Benguet and Mtn Province to continue supplying sub-tropical vegetables, smuggling must be curbed seriously. Price stabilization of vegetables must also be given proper attention, together with an honest-to-goodness provision of cold storage facilities. Add to that, the training of people to process vegetables, dried or otherwise, as the final product for the market.
A week before the SONA, ZZW chronicled in its July 21 issue PBBM’s visit to Apayao for the first time. He became an adopted son of the province, given the name, Pamingalan.
He brought with him the secretaries of DA, DSWD, DTI, DOLE, and DILG. They distributed more than PhP300.0 million worth of ayudas to farmers/fisherfolks affected especially by El Nino, and other pre-qualified beneficiaries. Provincial LGUs were also handed cash assistance as follows: PhP 50.0 million each to Apayao, Kalinga, Ifugao, Mtn. Prov; PhP34.0 million to Abra; and PhP 29.7 million to Benguet.
During the program, the president was all smiles. He expressed his elation to finally set foot in the province. This perceived fondness not only of Apayao but also of the whole Cordillera region, must not be lost on us. Local and regional officials should prepare proposals for submission to the national government to further advance agriculture in the region.
In relation to the climate change, the Philippines was mentioned as one of the hosts of the international fund for this. That means, we have the leverage to spend it as wisely as possible to mitigate climate change. Our local experts from SUCs, other HEIs, DENR and others should be involved in relevant researches.
Cordillera is in a unique environmental niche, thus it must be a part of fitting environmental protection studies program.
The irrigation system that the government is pursuing at present has a new paradigm. The irrigation system now includes simultaneously flood control whenever possible.
In one of the media Huntahan in Quezon city that I attended, I was told that even municipal governments may initiate or propose appropriate irrigation systems for themselves. Why not take advantage of this?
We just saw last week what happened in Metro Manila and other places in the Philippines due to storm Carina. The flood was devastating. With irrigation system cum flood control, it will be hitting two birds with one stone.
By the way, PBBM ended his SONA with a quotation from John Stuart Mill:
“Let not anyone pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can not do harm if he takes no part and forms no opinion. Bad man need nothing more to compass their ends than that good man should look on and do nothing.”
PBBM added his own words to the above: “He is not a good man. He is not a good man who with out a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name”.
It’s up to you to consider whether that is a political statement intended for somebody or as a general statement to encourage action by all.**
