Resilience, pride,dignity

Monday’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. should be one of the most substantial speeches of his six-year presidency which ends on June 30, 2028. It should summon time-honored values essential to nation-building – resilience, pride, dignity.

Resilience. Elected with the largest vote (31.6 million or 59 percent) ever for a president, Marcos Jr. has survived the most difficult years of his presidency, from 2024 til today.

The past three years have seen the most active and most blatant attempts to destabilize his government or overthrow him outright, with Vice President Sara Duterte announcing on at least three occasions she wants the President killed – either by strangulation which she imagined she herself would do and through hired assassin/s.  Sara’s brother, Davao Mayor Baste Duterte, has publicly declared he wants the President’s head in a killing reminiscent of the end of the Romanovs (the ruling tsar family whose members were shot and bayoneted by the communists to death in 1918).

Resilience and pride. The economy grew by an average of 5.8 percent in the first four years of the Marcos Jr. presidency, one of the best economic growth rates in the region.  Growth was broad-based, resulting in the Philippines achieving what it has failed to do in the past 40 years – become an upper-middle income country (UMIC).

The Philippines is now a member of the UMIC Club of 59 countries which make between $4,636 and $14,375 in per capita gross national income (GNI) per year. Our GNI per capita is $4,850 – only $120 below Vietnam’s per capita GNI of $4,970, meaning the Philippines is not that far behind the growth pace of Asia’s growth superstar, Vietnam, despite our rambunctious democracy (Vietnam is a one-party socialist republic and is run by its communist party) and our so-called corrupt governance (Vietnam kills its corrupt officials; in Manila, the big-time thieves and malcontents are given due process and a televised impeachment trial).

Pride and dignity. The Philippines has become an economic, security and strategic partner of world powers. Manila marches with these powers as an equal and a reliable partner.

The Philippines expanded its network of security alliances beyond traditional partners to counter regional maritime threats. On top of its core defensive arrangement under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the US, Manila has formalized Visiting Forces Agreements with France and Japan, and strategic trilateral partnerships with the United States and Japan.

A historic Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) with France enables joint military training and expanding European security engagement in the Indo-Pacific.

The Philippines elevated its bilateral relations with Japan to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest level. The milestone reflects exceptional mutual trust and deepening cooperation amid evolving Indo-Pacific challenges, with key focus on defense, maritime security, economic growth and investments, in strategic areas like AI, green industries and semiconductors.

The Philippines has joined the US-led Pax Silica coalition of 13 countries to secure supply chains for artificial intelligence, semiconductors and critical minerals, and to reduce reliance on Chinese rare-earth tech. For this, the Philippines is building a 1,600-hectare AI industrial hub in New Clark City.

Resilience and pride. Despite the much talked about economic slowdown, the Philippine economy produced its first Filipino trillionaire, Enrique Razon. The college dropout is worth P1.26 trillion ($20.45 billion) because of rising market values of his companies engaged in port operations, casino, utilities and energy.

Resilience and pride. The Philippines has produced its first Filipino global tennis star, Alexander “Alex” Eala, 21. She has a career high singles WTA ranking of World No. 28.  She became the first Filipino to reach the fourth round (Round of 16) of a Grand Slam singles tournament. At Wimbledon, she defeated the world No. 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek.

Not many people realize it but BBM’s presidency has seen the largest ever campaign launched against the most corrupt species of public officials and private contractors ever to strut in the islands of this benighted archipelago.

One popular ex-senator, Bong Revilla, is in jail. Two incumbent senators are in jail – Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta. All three for the non-bailable charge of plunder  – defined as a series of acts involving the stealing of P50 million or more, whether the money is tax money or private money. The Office of the Ombudsman is preparing to file non-bailable plunder and money laundering charges against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, ranking senators and a dozen other lawmakers. The National Bureau of Investigation is looking into fund anomalies that attended the construction of the P50-million cauldron and other facilities for the 2019 SEAGames under then foreign secretary Alan Peter Cayetano. Since the amounts involved reached billions, is Alan destined for jail for plunder too? He feels threatened though he has not been named by the NBI as a suspect.

Not many people realize it but famous people who otherwise would be gallivanting around the world spending stolen money or money tainted with blood are in jail for various offenses. The Philippines’ most popular president Rodrigo Duterte has been in jail in The Hague since March 11, 2025. He is accused of killing between 6,200 and 30,000 civilians in the largest mass execution ever waged by a presidency. Apollo Quiboloy, the self-proclaimed “appointed son of God” is in jail for sex trafficking and other sex offenses. Former Negros Oriental congressman Arnolfo Teves is in jail for the 2023 assassination of Negros Oriential governor Noel Degamo.

What about Sara Duterte? She threatened to kill President Marcos Jr., First Lady Louise Araneta Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. That shows character defect and unfitness to be in public office. She accumulated billions in her bank accounts despite having earned only P30 million in her years as a public official. That is unexplained wealth. By law, unexplained wealth is proof of corruption. That shows unfitness to be in public office and to run for the highest position in the land.

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