'I want the President to talk about . . .' | Tanong ng Times
'I want the President to talk about . . .' | Tanong ng Times
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22, 2024. In its special coverage, the Times interviewed government officials and ordinary Filipinos about what they would want to hear from the President's SONA. Here's what they said on Tanong ng Times.
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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22, 2024. In its special coverage, the Times interviewed government officials and ordinary Filipinos about what they would want to hear from the President's SONA. Here's what they said on Tanong ng Times.
Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe
Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net
Follow us:
Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook
Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram
Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter
DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion
Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital
Check out our Podcasts:
Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify
Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts
Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic
Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer
Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein
#TheManilaTimes
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NewsTranscript
00:00President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his third State of the Nation Address at Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City on Monday, July 22, 2024.
00:10Tanong ng Times asks the people,
00:12What do you wish to hear from President Marcos on his third SONA?
00:16What do you wish to hear from President Marcos on his third SONA?
00:24It is important for us to hear concrete progress on health care programs that will meet the basic needs of every Filipino, especially in the field of health care.
00:37This includes ensuring that all qualified health care workers will be able to pay their Health Emergency Allowance or HEA.
00:48Just like any president in any SONA, we should expect the President to state the current situation of the country.
00:55And secondly, his plan for the next year, not just for the Congress, but for our country and our fellow Filipinos.
01:03And of course, on the day of the election, we will have the opportunity to hold our fellow Filipinos to give them hope, strength, and courage to face whatever challenges we face as a country.
01:15I am eager to hear from our beloved President the steps and plans that we will take for the continued progress of our country and for the fulfillment of the five basic needs of every Filipino at any time.
01:33One of the things I would like to hear from President Marcos on his SONA is the implementation of constitutional amendments, especially economic reforms.
01:49Hopefully, this includes political reforms as well. We have long prayed for constitutional reforms in the 1987 Constitution. This is the first thing I would like to hear from him.
02:10What does the Department of Finance want to do?
02:14I don't think that we should prioritize cargo.
02:19Total budget?
02:24Yes, because the way it's being run right now, there's a big problem right now.
02:31Definitely, we want to hear about the developments of the economy and the programs to further attract investors and ensure investors of a very healthy economy that will generate jobs, that will generate continuing progress to our country.
02:54I would like to hear his clear position on the issue of the Charter Change of Federalism and Constitutional Convention. Why?
03:06First, because these are ideas and principles that are being promoted by his own party. He is the chairman of the Federalist Party of the Philippines. So, I would like to know his position on these ideas.
03:25Second, corruption, poverty, lack of weapons, lack of jobs, and other abuses of power and other problems of our country can be seen in our Constitution.
03:43Our Constitution gives us a lot of power to the government, to control our freedom, land, power, business, and gave a lot of power to the Congress and the President to control money and exercise their power over local government autonomy.
04:09So, there are a lot of things that can be solved if we implement the law on these problems.
04:15Third, the confusion of the Congress and the Senate on what they will pass, whether the Charter Change will continue, what mode to use, can be solved if he clarifies his position on this.
04:31I think we want to support the President with respect to new capacity.
04:56Capacity like Palayan Binary is still contributing to the goals of the country to provide more electricity. And hopefully, before the end of the year, another 20 megawatts of renewable energy can come in.
05:09So, for us, all I can say is we need more investments. We need more investments in clean and renewable energy. And so, we're supportive of the government's policy to increase that and meet the target for 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2040.
05:30We wish that the President will include in his speech the increase of wages, not only in Metro Manila but nationwide.
05:44And we wish that he will also focus on the issue of addressing the contractualization. And then we wish the President also to focus on the upholding and protecting of the right to set organization.
06:08Our first call to the President is to remind all of our consumers that rice, water, and electricity are expensive.
06:24And because of that, the State of the Nation Address is very important for our government and our President to review.
06:35And I hope that the President will be able to say in front of the Senators and Congressmen in the State of the Nation Address that these measures, like the so-called LAPIDA, that this LAPIDA must be abolished because this is the root of our hardship.
06:57What is the LAPIDA? This is the path of liberalization. The T is the path of privatization. And the T of LAPIDA is deregulation.
07:12We would like to hear the good news of the first SONA. Where are we now and where will we be in the next three years? The medium-term and long-term plan and the short-term vision, what are the achievements? So we are expecting to hear those.
07:33First of all, thank you very much for this opportunity. The Department of Health wants to hear the good news from our beloved President. We know that his commitment, like what the President has done for our country regarding primary health care.
07:51It is very important that universal health care be implemented. The pandemic has passed and our country is now out of the pandemic. And now, we are hoping and waiting for the good news that our President can say about the achievements of the Department of Health, of course, and not just the DOH, but also our partners for our well-being.
08:18As a road-known representative of the OFW Partylist in the 19th Congress, of course, we want to hear the true importance of our OFWs when it comes to policies and budgets of government agencies so that they can serve our OFWs.
08:39Though, we know that our beloved President, Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, is giving importance to our OFWs. We also want to focus on our reintegration program and the livelihood assistance of our returning OFWs, especially those who are involved in political tensions in the Middle East.
09:03It is also good that our beloved President, President Bongbong Marcos, will mention our initiative and principally authored Internet Voting for our overseas Filipino workers, overseas Filipinos, and seamen so that we can have more OFWs and Filipinos to vote this coming May 12, 2025 midterm national election.
09:29Of course, the first priority is the needs of our workers, of our government sectors for the livelihood of the people. The increase in NCR is not enough for the completion of the Regional Wage Board. That's why we really want a legislative wage increase for our workers.
09:55We want to hear from the President that he will give more support for our call to fight for our West Philippine Sea. Second, the implementation of mandatory RODs to prepare our youth for any type of situation that may arise. And third, the call that we will give to him tomorrow is the Joint Resolution of the Alliance for Peace and Democracy.
10:21But of course, the bigger issues will still be inflation, food security, and all this, particularly our needs in agriculture. I think the President is on the right track. I believe that despite all the challenges in the last three years, he is able to steer the country well and secure. And we've seen how he has stood above the political nuances.
10:48I think that being an ambassador to the Philippines, we'd like to understand better how does he want to describe the Philippine situation internationally with the challenges that we're facing in the West Philippine Sea. But we're, of course, always very interested in seeing how to see the economy.
11:10Also because the European Union is looking for a free trade agreement with the Philippines. We very much hope for progress in that. And maybe that will be on the way to the President. I hope so. Let's see.
11:22So for us here at Aboyte Centro Capital Economic Estates, we see ourselves as partners to the government by providing facilities where investors can come here and take advantage of all the Philippines' advantages.
11:35So I'm looking forward to hearing the President and the Philippines' updates on the Philippine Development Plan and its own economic partner. Because that's one of the initiatives of the government that we're supporting very strongly with the investors like this.
12:05We want President Marcos to address the ICC and say that the Philippines will fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law and let the ICC implement whatever decision it makes.
12:32So that's the first. Second, of course, is the issue of the independent foreign policy. I just want to talk about foreign policy. We're changing. During the time of Gloria Arroyo, she played the China card.
12:46NBNZTE, North Rail, South Rail. During the time of Aquino, she played the US card. During the time of Duterte, she played the China card. During the time of Marcos, he played the US card.
12:57Did we see anything in all those shifts of foreign policy? No. What benefits did Gloria Arroyo receive when she played the China card? What benefits did President Aquino receive when he played the US card? What benefits did President Duterte receive when he played the China card?
13:14And now, it's the same with Marcos. So, the position of the people here is right for a long time. Independent foreign policy. Not Chinese, not American, but Filipino. Because that's the foreign policy that benefits the people.
13:32There are three things I want to hear from the upcoming President. First, he will give a dignified and dignified appearance in various platforms. Second, a plan on how to make our country more prosperous, even for our neighbors.
13:55And above all, I want to hear how he will defend the rights of the Philippines as a Philippines and a nation in our territory.
14:05We want to hear from the upcoming President that Duterte should come back so that we, the Filipinos, won't be left behind here in the Philippines. And I hope that the costs will be reduced because the budget is increasing and increasing. And to the senior citizens, I hope that the benefits for the senior citizens will be accepted. What will you do if the horse is dead?
14:31As a student, I would like the President to talk about his future plans for the education system. Now that we have a new Secretary of Education, and what more can they offer for senior high school students like myself?
14:44Were these the words you wanted to hear? We'd like to find the answers as much as you do. You've just watched another edition of Tanong ng Times.
15:00For more stories, visit nytimes.org