ON SONA 2024: The margins continue to be excluded

In a democracy, the State of the Nation Address (SONA) should reflect how well the country is upholding democratic values. During his third SONA, President Marcos aimed to boost his declining popularity by making swipes against former UNITEAM partners. However, this sidelined the real issues, as the country continues to regress in terms of equality, liberty, and justice.

Against a cacophony of newly passed laws and a somewhat overly general and vague plans to resolve perennial issues faced by the country, Marcos’s SONA is more of an attack on the legacy of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte. In his report of a bloodless war on drugs, Marcos alluded to the more than 20,000 people exterminated by Duterte since he took office last 2016. More importantly, the 2024 SONA highlighted the ban on all Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs). He directed the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to wind down the operations of existing POGOs which could be recalled was legitimized through a law passed by Duterte in 2021.

However, these tirades against his former UNITEAM partners deflected attention from the pressing issues facing the country. By focusing on political rivalries, he sidestepped addressing the significant challenges of declining democracy in the Philippines. This diversion prevented a meaningful discussion on how to reverse the country's regression in these critical democratic values.

 

 

President Marcos's silence on pivotal issues like divorce and the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Bill is a manifestation of the neglect of personal freedoms in the Philippines. 

In a country that prides itself on democratic values, the absence of legal divorce represents a significant barrier to true liberty. The Philippines is the only nation besides the Vatican where divorce is outlawed, largely due to the enduring influence of the Catholic Church. This restriction traps countless individuals primarily disenfranchised women in unhappy and often abusive marriages, denying them the basic human right to pursue happiness and safety as the current legal process for annulments are not only arduous but also costly for most Filipinos.

  

The stagnation of the SOGIE Bill in Congress for over two decades is another glaring example of this failure to protect personal freedoms. This bill, intended to shield LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, is vital for ensuring that all Filipinos can live with dignity and respect. Yet, the President’s silence on this issue leaves gender minorities exposed to prejudice and violence in their workplaces, schools, and homes. The lack of legal protections perpetuates a cycle of marginalization and fear, where simply existing as one's true self can lead to harassment and exclusion.

 

Without clear support from the President, the rights and freedoms of these marginalized groups remain unprotected, leaving a significant portion of the population vulnerable. The struggle for divorce and the SOGIE Bill is not merely about changing laws; it is about recognizing and affirming the humanity of those who have been marginalized for far too long. It is about providing hope and security to those trapped in abusive marriages and those whose identities subject them to daily injustices.

 

 

Although President Marcos mentioned  the challenges and consequent plans to uplift the lives of Filipinos in his SONA, the extent to which he discussed the situation is not reflective of the real state of the country which is elite driven. The statistics paint a stark picture: the top 1% of earners capture 17% of the national income, while the bottom 50% must share a mere 14%. Moreover, an SWS survey from March 2024 reveals another distressing reality where nearly half of Filipino families, approximately 12.9 million, consider themselves poor. Another 33% are on the borderline, living on the precarious edge of poverty. This means that for the majority of the population, daily life is a relentless struggle to make ends meet.

 

The issue of the minimum wage further exacerbates this inequality. Despite being mentioned in the SONA, the increase in the minimum wage remains insufficient to bridge the gap between what workers earn and what they need to survive. The Ibon Foundation highlights this disparity starkly, the national average minimum wage is P442, while the family living wage for a family of five is P1,210. This leaves a wage gap of P768, a chasm that millions of families are expected to leap daily just to afford basic necessities.

 

The implications of these unmentioned facts are profound and heartbreaking and deserve to be highlighted in a supposed state of the nation address. The president cannot hide behind macroeconomic figures that do not make sense to an average Filipino as the reality for most of them is that economic inequality is not just a matter of numbers, it translates into real, tangible suffering for millions of people. It means parents going to bed hungry so their children can eat, young people forgoing education to help support their families, and individuals working multiple jobs yet still falling short of a dignified life. 

 

The persistent gap between the rich and the poor is a stark reminder of the work that still needs to be done. For a democracy to thrive, it must ensure that all its citizens have the opportunity to prosper, not just a privileged few. We must demand more from our leaders, to advocate for policies that genuinely address economic disparities, and to work towards a society where every individual has the chance to live with dignity. 

 

 

In his SONA, President Marcos did not raise anything substantial regarding the judiciary, failing to reflect the current state of justice in the Philippines. This omission is particularly concerning given the significant challenges the country faces in this area. The justice system in the Philippines is notoriously slow, a fact underscored by the plight of political prisoners. Rappler reports that political prisoners in the Philippines face a bleak outlook: on average, they spend four years in jail awaiting trial without judgment. According to data from rights groups Karapatan and Kapatid, there are 801 political prisoners in the country, with 672 of them being pre-trial detainees. This means that the majority are languishing in jail without having been convicted of any crime. This four-year wait far exceeds the Supreme Court's envisioned six-month period for a trial to conclude and a judgment to be rendered.

Another critical issue in the Philippine justice system is the lack of adequate representation for those accused of crimes. According to the World Justice Project in 2023, the Philippines scored a dismal 0.27, ranking 135th out of 142 countries in terms of due process of the law and rights of the accused. This abysmal score means that the basic rights of criminal suspects are not respected to the extent that the presumption of innocence, freedom from arbitrary arrest, reasonable pre-trial detention, and access to adequate legal assistance are not met. In fact, The average public lawyer in the Philippines handles 340 cases per year, a workload that is overwhelming and unsustainable. This heavy caseload means that each case receives minimal attention, compromising the quality of defense that public lawyers can provide. This system not only violates the rights of the accused but also perpetuates a cycle of injustice, where those without resources are unable to mount a proper defense.

 

Given this state, it was imperative for the President to call and advocate to reduce the backlog of cases, ensure timely trials, and provide adequate legal representation for all. Only then can the Philippines hope to build a justice system that truly serves its people and upholds the principles of fairness and equality. The fight for justice is not merely a legal battle; it is a fight for the soul of the nation, a fight to ensure that every individual is treated with dignity and respect under the law.

The omission of crucial matters, such as the SOGIE Bill, divorce, undignified minimum wage, the obvious imbalance between the rich and poor, and continued violations of constitutional rights by his administration and allies, raises serious concerns about the sincerity and commitment to justice, equality, and liberty. Actual progress can only be achieved by addressing the intersectionality of hardships faced by marginalized communities and upholding constitutional rights for all citizens. Without this, any claim of a Bagong remains hollow, unfulfilled, and undemocratic.