Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s pronouncements during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22 are far from reality and the daily suffering of the Filipino people. He only used the SONA to cover up the economic crisis and repeatedly boast of his grand-sounding “victories” and flaunt his “Bagong Pilipinas.”

Marcos conjured a false reality. He deliberately downplayed glaring problems such as skyrocketing prices of food, services and utilities, insufficient wages, high unemployment and contractualization, land and livelihood grabbing, and a growing number of victims of extrajudicial killings and repression.

Only big businesses, foreign capitalists, and bureaucrat-capitalists were happy with Marcos’ speech. They all benefited from his corruption, his government’s all-out import liberalization policy, foreign-funded and government-guaranteed infrastructure projects strongly opposed by the people, cheap labor policy, and conversion of thousands of hectares of land to attract foreign investment.

The People’s SONA

The true state of the nation was clearly heard in the streets outside Congress, as well as in the provinces, and in the cries of migrant workers overseas. Led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), thousands of Filipinos protested on the day of the third SONA.

Despite the rains, thousands of peasants, workers, youth, women, drivers and jeepney operators, national minorities, urban poor, teachers, health workers, government employees and other democratic sectors marched along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

Bayan condemned the Marcos regime for wasting ₱20 million for preparation, food and other expenses for the SONA. It also condemned Marcos’ deployment of 23,000 policemen in Metro Manila to impede the protests. The bulk of national democratic groups were blocked from marching to Batasan Pambansa near the Diliman Doctors Hospital.

More than 600 people from Southern Tagalog joined the protest. Before the SONA, they held a caravan led by the regional chapter of Bayan. The regional delegation staged a series of protests at various agencies in Metro Manila, including a rally at the US embassy.

Meanwhile, Makabayan Bloc representatives dated to wore ‘protest outfits’ or clothing with painted slogans and images of the sectors they represent, defying an earlier ban by Congress and threats to bar their entry.

Similar protests and marches were also launched in Baguio City on July 21, and in Albay, Naga City, Cebu City, Bacolod City, Iloilo City, Roxas City in Capiz, Aklan, and Davao City on July 22. The activities took place despite the militarization of rural villages and police blockades and checkpoints in the city.

Around 200 political prisoners held a one-day protest fast to condemn the Marcos regime and to expose their conditions in overcrowded prisons. More than 100 fasted in the island of Negros. Those in Palawan, Camarines Sur and Metro Manila also expressed solidarity.

Despite being thousands of miles away from the motherland, Filipino migrant groups in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia staged activities led by Bayan and Migrante chapters from July 21 to July 24.

Activities were held in five cities in Canada, in seven areas in the United States where 1,100 Filipinos participated, in Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. There were mass actions in three places in Australia while one was held in New Zealand. In Asia, Filipino migrants held activities in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.