President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his first State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 25, 2022, at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City. (Screengrab from RTVM)
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is planning to have another State of the Nation Address (Sona), but he will address specific stakeholders, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Tuesday.
Zubiri said that he heard about Marcos having an idea to do another Sona with a full Cabinet slate on stage and discuss several issues before different sectors and stakeholders.
“If I’m not mistaken, he wants to have another Sona for the stakeholders. I didn’t ask him that personally, but I spoke to two secretaries, and he had this idea in Malacañang in one of the Cabinet meetings,” he said in an interview on ABS CBN News Channel.
“He wants to do another one (Sona) with a full Cabinet slate on stage and discuss it to the different sectors, in the foreign chambers, in all industries concerned, and he wants to lay it out one by one how he wants to do it,” Zubiri added.
Zubiri described the President’s speech as “quite comprehensive,” saying Marcos was able to “cover most of the bases” Filipinos want to hear from him.
“For me, it was quite a comprehensive speech. If he said more, it would be a telenovela. I think he wants to focus on this first,” he said.
“What’s important is he was able to cover all the bases. It’s impossible to cram all things in one speech unless one expects a telenovela,” Zubiri added.
Zubiri lauded the President for his speech, saying it was clear and was able to touch on so many topics “vital for the development of our country,” including the 19-point legislative agenda for Congress.
He also praised Marcos for having a plan for the country’s economy: how to increase the Gross Domestic Product growth rate, on the plan to decrease the poverty rate, and increase the middle class.