SECURING SONA | Members of the Manila Police District Civil Disturbance Management hold their final rehearsal at their headquarters in Manila for the second State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Marcos on Monday, July 24, 2023. (Photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — From trying to set himself apart from his predecessor and his late dictator father to trying to revive their family’s “Bagong Lipunan” mythos, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s efforts at image building serve both to consolidate their power and to mask the true state of the nation: economic decline and impunity.
This was the view of activist Renato Reyes, whose group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) is set to stage various protests across the metropolis as Marcos delivers his second State of the Nation Address (Sona).
“Monday’s Sona protests are justified and the people should be heard, not driven away from public spaces. The people demand higher wages, more jobs, affordable food, respect for human rights and national sovereignty, not Maharlika scams and Bagong Lipunan throwbacks,” he said.
The Quezon City government has allowed Bayan to stage a rally during the second Sona of Marcos on Monday.
According to the permit issued, the mobilization entitled “People’s Sona” may be conducted from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. along Commonwealth Avenue up to Tandang Sora Avenue.
Failing grade
“The city interposes no objection to the aforementioned activity, provided that all guidelines imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force of the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease will be strictly observed and that the normal flow of traffic will not be impeded during the entire activity,” the permit read.
Bayan expects thousands of protesters to join them in the rally that will start at 9 a.m. at the Commission on Human Rights, before they march to Tandang Sora Avenue where the People’s Sona is set from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
The protesters are expected to burn an effigy of Marcos showing him as a two-faced figure on a coin.
Fisherfolk and coastal residents under the activist group Pamalakaya, for their part, gave the President a failing grade on the eve of his second Sona for allowing the continuation of reclamation and dredging projects that affected their livelihood and the marine environment.
Poverty worsened
Ronnel Arambulo, vice chair of Pamalakaya, lamented on Sunday how the poverty rate of fishers worsened from 26.2 percent to 30.6 percent based on recent data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“We are suffering even more because of the continuation of programs and projects that destroy livelihoods such as reclamation and dredging projects in Manila Bay,” Arambulo told reporters.
Pamalakaya has been pushing for the “unequivocal revocation” of the permits of more than 20 reclamation projects in Manila Bay, citing their harmful impact on the livelihood of small-scale fisherfolk and the marine environment.
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police has been placed on full alert as part of security preparations for the President’s Sona.
At least 22,000 police officers and force multipliers from other uniformed services will be deployed to secure the Sona, where massive protest actions are expected to take place.