SONA 2022
A Happy Sunday to all. Wherever this article finds you, may you and your loved ones be in the best of health. As you read this article today, the nation is but 24 hours from President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, JR. (PBBM) first State of the Nation Address tomorrow, the Fourth Monday of July. As prescribed in the Constitution, it is also when Congress will open its doors to its Regular Session. In this case, we will be opening the 19th Congress of the Philippines.
I can tell you that having been a former Director-General of the Presidential Management Staff in charge of helping prepare the President’s State of the Nation Address, all concerned, most of all the President, will be in the highest levels of stress and tension as the SONA will go through its final phases of corrections and editing. In my experience, the changes and edits will not be over until that point when the speech is actually delivered. In many cases, up to the point when the Speech is being read, the President still alters the phrases and words of the SONA.
Of course, Cabinet Members and Policy Advisers are all worked up and ensuring that their policy recommendations and programs are carried into the SONA because inclusion in the Speech ensures that the Program becomes National Policy and must therefore be funded and implemented.
As a former Deputy Speaker for the Visayas and former Congressman, I can also tell you that Monday will be a special and exciting day for the Congress of the Philippines. In the morning of SONA day, the Senate and the House of Representatives, will convene to respectfully elect the leaders of both Chambers. For the Senate it will be the Senate President and for the House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House. The Senate President and the House Speaker are amongst the highest posts in our country and is in fact, in the line of succession to the position of President. After the president are the Vice President, the Senate President and then the Speaker of the House.
Many have occupied these posts and in the same way that a Marocs sits once again as President of the Philippines, the question in everyone’s mind is shall another Romualdez sit as House Speaker? For the Senate, we are also hearing that a son of Bukidnon may very well be the next Senate President. Well your guess is as good as mine although we will not have much longer to wait as by noon tomorrow, we will know who will both be the legislators who will be sitting on the dais overlooking PBBM as the latter delivers his SONA.
As the President delivers his speech, many will be awaiting to hear the President’s priorities especially how he will tackle the national economy, the staggering debt, and the direction of the country. Many are hopeful and expectant that our first Majority President will have dramatic news and initiatives to share with the nation especially in the areas of healthcare, jobs creation, investments and agriculture.
In the area of agriculture alone, millions of farmers and fisherfolk are waiting for dramatic initiatives especially as PBBM has already announced that he will prioritize food production and to underscore that point, has actually personally assumed the post of Secretary of Agriculture. That is indeed exciting enough and personally, something I welcome as the President has personally assumed tackling the problems of our rural constituents.
As a former Agriculture Secretary myself, I know that the Presdient’s programs on increasing food production is very much realistic and possible. In Bohol alone, when we embarked on the Advance Rice Technology (ART) 120 Program to target 120 cavans for Certified Inbred Rice in un-irrigated areas, we were able to increase the yield of our farmers to 136-140 cavans per hectare from the average 60 cavans per hectare. Our Advance Rice Technology (ART) 160 Program for Hybrid Rice in turn well produced more than 200 cavans per hectare for Hybrid Rice in Irrigated Areas. Bohol was able to achieve this when production areas were clustered into pockets of at least 100-200 hectares per clustered production zone. Clustering Production Zones was able to bring down production costs and assigning a rice technician for each zone was able to ensure full focus on ensuring correct technology transfer amnd use of the correct inputs by our farm growers. This is the reason that what I am hearing that what PBBM will be launching which will be a Masagana 200 program will not only be a signal improvement from his father’s Masagana 99 Program but will in fact be achievable and possible.
PBBM can definitely set the stage for Masagana 200 in this current planting season moving towards the summer dry crop by helping farmers counter the high fuel and fertilizer costs that are so badly needed to increase the output of production as well as tempering the skyrocketing costs of production. Another issue that the President can tackle will be sending a signal to farmers that his Administration will be aggrssively buying from them through the National Food Authority. I am sure that if the President will announce an input and buying Program for our farmers, the signal will be clear and strong for his support to millions of our farmers.
Aside from Rice Production Programs, of course, initiatives in corn production will also be welcome as corn is not only grown for food security but for livestock, poultry and fisheries use as animal feeds. Increasing corn production is indeed very critical especially since our country is confronting the African Swine Fever that has ravaged the Philippines hog sector. The President must however not despair because the Philippines has a longer marine coastline than the United State of America and has the potential to be a major marine food producer and exporter. And if indeed he is serious about pushing marine food production in the country, he can begin by ordering Congress during the SONA to finally create the Department of Fisheries. We are actually the only country in the ASEAN without a Fisheries Department considering we have major marine resources and inland waterways that can be used for food and job security. The creation of a Department of Fisheries, which I also championed as a former Representative and Member of the House, will be a step in that direction of food secuirty and jobs creation.
Let us therefore wish the President well and keep our legislators and all in the Government in our prayers as extraordinary times will necessitate extraordinary leadership. Let us keep them in our prayers for the future of our country and see you after the SONA!