How did Philippines’ Marcos Jnr fare in his State of the Nation Address?
- Marcos Jnr won praise for West Philippine Sea and Pogos issues, but critics say he failed to address inflation or agricultural productivity
The first standing ovation to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) came close to the end – after more than an hour of data presentation – when he declared in his native language: “The West Philippine Sea [WPS] is not just a figment of imagination. It is ours.”
Another standing ovation came at the end when he announced a ban on Pogos (Philippine Online Gaming Operations), a sector notorious for its links to illegal activities targeting Chinese clients.
For former congressman Barry Gutierrez, those two aspects were the highlights of Marcos Jnr’s speech on Monday, an event delivered to Congress annually by the country’s president and to inform the public on policies.
“The Pogos ban and the flag-waving for WPS certainly won him [political] points. The Pogos ban in particular was a brilliant piece of both political theatre and gamesmanship,” said Gutierrez, a former spokesman for ex-vice-president Leni Robredo.
The West Philippine Sea is a region within the disputed South China Sea that the Philippines considers its maritime territory.
