The BGA Philippines Team, led by Managing Director Victor Andres Manhit, wrote an update to clients on President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s second state of the nation address.

Context

  • Philippines Marcos on July 24 delivered his second state of the nation address at the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City, where the House of Representatives meets. In his one-hour speech, Marcos presented his administration’s achievements so far and outlined his plans and priorities for the coming year. He shared his foreign policy and economic agendas and elaborated on specific sectors, including agriculture, infrastructure development, power and energy, education and labor, health, digital transformation and the environment.

Significance

  • The president reiterated his economic agenda, which he announced in his first state of the nation address. He shared his plans to improve the ease of doing business, recalibrate the educational system to adapt to the new economy, lower and rationalize energy costs, boost agricultural production, enhance health care and continue social programs for the poor and vulnerable.
  • The president said the Philippines’ independent foreign policy of “friend to all, and enemy to none” has been effective. This has resulted in many bilateral trade agreements, but there is still much to be done to achieve a balanced trade strategy with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Korea.
  • Marcos emphasized that “Digitalization is a call of today.” The government will continue to embrace digitalization to support the administration’s data-driven decision-making. Government payments, company permits, business permits and revenue collection will be linked to digitalization networks.
  • Marcos emphasized that “Renewable energy is the way forward.” The government is aggressively promoting renewables and hopes they will constitute 35 percent of the power mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040. To reach this goal, renewable energy projects have been opened to foreign investments. Around 1,000 projects are active throughout the country.

Implications

  • Marcos’ second state of the nation address reflected the concerns of Filipinos on the ground — inflation, job security and hunger — and indicated policy continuity for the remaining five years of his term. He ended his speech by emphasizing that the economy is “sound and improving.”

We will continue to keep you updated on developments in the Philippines as they occur. If you have any questions or comments, please contact BGA Philippines Managing Director Victor Andres Manhit at vmanhit@bowergroupasia.com.

Best regards,

BGA Philippines Team

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Managing Director

Dindo is recognized as one of Manila’s most well-connected and savvy advisors on developments in government and business in the Philippines. Concurrent to his role as managing director for BGA’s operations in the Philippines, he is also the founder and managing director of the Stratbase Group and president of its policy think tank, the Albert del Rosario Institute for Strategic and International Studies. Since 1991, Dindo has served as a member of the faculty and is the former chair of the Political Science Department and a senior fellow of the La Salle Institute of Governance at the De La Salle ... Read More