President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. described his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24 to be "very simple" but would convey to the people the considerable accomplishments his administration has made in his first year in office.
Speaking to reporters after signing a memorandum of understanding on the statewide launch of the Kadiwa ng Pangulo program today, Marcos revealed that he had yet to complete his speech.
The CEO stated that he will also highlight active projects as well as those that are already in the works. On July 5, Marcos' Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council approved 20 proposals to be prioritized and passed this year.
Among these measures are proposed amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law or the Public-Private Partnership Act, the National Disease Prevention Management Authority, the Internet Transactions Act/E-Commerce Law, the Health Emergency Auxiliary Reinforcement Team or HEART Act (formerly Medical Reserve Corps).
In addition to the proposed measures are for the Virology Institute of the Philippines, the Mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps, the National Service Training Program, Revitalizing the Salt Industry, Valuation Reforestation, and the National Service.
The proposed National Government Rightsizing Program, Unified System of Separation/Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel, Local Government Unit Income Classification, Waste-to-Energy Act, New Philippine Passport Act, Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers, National Employment Action Plan, amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-endorsed Bank Deposit Secrecy and Affirmative Action Plan are also expected.
The whole 16-hectare Batasang Pambansa complex will be closed down from July 20 to July 23, the day before Marcos gives his second SONA and Congress returns to session.
As is customary with each SONA, the Presidential Protection Group takes over the protection normally overseen by the House's in-house Legislative Security Bureau.
