SO ano NA ba ang nagawa? Quick Facts You Must Know Before SONA 2025

 Jea Nicole Jacot

The State of the Nation Address (SONA) is that time of the year when the president reports to the people the country’s standing across various sectors. Promises are revisited, progress is checked, and propaganda returns to the center stage. For so many administrations, this is seen as another opportunity to broadcast what is deemed as their successes. And for those who tune in, it has never quite changed from its self-serving nature. It is nothing more than another address rife with rose-tinted rhetoric that fails to reflect the lived realities of the Filipino people. 

However tempting it may be to turn off our screens and dismiss glossy buzzwords, indifference won’t do as much. The real game-changer lies in confronting each claim with the critical truth. And how does it start? Arming ourselves with the facts. 

Let’s begin with what President Marcos Jr. has promised in his maiden SONA and what has been delivered so far:

PROMISE: “Rightsize” bureaucracy in government agencies via National Government Rightsizing Program (NGRP)

STATUS: IN PROGRESS — LEGISLATION RECENTLY RATIFIED, AWAITING ENACTMENT

• In June 2025, the Bicameral Conference Committee ratified the reconciled version of House Bill No. 7240 and Senate Bill No. 890, or the Government Optimization Bill (formerly known as Rightsizing the National Government Act of 2022). 

PROMISE: “Digitized” government workhouses and archives

STATUS: IN PROGRESS

• Launched in 2018, the DICT’s GovCloud program has created integrated cloud services across different government agencies. It provided hosting services to 94 government websites.
• DICT Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs Renato Paraiso announced that the agency’s Php 550 million budget for 2025 data centers will be allocated to the National Government Data Center (NGDC) to ensure it meets the necessary operational specifications.

PROMISE: Single-digit poverty rate by the end of his presidential term in 2028

STATUS: CHALLENGING OR LESS LIKELY

• In January 2025, self-rated poverty hit its highest in 21 years; 63% of Filipino households consider themselves poor. 

Now that Marcos Jr. is nearing three years in office, all eyes are set once again on him for his fourth SONA. We question how different it will be from his previous speeches dressed in exaggerated praises of his ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ campaign. How is the nation truly doing under his administration?

Inequalities amid economic gains

In last year’s SONA, Marcos Jr. spoke of a hopeful economic prospect, stating that approximately one hundred projects — a total investment of around Php 3 trillion across the renewable energy, digital infrastructure, food security, and manufacturing sectors — are “green-lane certified.” 

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) echoes a positive trend as the gross domestic product (GDP) expands at  5.4 percent  in the first quarter of 2025, a slightly faster rate than the 5.3 percent seen in the last quarter of 2024.

Readers can double-check these figures with NEDA or the Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines (PPP) to see which projects have broken ground versus those that are just signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs).

On the jobs front, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the labor force participation grew year-on-year by 1.35 million to 52.3 million, while  unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in May, down from 4.1 percent in the previous month, meaning there were 2.03 million jobless individuals, a decrease from 2.06 million before. This sounds good on paper — but what kinds of jobs are being created?

This is where readers must separate headline statistics from day-to-day struggles. Recent macroeconomic growth does not magically translate into livable conditions for most Filipinos.

Non-profit research organization IBON Foundation identifies deeper problems masked behind promising economic figures. “The increase in the labor force is the fact that more household members are being pushed to actively seek work due to low family incomes and rising living cost,” read an article from IBON. 

Out of the 49.2 million individuals reported as employed in February 2025, 20.6 million are informal workers. This consists of 13.9 million self-employed individuals, 4.4 million contributing to family-operated farms or businesses —  where 3.3 million of whom are unpaid family workers — and 2.3 million domestic workers. There has also been a 326,000 increase in openly informal workers compared to the same period in the previous year, which shows the enduring struggles of Filipinos to rely on unstable, informal, or low-quality jobs just  to make ends meet.

According to a survey conducted by Stratbase and Social Weather Stations (SWS) in the first quarter of 2025, 55 percent, more than half of Filipino families consider themselves as poor.

In July, inflation rates rose 1.4 percent from 1.3 percent in May. PSA Head and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa attributed this rise mainly to a faster increase in the cost of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, which climbed 3.2 percent, contributing  to the 63.3 percent of the overall inflation increase.

‘Budget cut’ burdens in education

Despite the education sector still having the largest share of the national budget, the Department of Education (DepEd) saw its allotment  reduced by Php 12 billion to Php 737 billion from the Php 748.6 billion approved by the House of Representatives. This cut raised alarms as funds are deemed insufficient to address the country’s deepening learning crisis. 

In Article XIV, Section 5, Paragraph 5 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, it is mandated that the “State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education.” While it has the biggest slice, the slice is shrinking — and may fall short of real needs in tech access, training, and curriculum.  

DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara shared his disappointment on X (formerly Twitter) regarding the P10-billion budget cut to DepEd’s computerization program for 2025, stating that it could have provided thousands of computers and gadgets for public school students.“Infrastructure is important, but so is investing in our people and human capital. The digital divide will widen,” he said.

John Paolo R. Rivera, a senior researcher at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), told BusinessWorld that “such a reduction may hinder the implementation of critical programs, including the enhancement of basic education facilities, teacher training, and curriculum reforms,” citing the country’s poor standing in global education assessments.

The Philippines ranked among the lowest performers in the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), placing 77th out of 81 countries and economies in assessing the reading, mathematics, and science literacy of 15-year-old students worldwide.

Moreover, the PSA reported that 5.58 million Filipino high school graduates from 2019 to 2024 are considered “basically literate but not functionally literate,” meaning they can read, write, and compute, but lack comprehension skills.

State universities and colleges (SUCs), under the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), are not exempt from the burdens of budget cuts. Congress initially allotted Php 128.231 billion for the 116 SUCs nationwide, but this was reduced to Php 113.749 billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2025.

The University of the Philippines (UP) System, in particular, saw a drastic P2.076 billion budget cut after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the 2025 General Appropriations Act. This brings UP’s 2025 budget to P22.69 billion, an 8.38% decrease from its P24.77 billion allocation last year.

The P2.08 billion cut marks the largest budget reduction for the UP System since 2003. It drew widespread criticism with 39 SUCs collectively calling to reinstate the P14.481 billion budget cut, warning it threatens to cripple the affordability and accessibility of education.

Meanwhile, EDCOM 2 voiced concern over the “alarmingly high” dropout rates among tertiary students despite the provision of free tuition in SUCs. It identified lack of student engagement and the need for students to work as the two key reasons for these college dropouts.

If education reform is claimed in the SONA, readers should watch for specific outcomes to measure real impact, and be wary of buzzwords like “digitization” or “blended learning” that often lack clear implementation plans.

On the West PH sea, post-POGO ban

As diplomatic defense or bilateral agreements take the spotlight in most West Philippine Sea (WPS) discourse, Filipino fisherfolk continue to grapple with the harsh reality in these disputed waters.

For them, it is not some strategic territory but a source of livelihood that has long sustained their families. With Chinese vessels asserting their presence in their fishing grounds, they are held back from doing their daily catch.

Reports from various fisherfolk groups in early to mid-2025 continue to detail instances of harassment and blockades by foreign coast guard and vessels. These acts of intimidation have disrupted their daily fishing activities, eventually leading to financial losses.

In Zambales alone,  the fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) estimates that incomes have plunged by  70 percent since China tightened its grip on Panatag Shoal. 

In the face of these challenges, the provincial government is moving to modernize the fishing industry. Yet, this path is not without its own set of anxieties. 

Some traditional fishers worry of displacement, saying that “modernization” might only benefit a select few. Critics argue that such practices could destroy marine ecosystems and further marginalize small-scale operations.

“We support modernization, but it must benefit the majority. It shouldn’t become a tool for political patronage or worsen the inequality between traditional and industrial fishers,” said Fernando Hicap, national chairperson of Pamalakaya.

Meanwhile, after Marcos Jr. has banned all Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) in the country, criminal syndicates tied to the online gambling industry continue to exist in underground networks. 

In a Senate Committee report in February, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said that former POGOs have moved to other industries, including casinos and special economic zones.

“POGOs may nominally be gone, but the damage they caused — and their ability to transform into other businesses — remains a national threat,” she warned.

If criminality or ‘peace and order’ is bragged about, people should recall the adaptability of these illegal operations beyond POGOs.

From poor infrastructures to disaster vulnerability

In 2024, just four months after Marcos Jr. announced over 5,500 flood control projects in his third SONA, he admitted the existing infrastructure was “not enough” following the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Kristine.

This year, strong infrastructure against persistent flooding has yet to be seen. 

On July 18, Cebu City was officially declared a state of calamity after days of relentless downpour and flooding brought by Tropical Depression Crising, prompting suspension of classes and sea travel.

As it intensified into a severe tropical storm, Crising left over 105,313 people affected and caused widespread damage to critical infrastructure, including impassable roads, power outages, communication failures, and water supply disruptions.

If flood control is presented as ‘ongoing’ or ‘comprehensive’ in the SONA 2025, people can revisit how recent disasters still overwhelm systems and how many projects are actually finished.

Meanwhile, on earthquake readiness, DILG Undersecretary Marlo Iringan urged for a complete audit of essential structures like hospitals, municipal halls, and utility facilities, crucial for emergency command, which remains unfinished.

This call came after the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that hit Myanmar and neighboring Thailand in late March. Office of Civil Defense (OCD) chief Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno stressed that the Philippines must prioritize structural integrity, ensuring buildings can withstand quakes up to magnitude 8.5.

Nepomuceno further pointed out the prevalent “shortcutting” of construction and permit processes in the country. “Kultura ng Pilipino madalas ‘yung may shortcut. Mayabang pa, pinagmamalaki pa kapag naka-shortcut sa pagkuha ng construction at occupancy permits. That should stop,” he said, warning that negligent enforcement of building codes compromises public safety. 

If infrastructure is emphasized again in this year’s SONA, people should ask: Is compliance part of the conversation — or just construction?

Confronting claims 

As Marcos Jr. prepares for his SONA on July 28, the true measure of his administration will be weighed not by declared successes and promising claims, but in how it is upfront in the current state of the nation and in its efforts on improving the daily lives of ordinary Filipinos. 

Our role now goes beyond passive listening; we can engage as fact-checkers of potential claims. Though we have heard the same buzzwords time and time again, much can be done by citizens every SONA to transform a culture of indifference into productive civic engagement. From monitoring real-time analysis from watchdog or fact-check groups — like VERA Files’ SONA Promise Tracker — to gauging the pulse of the rallyists outside Malacañang, or even live-tweeting with data receipts from trusted news sources — these are already bold strides towards a nation that can collectively discern truth from falsehood.