President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Tackle was full of daring pronouncements about his administration’s accomplishments and future plans. However Rappler’s analysis exhibits that the precise timelines and context that encompass Marcos’ statements paint a distinct image.
He described his authorities’s actions with the next phrases: “agad” (instantly) 9 occasions, “bilis” (pace) six occasions, and “dali” (quick) 5 occasions. Most of those phrases have been used to explain his administration’s response to the Center East disaster, economic system and infrastructure that depict his administration as proactive and quick-to-act on the nation’s most urgent points.
Past that, the President additionally outlined some novel options his administration is pursuing, particularly relating to the nation’s power wants and training.
Right here’s what you should know to contextualize these imprecise claims and daring guarantees.
Center East disaster
One of many primary elements of Marcos’ SONA was about his administration’s response to the Center East disaster that began on February 28, 2026. Particularly, he mentioned that the federal government’s responses have been accomplished “agad” (instantly).
In actuality, every of those actions took greater than a month — prompted after fixed prodding from the general public and numerous crises.
- State of Nationwide Power Emergency – Declared by means of an government order on March 24, 2026, almost a month after the Center East disaster first began.
- Suspension of excise tax on LPG and kerosene – Took impact on April 17, 48 days for the reason that Center East disaster began and 23 days after Congress granted the President authority to droop excise taxes on March 25. On the time, the federal government was additionally going through requires quicker motion from lawmakers and civil society teams.
- Rice value cap – Imposed a short lived P50-per-kilogram value ceiling on imported rice cap on Could 13, 2026, 74 days, or almost two months, after the disaster started. It got here almost a month after the Division of Agriculture introduced that rice costs could leap to P62/kilo by the September harvest season because of drastic will increase in fertilizer costs affected by the Center East battle.
Economic system
Kumilos agad tayo upang pigilan ang mabilis na pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin. Hinikayat ang mga bangko at e-wallet na magbawas ng mga karaniwang singil sa bawat transaksyon na on-line. Kaya ngayon, maraming bangko at e-wallet na ang nagbaba o nagtanggal ng kanilang sinisingil na on-line transaction payment.
(We took rapid motion to curb the speedy rise within the costs of products. Banks and e-wallet suppliers have been inspired to cut back normal charges for on-line transactions. So now, many banks and e-wallet suppliers have lowered or waived their on-line transaction charges.)
The timeline, nevertheless, exhibits that the primary discount in on-line switch charges was carried out 82 days after the Center East disaster started.
The primary discount got here from government-owned LANDBANK, which lowered its InstaPay switch payment from P15 to P8 on Could 21, almost two months after Marcos declared a State of Nationwide Power Emergency. It additionally waived charges for on-line authorities funds starting June 1.
Different banks and e-wallets adopted within the succeeding weeks.
Infrastructure
Ang mga nasirang tulay — sa San Juanico sa Jap Visayas, Cabagan-Sta. Maria sa Isabela, Piggatan sa Cagayan, Calbiga at Liloan sa Samar, at Panul-iran sa Iligan — ay kaagad nating naayos at ngayo’y nagagamit nang muli.
(We instantly repaired the broken bridges — San Juanico in Jap Visayas, Cabagan-Sta. Maria in Isabela, Piggatan in Cagayan, Calbiga and Liloan in Samar, and Panul-iran in Iligan — and they’re now again in use.)
However Marcos failed to say that not all of those bridges he talked about have been restored to full capability.
- San Juanico Bridge remains to be present process rehabilitation, and is anticipated to be absolutely restored by October 2026 — greater than a 12 months after it was initially subjected to load restrictions in Could 2025.
- Calbagan-Sta.Maria bridge is open solely to automobiles as much as three tons as of March 2026. Solely Part 1 of rehabilitation of Calbiga Bridge was accomplished in June 2026. It’s nonetheless being subjected to load restrictions as full restoration remains to be ongoing.
- The collapsed Piggatan Bridge was not fastened, however as a substitute a detour bridge was made whereas development for a everlasting substitute bridge continues.
Sa susunod na taon, bubuksan na rin ang labindalawang istasyon ng MRT 7.
(Subsequent 12 months, the twelve stations of MRT-7 will even be opened.)
Marcos accurately claimed in his SONA that the MRT 7 has been 30 years within the making, however has remained beneath development ever since.
What Marcos failed to say is that these delays occurred throughout his personal administration, too. In 2024, the Marcos administration initially projected partial operations by 2025. Design modifications later moved the completion date to 2028.
Bangsamoro Autonomous Area in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Parliamentary Elections
In accordance with Republic Act No. 12317, the BARMM citizens is now poised to partake in BARMM’s first common parliamentary elections — a important accomplishment beneath the Complete Settlement on the Bangsamoro.
What Marcos failed to say is that it took 4 postponements earlier than it was formally slated to be held on September 14, 2026.
Deemed a “important accomplishment beneath the Complete Settlement on the Bangsamoro,” the elections have been supposed to begin in Could 2022, however have been postponed to Could 2025 to coincide with the midterm elections. Elections have been once more postponed to October 13, 2025 after the Supreme Courtroom dominated Bangsamoro Autonomous Acts 58 and 77 as unconstitutional.
Marcos Jr. then signed Republic Act No. 12317, which rescheduled the elections to September 14, 2026.
Surroundings
Apart from leaving out mentions of delay in his SONA, Marcos additionally offered a number of options to the nation’s urgent points in an excessively optimistic gentle.
Hydrogen gasoline will function back-up gasoline for our energy crops, particularly helpful for our off-grid areas. It’s also touted because the world’s clear gasoline of the longer term.
However not all varieties of hydrogen gasoline are thought of a clear supply of power. Marcos failed to say what sort of hydrogen gasoline his administration is planning to make use of.
The Massachusetts Institute of Expertise’s local weather portal says 95% of hydrogen produced globally is “gray hydrogen,” one sort of hydrogen created utilizing pure gasoline or different fossil fuels because the power enter. This makes it carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases-heavy, with over 830 million tonnes of CO2 generated yearly as a direct results of hydrogen manufacturing.
For hydrogen gasoline to be thought of utterly clear, it should be one in every of two sorts. Inexperienced hydrogen is made utilizing renewable power sources like photo voltaic or wind to create hydrogen gasoline by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, whereas white hydrogen is extracted from underground deposits.
Schooling
In response to the tragic Tacloban college capturing in June, Marcos mentioned his administration is strengthening efforts to information and take care of the nation’s kids.
Sa tulong ng unang batch na sampung libong college counselor associates na ipapasok natin sa mga pampublikong paaralan, ang mga anak natin ay mayroon nang malalapitan para sa angkop na payo sa anumang mabigat na pinagdadaanan o bumabagabag sa kanilang isipan.
(With the assistance of the preliminary batch of 10,000 college counselor associates we’ll deploy to public faculties, our youngsters could have somebody to show to for applicable steerage relating to any challenges they’re going through or something bothering them.)
Marcos failed to say {that a} college counselor affiliate can’t conduct counseling. Their tasks are restricted to duties like conducting packages; helping in advocacy, coaching, documentation, and preliminary assessments; offering psychological first support; and administering well being screening instruments.
College students in want of counseling should be referred to the college division counselor if the college has an affiliate solely.
The President additionally outlined his plans for the classroom scarcity that the nation is going through.
For its half, the personal sector too will assemble its preliminary share of greater than 16,000 school rooms in Luzon, by the use of PPPs. Further PPPs with larger manufacturing targets will quickly comply with for the Visayas and Mindanao.
Nonetheless, the goal classroom manufacturing by the top of the Marcos administration is much from the 166,000 school rooms the nation nonetheless lacks. This scarcity was disclosed by the Congressional Fee on Schooling (EDCOM 2) throughout a listening to of the Senate committee on primary training.
The fee additionally anticipates that the quantity should balloon. At the least 51,222 school rooms could have reached greater than 50 years of age by 2028, which can make the infrastructure unsafe. – with reviews from Lourence Marcellana, Ava Dumaup, Angel Cesa, Lance Magno, and Shay Du/Rappler.com
Ava Dumaup, Angel Cesa, and Lance Magno are interns and volunteers of Rappler’s Analysis and Knowledge unit.
