BBM Presidency Promotes Institutionalized Mendicancy, According To Think Tank

President Marcos Jr.’s 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA) once again fell short of addressing the structural roots of the people's worsening hardships, according to the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG).

The President cited commuter discounts for rail transit, took time to highlight micro-level programs—such as encouraging exercise among overweight youth, and claimed an expansion in PhilHealth coverage. I Photo: Bongbong Marcos Facebook

While the administration took time to highlight micro-level programs—such as encouraging exercise among overweight youth—the speech glaringly ignored more pressing systemic issues that demand urgent and transformative action.

What the SONA offered were piecemeal and largely superficial responses to complex socio-economic problems.

The government’s continued promotion of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) as a flagship social initiative exposes the administration’s deepening reliance on dole-out strategies instead of empowering Filipinos through decent jobs, national industrialization, and agricultural revitalization.

In effect, it promotes a form of institutionalized mendicancy—addressing poverty’s symptoms while refusing to confront its root causes.

President Marcos claimed an expansion in PhilHealth coverage, but this failed to acknowledge the stark reality that millions of Filipinos still struggle with food insecurity and limited access to basic health services, CenPEG said.

There was no mention of a concrete roadmap for food sovereignty, affordable nutrition, or local food production. Healthcare is a right, not merely a benefit contingent on insurance coverage.

It is the obligation of the state to ensure equitable, universal access to healthcare services—rooted in sufficient nutrition, preventive care, and robust public hospitals.

While the President cited commuter discounts for rail transit, his SONA was silent on any plans to develop a publicly funded, free, and accessible mass transportation system—a vital measure to alleviate the growing transport burden on the poor and working class.

In the absence of structural reforms, such measures remain tokenistic and unsustainable.

Most tellingly, there was a complete absence of any serious economic vision to industrialize, generate full employment, or develop domestic manufacturing and science-based industries.

The SONA painted a picture of governance focused on small, scattered quick fixes rather than bold national development planning.

As an institution committed to people empowerment in governance, CenPEG reiterates that real change demands systemic transformation. Band-aid solutions and patronage-based programs will not uplift the nation.

We call on the public to remain vigilant and push for genuine reforms that put people—not profits or political expediency—at the center of policy.