【Text by Observer Net, Wang Yi】According to CCTV News, Philippine President Marcos delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address on July 28 local time, outlining the achievements of his government over the past three years, but faced continuous public protests.
After visiting the United States last week to provoke China and being educated by US President Trump, who said he was not opposed to him having good relations with China, Marcos became more subdued in his State of the Nation Address. In this historically shortest speech lasting only 1 hour and 10 minutes, he admitted domestically that the people are increasingly dissatisfied with his government, and externally, he spoke lightly without mentioning China, just briefly saying that the Philippines "owes" the United States.
Analysts point out that this move indicates that Marcos is trying to consolidate domestic support and avoid escalating international tensions. As he emphasized in the speech, "The Philippines is a friend to all countries and has no enemies. As the host country of the ASEAN Summit in 2026, this will be our focus."
Marcos: The Philippines "Owes" the United States
"In the face of new threats to our peace and sovereignty, we have strengthened our preparedness, monitoring and defense," Marcos did not mention China at all during his entire State of the Nation Address, but subtly stated that the Philippines would maintain "restraint and patience" in the face of "threats."
"Our confidence is higher because we have more allies who will support us when we need them most," Marcos mentioned the United States, expressing gratitude for their assistance in modernizing the Philippine police and military, calling it something his country "owes" the United States.
On July 28 local time, Philippine President Marcos delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address. Video screenshot
Since coming to power in 2022, the Marcos government has been provoking in the South China Sea, causing constant friction with China, while simultaneously deepening its military ties with the United States, expanding security agreements with Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, and other Western countries, which has made the relationship between the Philippines and China more tense.
Although Marcos appeared to be more subdued in his fourth State of the Nation Address, this is not the case. Vergel Santos, a former Philippine publisher, believes that Marcos has clearly indicated his stance, showing that he will "resist China," as it is evident that he has chosen to side with the United States, with the U.S. military now having nine bases in the Philippines.
Santos pointed out, "I can understand why he skipped this topic," because "he is worried that if he gets too involved, he might alienate the domestic liberal and progressive factions."
On the same day, the Philippine Defense Minister Teodoro openly declared that the Philippine military will "focus on external defense." He directly claimed that they will "resist China" and stated, "We have been preparing for this mission."
Regarding the so-called "small circles" being formed by external countries in the South China Sea, which use cooperation as an excuse for confrontation, use freedom as an excuse to show off muscles, and use order as an excuse to create chaos, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly expressed firm opposition, stating that this is the biggest risk factor for the peace and stability of the South China Sea. China urges relevant countries to stop forming cliques and creating disturbances in the South China Sea, and stop undermining regional peace and stability.
The Chinese Ministry of Defense also responded, stating that U.S.-Philippine military cooperation must not harm the security interests of other countries or disrupt regional peace and stability. Incidentally, looking back at history, the U.S. has maintained an astonishing record of breaking promises and abandoning allies.
Last week, Marcos personally visited Washington to meet with Trump, but instead received a 19% tariff on Philippine exports, while opening up its market to the U.S. on a zero-tariff basis. Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, president of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies (PACS) and researcher at the Philippine Asia-Pacific Pathway for Progress Foundation, wrote that "the Philippines painfully realized that for Trump, economic factors in the agreement are separate from security or geopolitical goals."
"Marcos's first step in fighting corruption is to deal with his ill-gotten wealth"
Notably, several prominent figures in the Philippine political scene were absent from this State of the Nation Address, including Senator Imee Marcos, the sister of Marcos who publicly opposes him, Vice President Sara Duterte and her family members. Marcos did not mention his public rift with the Duterte family in his speech, but focused on domestic anti-corruption efforts.
Marcos criticized some government officials and private contractors for taking kickbacks and amassing wealth. Recently, the Philippines has been hit by consecutive floods and landslides, resulting in more than 30 deaths, over 200,000 displaced people, and more than 6 million affected.
Protesters held a rally outside during Marcos's speech.
"Stop pretending. The public knows these projects are plagued by abnormal phenomena," Marcos criticized, "those who conspire to steal public funds and seize our people's future should feel ashamed."
Marcos promised to conduct "audits and performance reviews" of all flood control projects nationwide and stated, "Within the next few months, anyone involved in corruption, including complicit private contractors, will be prosecuted according to law." He also ordered the publication of the list of reviewed projects, allowing society to expose the truth and report fraud.
When discussing the 2026 national budget, Marcos said that any budget bill not consistent with the national spending plan would be rejected, even if this meant implementing a continuing resolution, "I will never approve a budget that does not serve the people's interest."
However, these "bold promises" by Marcos are seen as full of irony in the eyes of the public. Santos said that Marcos is "the son of a plunderer," and his parents are reported to have hidden at least $1 billion in illegal income in the Philippines and abroad.
In the late 20th century, the Swiss Federal Court ruled that the $356 million in the Marcos family's Swiss account was of "illegal origin." The Supreme Court of the Philippines also ruled in 2003 that the legitimate income of the Marcos parents was only $304,372, and "any income exceeding this amount is unjustified." After the death of Marcos's father in 1989, he and his mother inherited the legacy of the former Philippine president, but they have not yet paid the inheritance tax worth 203 billion Philippine pesos (approximately 25.4 billion yuan).
"The first test of Marcos's determination to fight corruption is how he deals with his own unjust wealth," Santos said. "I can only say, let's wait and see."
Aries Arugay, head of the Department of Political Science at the University of the Philippines, also believes that Marcos's anti-corruption gestures are "incompatible with his family's style," or merely "performative actions." He questioned whether the list Marcos plans to make public is "true and complete," and called on the media and civil society to participate in supervision.
Political risk analyst Ronald Llamas pointed out that politicians who stood up and applauded during Marcos's speech are themselves involved in these corrupt projects, "I just hope he has the political will to truly implement his promises this time, rather than making empty declarations about cracking down on monopolies and smuggling as he did in the previous two State of the Nation Addresses, which have not resulted in any convictions so far."
This article is an exclusive piece by Observer Net, and may not be reprinted without permission.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7532394643229590043/
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