What Marcos said in his fifth SONA, from A-Z
Cristina Chi
Philstar.com
July 28, 2026
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. used his fifth State of the Nation Address to address two crises that tested his administration in the past year: the corruption scandal in flood control works, and the economic fallout from the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz amid the war in the Middle East.
Marcos devoted the opening portion of his speech to vowing full accountability in the corruption scandal that had rocked the government in 2025. He told Congress that his own cousin, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, could soon be jailed over anomalous flood control projects, and that nearly P25 billion has been recovered or frozen from the accused.The president also departed from his prepared speech at least twice to make his biggest economic announcements: a demand to amend the EPIRA law so consumers stop paying for power firms' systems loss, and a three-part tax relief package for the middle class.
Here, we break down Marcos' 2026 SONA into easily digestible topics from A to Z.
Arbitral Award
Marcos marked the 10th anniversary of the 2016 arbitral ruling on the South China Sea, calling it "a definitive benchmark for the interpretation and application of the UNCLOS" and vowing to use "every peaceful and legal means available to the Republic against any attempt, foreign or domestic, to undermine this achievement."
"This is not a claim that we advance alone, nor one that we will abandon," he said, honoring the military, the Coast Guard and fisherfolk who "give life to the letter and spirit of the Arbitral Award."
Without naming any country, the president pushed back against what he called a threat "directed against our dignity and self-respect as a people." He said: "We are not greedy. We are not racists. We are not liars... We are Filipinos, and we do not yield."
Context: China Daily, the Chinese state-run outlet, posted an AI-generated video on Facebook on the July 10 arbitral award anniversary depicting Filipinos as monkeys. The video specifically showed a monkey in Filipino attire, directed by arms representing the United States and Japan, called "stupid," holding a sheet reading "South China Sea arbitration award."
Bigas
Marcos said the government distributed more than 26,000 metric tons of rice to over 2.5 million families as incomes plunged during the oil price crisis, and will keep going until 8 million families are reached.
The "Benteng Bigas Meron Na" program — the P20-per-kilo rice initiative Marcos rolled out nationwide last year — is now benefiting more than 12 million Filipinos, he said, while over 800 KADIWA outlets let farmers and fisherfolk sell directly to consumers.
The government also capped the price increase of imported rice during the emergency, Marcos said, and nearly two million farmers and fisherfolk received aid under the Presidential Assistance to Farmers, Fisherfolk, and Families at the height of high fuel prices.
Campus violence
Marcos expressed condolences for the students who died in the Tacloban school shooting, one of the deadliest campus violence incidents in recent history.
In his speech, Marcos offered condolences to their families and paid tribute to the three student casualties by name — Chris Lorenz Fabian, Joyancee Separa and Ayessa Nicole Dazo. Marcos hailed their "unflinching bravery and heroic virtue" and said they "are an inspiration to us all."
In response, the president said the first batch of 10,000 School Counsellor Associates will be deployed to public schools, while local governments, barangays, the police and the Department of Education will jointly tighten campus security.
Disaster response
Marcos said the government aided more than 600,000 families after the recent earthquake in the Visayas and Mindanao. The government also poured over P3 billion into food, medical care, financial aid and housing, he said.
Additionally, with the new concept of a State of Imminent Disaster, Marcos said, "we will no longer wait for calamity to strike" before acting.
EPIRA
In one of the speech's biggest unscripted moments, Marcos demanded that Congress amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act to stop power firms from passing systems loss charges — and the VAT on top of them — to consumers.
"It's not the consumers' fault that there are systems losses, so it's not right that they're made to pay for it," he said, adding: "We the people request, no, we demand for the immediate amendment of the EPIRA to prohibit charging systems loss against consumers, including the Value-Added Tax thereon."
System loss refers to electricity lost to technical leakage and pilferage as power moves through the grid. Under EPIRA, enacted in 2001, distribution utilities are allowed to recover these losses from customers, subject to caps set by the Energy Regulatory Commission. This means system loss charges are a line item that has long appeared on every household's monthly bill.
Flood control
A year after Marcos stood at the same rostrum to vow his government would stamp out corruption in flood control projects, he reported that so far several contractors, senior Department of Public Works and Highways officials and lawmakers have been charged and jailed.
Nearly P25 billion in money and assets of the accused have been recovered, frozen or preserved, Marcos said, with more than P800 million already returned to the Treasury. The government also stopped payments for "defective, fake, or ghost projects" that would have gone to corrupt contractors and officials.
Prosecution now rests with the Ombudsman and a strengthened National Prosecution Service. "You can count on it: the wheels of justice are turning," Marcos said in Filipino.
Without mentioning him by name, Marcos also said the Ombudsman would soon be filing "case after case (patong patong na kaso)" against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, his cousin.
Romualdez has been accused by the Ombudsman of being the central mastermind of a kickback scheme that allegedly ran wild during his term as House speaker.
GAMOT
Under the GAMOT program, PhilHealth members can now claim essential medicines from more than 2,000 accredited providers, with a benefit limit of P20,000 per member per year, Marcos said.
The list now covers 75 medicines — antibiotics and drugs for asthma, hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes, cough and fever — and more than 300,000 Filipinos have availed in the first seven months of the year.
Hormuz
The war that closed the Strait of Hormuz — the passage that carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil — dominated Marcos' year and the economic part of his speech.
The Philippines, which imports nearly all its crude, scrambled for alternatives, and Marcos said supply was secured through purchases from Japan, South Korea, Oman, India, Russia and China, a stockpile he put at nearly two months' worth.
He claimed pump prices were well-managed and price increases were spread over a week with oil firms' cooperation. Marcos recalled Congress passed a law suspending excise taxes on LPG and kerosene for three months.
Marcos said the government negotiated with Iran for the safety of thousands of Filipino crew members aboard vessels in the strait. But elsewhere in the speech, Marcos acknowledged that a number of Filipinos have died or remain missing in the Middle East.
"Everything that could possibly be done to bring prices down and slow their rise, we did," he said in Filipino, adding that the government has even been "admired" for the speed of its response.
Support programs are funded at more than P60 billion through year-end, Marcos said.
Investments
Marcos said more than P6 trillion in investments have been "facilitated" through Green Lanes over the past three years — the fast-track approval process his administration created in 2023 for projects it deems strategic.
An important caveat, however, is that this figure counts approvals, not money that has been funneled into programs. Marcos did not say how much of the P6 trillion has actually broken ground or begun operating, and the 400,000 jobs he cited are, by his own phrasing, "estimated to create."
The Philippines now counts 23 free trade agreements, Marcos said, though that tally lumps together deals in force with those still under negotiation.
Jobs
On Labor Day, at the height of fuel prices, the government mounted nearly 100 fairs nationwide where some 300,000 jobs were advertised, Marcos said. Of those, just over 6,000 people were hired on the spot.
Marcos said the fairs will continue nationwide for displaced workers.
Kuryente
Electricity prices spiked in June on costly fuel prices and a strong dollar, Marcos acknowledged.
The relief Marcos cited was relatively modest and temporary: power firms were ordered to refund customers they had overbilled — money those customers were owed in the first place — while "select" consumers were allowed to pay bills in installments from May to July, with disconnections banned only while those installments were being paid.
Ligtas Pinoy Centers
Construction begins this year on Ligtas Pinoy Centers — evacuation buildings designed, Marcos said, to withstand a super typhoon with 340 kph winds and a magnitude 8.4 earthquake — starting in disaster-prone Bicol, Eastern Samar, Bukidnon and Davao de Oro.
Middle-class tax relief
In another major ad-lib, Marcos asked Congress to pass a three-part tax relief package for the middle class and small businesses.
First, expand the income tax exemption to cover workers earning up to P350,000 a year, alongside "corresponding reductions" in income tax for other workers. Second, exempt small businesses from the minimum corporate income tax. Third, grant an amnesty on unpaid income, estate and value-added taxes, including the penalties attached to them.
"As distinct protection for them, and so they get more out of their hard-earned income, I call on Congress to pass a law giving some relief on our tax dues," Marcos said in Filipino.
Under the TRAIN law of 2018, annual taxable income of P250,000 and below is exempt; Marcos' proposal would raise that floor by P100,000.
Nuclear and natural gas
"Perhaps it is time for us to revisit nuclear energy production," Marcos said, while saying the country already uses nuclear technology in medicine, agriculture, water filtration and the upcycling of plastic.
He said he is confident nuclear power can shore up the country's energy security and bring down electricity costs, and promised it would be safe and properly explained to the public.
The president also touted what he called "truly a national treasure": an untapped reserve of 222 billion cubic feet of natural gas found after Malampaya drilling resumed for the first time in eight years, following the extension of its service contract to 2039. He said the find can keep the country's premier gas field producing until 2034 and is enough to power 1.6 million households for eight years.
OFWs
With more than 2.5 million Filipinos working in the Middle East, Marcos said the government has brought home more than 12,000 of them safely since the war erupted, while over 140,000 others received food, cash, medical care and shelter amid the fighting.
Marcos also said nearly seven million OFWs are now insured, and that the government raised the minimum wage for Filipinos working abroad as domestic helpers. He acknowledged that some Filipinos have died or remain missing in the Middle East.
Pax Silica
Briefly, Marcos also touted the Pax Silica Industrial Hub, a product of the 23-member, US-led Pax Silica Initiative, saying it will create an ecosystem with AI at its core.
A strategic component of the Luzon Economic Corridor, the hub will serve as an advanced manufacturing and logistics center in the global AI and technology value chain, Marcos said.
Context: Pax Silica, launched in Washington in December 2025 to secure supply chains for AI, semiconductors and critical minerals — and widely read as a counter to China's dominance in the sector — has drawn both interest and criticism since the Philippines joined in April, with a formal signing eyed in November. The government has offered around 1,620 hectares in New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac for the planned hub.
Supporters say it could turn the country into a regional technology hub, but farmers' groups, environmental advocates, and Indigenous Peoples' organizations have raised alarms over the projected power and water demands of data centers, possible mining expansion and displacement, and fears the Philippines will be locked into supplying raw materials and low-cost assembly work.
Quezon City's new train line
Twelve stations of the MRT-7 will open next year — the first new MRT line in nearly three decades — running from North Avenue to Sacred Heart in Quezon City, and eventually to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. Marcos said the line will serve almost a million passengers a day.
Rocket
The Philippines is going to space — or at least, launching toward it. Marcos said Cagayan is "geographically and economically primed" to host the country's first spaceport, with a sounding rocket launch test slated for next year in partnership with a South Korean aerospace company.
"Yes, we are going to launch a rocket into space," Marcos said, drawing applause.
SSS
Around 44 million Filipinos are now covered by SSS since the start of the administration, Marcos said, including more than 80,000 drivers, vendors, gig workers, job order and contract of service personnel, and others from the informal sector.
SSS pensioners got their 10% pension increase in June, three months ahead of its September schedule, while retired uniformed personnel saw their pensions and subsistence allowance raised this year.
Teachers
More than 80,000 public school teachers and school heads have been promoted under the Expanded Career Progression system, Marcos said. He said this makes good on his promise in last year's SONA that no teacher would retire as Teacher I.
Over 30,000 positions have been added to grow the teaching force, Marcos said.
Utang
Agrarian reform beneficiaries will be free of their debts by the end of the year, Marcos said, as the government continues to write off what they owe.
The administration has handed out more than 400,000 land titles covering upwards of 500,000 hectares in four years, the president said, and will finish distributing the rest next year.
Marcos then turned to his agrarian reform secretary with a playful jab: don't think about retiring yet. "You still have a lot of work to do at the DAR," Marcos said in Filipino.
Context: Marcos signed the New Agrarian Emancipation Act (Republic Act 11953) in 2023. This law condoned P57.55 billion in unpaid principal amortizations, interest and surcharges for over 600,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries.
While peasant groups like the Kilusan ng Magbubukid ng Pilipinas welcomed the signing of the law in 2023, they believe debt condonation alone is not enough to cure the landlessness of farmers.
Vehicles
The government has scrapped all tariffs on electric vehicles until 2028 to pull prices down, Marcos said, and ordered agencies to prioritize EVs when replacing their fleets.
The president expressed hope in an ambitious target of having half of all vehicles in the country running on electricity by 2040.
Marcos also asked the industry to get behind the long-delayed public transport modernization program, promising it would be carried out humanely and fairly.
Waste
Marcos called for updating the 25-year-old Ecological Solid Waste Management Act to catch up with modern practices in waste disposal.
"As we recalibrate our solid waste management systems, we can draw inspiration from the solid waste management practices being championed by the MMDA here in Metro Manila, such as waste recovery, processing, and upcycling," Marcos said.
He held up the MMDA's waste recovery, processing and upcycling as a model, including the former Carmona sanitary landfill of the 1990s, now the MMDA Nature Park and soon a base for disaster-preparedness training.
eXports
Philippine exports keep growing, Marcos said, from critical components supplied to the world's top tech companies to farm products like ube, coconut and bananas.
There is now also an unexpected new venture: enoki mushrooms.
Foreign investments "continue to pour in because of beneficial policies: those promoting ease of doing business and accelerating digital transformation that curbs red tape and corruption," Marcos said.
YAKAP
Marcos said 4.5 million of the 25 million Filipinos registered in Philhealth's Yamang Kalusugan at Proteksyon/Yaman ng Kalusugan Program (YAKAP) program have gotten check-ups this year.
Starting next year, the program will gradually add blood tests and medicines to catch kidney, liver and thyroid disease and hepatitis B early.
Zero-balance billing
Since its launch after last year's SONA, the Zero-Balance Billing policy has let nearly three million Filipinos benefit from DOH hospital wards without paying a single centavo, Marcos said.
The Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program, meanwhile, has registered more than eight million patients, Marcos said. It is now online as "e-MAIFIP" through the eGovPH app.
Families using PhilHealth benefits have climbed from over five million in 2022 to more than 7.5 million in the past year, Marcos added.
