27 July 2026
The Filipino nation deserved to listen to a 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) where President Bongbong Marcos presented an honest report about the state of the country. Instead, too much of his speech was spent doing damage control over his administration’s failures and misreading realities on the ground.
To be fair, this SONA touches on many issues related to the climate and environment agenda, more so than in his recent addresses. This indicates how climate and environment issues must no longer be viewed, by policymakers or the Filipino public, as isolated or contradictory from the agenda of national sustainable development.
At first glance, some of the President’s new or renewed promises indicate a stronger commitment to a cleaner, greener transportation sector – more electric vehicles, expanded railways, and improved transport hubs. We expect to see these properly integrated into national climate and development plans, especially the 2026 Nationally Determined Contribution that remains not finalized to this day.
Yet after another glance or two, it is clear that the climate and environment agenda itself is not as big of a priority as it initially seems. In addition, many of his messages still indicate the status quo in Philippine governance: short-term relief, insufficient targets, – or misreading realities on the ground.
No mention of Super El Niño?
There is a Super El Niño coming to our country during the final months of 2026, which is usually the time of the year when strong typhoons also hit in recent years. Yet the closest to a plan to address this that the President said in his speech is the construction of more evacuation centers?
While proper evacuation centers are genuinely needed, ignoring this possibility of “super”-disasters can be seen as the administration trying to prevent panic among Filipinos – or not seeing this critical issue as a priority. This would be a mistake that this government is making, with so much of our economy and society to be heavily affected – food security, water sufficiency, farmers, fisherfolk communities, among others.
The energy outlook for our country also remains bleak. Through this SONA, the likes of waste-to-energy and nuclear power have taken center stage in BBM’s priorities, while renewables were basically deemphasized.
This is despite the adverse impacts of WTE on the environment and communities, such as the situation in the Smokey Mountain area. This is despite the fact that a week before this speech, the DOE admitted during a nuclear-focused consultation that they cannot keep their own promise on having nuclear energy by 2032, as stated in the Philippine Energy Plan.
Whether on the NDC or on energy, our positions on these matters notwithstanding, it is difficult to persuade the people to participate in these planning and decision-making processes if policymakers themselves do not respect the timelines they imposed themselves. The green agenda, our present, and our future must never run on “Filipino time”.
While we obviously support all genuine initiatives to administer justice against perpetrators of the massive corruption in the flood control scandals, this SONA served more as an attempt to restore his declining popularity by making it about his political image instead of the need for genuine accountability.
Realities on the ground
For an administration that seems to be embracing artificial intelligence and data-based decision-making, it is ironic and frustrating to see them misread, if not simply ignore, the clear evidence right in front of them: what is needed by our vulnerable communities.
We need adequate and accessible food and water. We need lower electricity rates and a clean, safe, and stable energy sector. We need our forests to remain standing and our oceans to remain thriving. We need stable livelihoods, not ones to be displaced by technocratic and elitist practices and foreign interests. We need not just short-term relief, but long-term resilience against both potential disasters and slow onset events.
We need to know that the BBM administration has a true long-term vision and strategies to ensure the Philippines can transition to a low-emissions, climate-resilient, and sustainably-developed State, where no one is left behind.
If this SONA is any indication of that, honestly, the Philippines is far away from where it should have been or the road it needs to take.