It doesn’t get easier, the second time around
https://mlq3.substack.com/p/it-doesnt-get-easier-the-second-time
My column today is on Act II of the (Third) Restoration: things you may not have noticed if you’d bothered to watch the President’s second SONA.
I was interviewed on expectations for the second State of the Nation Address of the President, the morning of the speech.
This week’s the Long View
THE LONG VIEW By: Manuel L. Quezon III — @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:20 AM July 26, 2023
The second act, or season, of the Marcos Restoration was itself a kind of restoration-of the State of the Nation Address (Sona) as an extravaganza. Since the President formally abolished the state of emergency imposed when the pandemic began, the old-time hoopla of Left and Right was on full display once more. A convenient typhoon justified the suspension of classes and the sending home of bureaucracy, clearing the streets and thinning the already thin ranks of radicals who raised clenched fists, waved red banners, and burned papier-mâché effigies even as the House of Representatives literally rolled out the red carpet for this annual fashion and freak show of our legislators, their spouses, and guests.
The ceremonial has been trimmed down and generally haphazardly run that even the traditional presidential anthem remained discarded: The entrance of the President, instead, was to the accompaniment of “Ako ay Pilipino,” a departure from the practice of his father and his predecessors. When the President proceeded to greet dignitaries, the RTVM camera caught Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Vice President Sara Z. Duterte exchanging cheeky grimaces at each other at the mention of the First Lady’s name (it was a grimace-filled day, starting with the President’s own startled look when apprehended by his elder sister, whose own clothing semiotics was in keeping with that of the Vice President).
Congress now has to deliver on the long list of legislation the President proposed, since in its first session, it only enacted one of his 21-item urgent agenda. He is unencumbered by any meaningful opposition, he is buoyed by continuing healthy popularity, he has achieved wide acceptance and even support, from old and new allies, and seemingly confounded China. His purge of the police, as he reiterated in his speech, is reaching its climax, while he seems confident he’s found a way to keep the military if not happy, then untriggered.
One bemused comment I heard after the second Sona was that “the President is very eloquent, except he doesn’t seem to have anything to say.” But then the whole point is saying things with confidence. The philosophy at the heart of the Restoration is to return things to a time when those in power were left alone to exercise it. When the President said, in his inaugural address, “I will not predicate my promise to you on your cooperation. You have your own lives to live, your work to do — and there, too, I will help. Government will get as much done alone without requiring more from you. That is what government and public officials are for. No excuses; just deliver. It was like that, once upon a time.”
And the people cheered. Both chambers of Congress, the Cabinet, and various VIPs cheered last Monday. Whether the public paid enough attention to cheer, is now beside the point. The online audio and video snippets can drown the pros and antis who feel like debating in data and declarations, but for now, the spectacle is its own reward. It is the banality of Restoration.
Another take
Philip Bowring, veteran journo, gives the outsider-looking-in skinny on this second national speech:
Clever context comes from this interview. Stephen CuUnjieng is always an interesting and provocative listen, even if you don’t agree with him. But there is always much to learn from his blunt talk.
The State of the Nation Address used to be accompanied by a Technical Report but this was abandoned in 2016; the annual report to Congress itself, is a prelude to the Budget Message that kicks off the annual appropriation process.
Originally published at https://mlq3.substack.com.
