Vol. VII, No. 14 - July 31, 2025

In his latest State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos Jr. boasted about a so-called “Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines)”—attempting to invoke a departure from the old. But for the vast majority of Filipinos, Marcos’s version of Bagong Pilipinas feels all too familiar. While he claims of development and progress, the reality for ordinary Filipinos is worsening hardship. Prices of basic goods are rising, wages remain stagnant, and millions still leave the country to find work abroad. Behind the polished speeches and government slogans, the same ruling class continues to benefit, using the machinery of the state to protect their wealth and power.

Since Marcos Jr. took office, the three richest billionaires in the country—Manny Villar, Ramon Ang, and Enrique Razon—have seen their wealth grow by 50 to 100 percent. This is no accident. The much-hyped Maharlika Investment Fund is a prime example of how public money is funneled into the hands of the few. Marketed as a tool for national development, it lacks transparency and accountability, opening the door for cronyism and corruption. Meanwhile, schools lack classrooms, farmers lack tools, and hospitals are stretched thin. There is always money for roads and railways, but not for food, housing, or healthcare.

Behind the “strong and independent” image Marcos Jr. tries to project, his administration has been busy tightening the Philippines’ subservience to the US. Under his leadership, the government approved four additional military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). These new sites bring the total to nine and place the country directly in the crosshairs of growing US-China tensions.

To make matters worse, the Marcos government has approved the construction of a US ammunition factory in Subic Bay, turning Philippine soil into a weapons depot for Washington’s war machine.

Economically, the subservience continues. Marcos Jr. made headlines after negotiating a so-called “win” with Donald Trump: a one percent reduction in US tariffs on Philippine exports (from 20% to 19%) in exchange for granting US corporations tariff-free access to the local market for cars, wheat, soybeans, and pharmaceuticals.

Perhaps the most dangerous part of Marcos Jr.’s address was his declaration that the country has achieved “unity and peace.” This claim is linked to the newly branded National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development (NAP-UPD)—a recycled counterinsurgency program dressed up as a peace initiative. In truth, NAP-UPD is nothing more than a repackaged version of previous counterinsurgency strategies. Like the now-infamous NTF-ELCAC, it aims to weaken the revolutionary movement through militarization, surveillance, and red-tagging. Schools, churches, and civilian agencies are being co-opted into this campaign.

The most laughable moment in Marcos Jr.’s SONA came when he declared that “no more guerrilla fronts exist.” That statement is easily disproven by the fact that just two days after his SONA, the reactionary Philippine Army clashed with NPA troops in Northern Samar. 

What Marcos Jr. calls “Bagong Pilipinas” is simply old politics in new packaging. But the real new is being built elsewhere: in the Philippine countryside where Red political power continues to grow. These are the seeds of a truly new Philippines—one not built on exploitation, but on justice and people’s power.