Today, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr will deliver his third State of the Nation Address (SONA). Today, we in the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) say: it is already Marcos Jr’s third SONA, but Filipino workers still have not experienced the “bagong Pilipinas” (new Philippines) that he promised.

Unemployment remains high, wages remain low, food prices are soaring, and violations of workers’ labor and human rights remain rampant. Marcos Jr has been preoccupied more with rebranding the Marcos name internationally and with bickering with his predecessor than with addressing the pressing issues of Filipino workers.

If Marcos Jr wants Filipino workers and their advocates to become happy with his 3^rd SONA, he should announce clear policies that concretely address workers’ concerns. He should stop depicting “a new Philippines” which is not felt by workers and most Filipinos, and is felt only by the Marcos family and its closest cronies.

Government data, as analyzed by independent think-tank Ibon Foundation show that:

>> 7 million Filipinos are jobless, including the 2 million formally declared as unemployed, the 1.9 million discouraged workers, and the 3.1 million unpaid family members.

>> Since 1989, the year that the Wage Rationalization Law was passed, the real value of the minimum wage in Metro Manila has stagnated, while the real value of the minimum wages in the country’s regions have decreased.

>> The P35 increase in the Metro Manila minimum wage does little to bring the resulting P610 minimum wage closer to the Family Living Wage, or the amount needed by an average family to live decently, which is computed to be P1,197.

At the same time, the prices of rice has become higher, contrary to the promise of the Rice Tarrification Law, as the rice cartel has become empowered to increase prices.

Marcos Jr has not reviewed the state of contractualization among workers, which his predecessor promised to end. Many indications show that contractualization continues to spread.

Labor activists continue to face trumped-up charges, to be abducted, and to become victims of extrajudicial killings. The 28 political prisoners from the labor movement, imprisoned by his predecessor, continue to languish in jail because of trumped-up charges.###