ACTIVIST and civil society groups demanded answers from authorities as several protesters were dragged and pinned down during a rally in Manila capital ahead of the 5th State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday, July 27, 2026.
Video footage of the incident showed police officers forcibly loading protesters onto a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) bus.
Cristina Palabay, secretary general of rights group Karapatan, maintained that amid Marcos' fifth Sona, "the rampage of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law continues across the country."
"Last year, Marcos Jr. made the corrupt practices in relation to flood control projects the centerpiece of his fourth Sona. Yet, beyond a few individuals who have been charged and detained, the Filipino people have yet to see genuine accountability for the massive corruption that allegedly siphoned off public funds, all the way to the highest levels of government," Palabay told SunStar Philippines.
Benjo Basas, national president of Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC), a broad coalition of educators in the country, reminded Marcos that the annual address "should not only be an occasion to announce new programs and commitments but, more importantly, a time to account for promises already made to the Filipino people."
In 2025 Sona, Marcos promised laptops to teachers, yet nearly a year later, the public school teachers are still waiting.
"For us, the issue goes beyond the laptops themselves. It is about government credibility and accountability. The Sona should not merely be a platform for new announcements; it should also be an honest report on the commitments previously made and whether they have been fulfilled," Basas said, as they joined the protest action.
During the rally, they amplified the urgent concerns of teachers and the education sector for a P15,000 across-the-board salary increase for all public school teachers and education personnel, improved hiring and promotion, and better school facilities.
"Teachers—and the Filipino people—deserve more than inspiring speeches. We deserve results," he added.
About 300 small-scale fishers led by two national fisherfolk groups also held a joint march and protest in front of the Department of Agriculture (DA) before joining other progressive organizations for the ‘Sona ng Sambayanan’ program to dispute the government's claim of recovery in the fisheries sector.
The Katipunan ng mga Kilusan ng Artisanong Mangingisda sa Pilipinas (KKAMPI) and the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said the joint action aims to belie a recent announcement by the DA-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) that the fishery and aquaculture sector has recovered and posted growth this year.
They also accused the government of defending corporate interests that dislocate small fishers and their fishing communities.
“Marcos’ notable silence on the demand for a nationally legislated wage increase speaks volumes on how little attention is given to the plight of the 50-million strong labor force in the country,” said activist lawyer Aaron Pedrosa, secretary general of coalition of advocacy groups Sanlakas.
“ In the face of economic difficulties, Marcos Jr. is promoting stop-gap measures i.e. ayuda instead of strategic and sustainable solutions. He has once again underscored resort to cash transfers as a relief measure, a band-aid fix to the outstanding livelihood and employment crisis in the country,” Pedrosa added.
Meanwhile, Josua Mata, secretary general of Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro), reminded the Marcos administration “that the true state of the nation is reflected in the sorry state of the daily lives of ordinary Filipinos.”
“The President won office in 2022 on promises to create quality jobs, equip workers with better skills, bring down the cost of living, strengthen protection for overseas Filipino workers, and provide decent housing for poor families. Today, those promises remain largely unfulfilled,” Mata said in a statement to the media.
“Millions of workers continue to endure wages that cannot keep up with the rising cost of living. Instead of supporting a meaningful legislated wage increase, President Marcos himself opposed the measure, leaving millions of workers with shrinking purchasing power even as prices of food, fuel, electricity, and other basic necessities continued to rise,” he added.
‘A vision of governance’
As this developed, Bishop Colin Bagaforo, chairperson of CBCP Episcopal Commission on Interreligious Dialogue and convener of InterReligious Leaders' Council for National Transformation, said that Marcos’s fifth Sona “offered a vision of governance that responds to many of the long-standing aspirations of the Filipino people.”
“We welcome the President's recognition of the urgent need to strengthen social services, expand access to quality education, housing, and health care, generate decent employment, pursue agrarian reform, intensify the campaign against corruption, reform the energy sector, and steadfastly defend our sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea,” the prelate said.
“These are not merely policy priorities—they are moral imperatives if government is to fulfill its constitutional duty to serve the people. Among the welcome announcements was the directive to remove the burden of system loss charges from Filipino consumers,” he added.
Bagaforo, however, maintained that “while this reform deserves commendation, we remain deeply concerned that the administration continues to promote natural gas, nuclear power, and waste-to-energy technologies as part of the country's energy future.”
“These pathways risk prolonging dependence on fossil fuels, increasing ecological and public health risks, and delaying the transition toward truly clean, renewable, community-centered, and climate-resilient energy systems. If we are serious about addressing the climate crisis, protecting biodiversity, and defending human rights, then our energy policies must not solve one crisis by creating another,” he said.
“Ultimately, the true measure of this State of the Nation Address will not be the strength of its rhetoric but the courage to transform its promises into concrete, transparent, and accountable action,” Bagaforo added. (Ronald Reyes/SunStar Philippines)
