President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address on July 27 will be delivered against the backdrop of a decade marked by corruption, fiscal mismanagement and widening inequality.
Estimates suggest that P8.8 trillion was lost to corruption between 2016 and 2025. Beyond the financial leakage, the figure represents the opportunity cost of classrooms left unbuilt, hospitals underfunded and farmers exposed to traders and import shocks.
The central issue for the Sona is whether the administration will move beyond short-term relief and confront the structural links among corruption, rising debt, peso weakness, import dependence and deteriorating public services.
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How debt dependence took hold
