The recent State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. offered no clear plans to address the issues facing the working class in the country, offering surface-level solutions to numerous daily challenges of individuals, a lawmaker said.

Kamanggagawa Partylist Rep. Eli San Fernando expressed that the over one hour long speech ignored matters such as a wage increase, abolition of the provincial rate, and the continued existence of contractualization around the country.

Doubling down on his point, San Fernando stressed that Marcos did not mention anything new, going as far as stating that workers would give a failing mark due to the lack of action on issues concerning working-class families.

“President Bongbong Marcos has nothing to be proud of, so we are stating that it was a State of No Achievement for workers and he received a failing grade from workers,” he said.

Despite the claims of the President that the country was idolized due to its response to the fuel crisis that came as a result of the Middle East tensions, the solon said that the true “state of the nation” was one that was being fed relief programs as a solution to the diminishing ability of the public to provide for their families.

San Fernando did acknowledge the initiative of the President to pursue the expanding public sectors that would be exempted from income taxes and to remove the “systems loss” charge to consumers of electricity.

However, for him, a better step when it came to reducing the burden on everyone would be to reduce or even remove the value added tax (VAT) that was implemented on products and services.

Instead, he reiterated that the focus of the government remained on commending programs that issued temporary assistance, increasing the economic dependency of the public while simultaneously stomping on their dignity.

“The biggest problem is that workers are being short-changed with the never ending AICS, TUPAD, and other forms of relief rather than strengthening their ability to purchase their daily needs,” he said.

With the resumption of regular sessions in Congress, San Fernando vowed to continue pushing for economic reforms that placed the interests of workers at the forefront of policies that would be deliberated inside and outside the House of Representatives.